UK Immigration News

UK immigration Minister Damian Green announced this week that the UK would be bringing in a more selective immigration policy that encourages the "brightest and best" to come to the UK.Specifically, Green said that the UK wants immigrants who can "benefit Britain". He committed to continue with more reforms that he says will result in an immigration system that he says will better meet the needs of the UK.

Immigrants will be banned from taking the UK driving test in their native language following an investigation into rogue translators who were helping them cheat their driving test.Following the investigation by the Driving Standards Agency, it was revealed that nearly 800 immigrant drivers have had their licences revoked over the past two years after supposedly being "coached" by translators.

UK immigration has announced changes to the application process for Tier 2 visas and Tier 5 visas. The changes will allow applicants applying under Tier 2 and Tier 5 and their dependants who are in the UK to apply online to extend their UK visa. Applicants will still need to submit supporting documents in person or by post after submitting an application online.The online application service will begin 14 February 2012.

Beginning 6 April 2012 the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will require all applicants applying to remain in the UK under Tier 1 (General), Tier 1(Entrepreneur) and Tier 2 of the UK points-based system to have a completed language test prior to applying for a visa.

UK Immigration has announced that paragraph 395C of the Immigration Rules that provides various safeguards to immigrants before they can be removed from the UK will be deleted. This paragraph states that the UK Secretary of State must take into consideration the following factors before removing an immigrant:

Foreigners traveling to the UK for the 2012 London Olympics will be happy to know that Heathrow Airport has unveiled plans to build a temporary terminal to deal with increased demand from departing athletes after the games finish. This means the other terminals and immigration checks at Heathrow will be more accessible to travelers and, hopefully, less congested than would otherwise be the case.