Outside the Immigration Rules and human rights applications

This topic covers applications for leave to enter or remain on human rights grounds, and on grounds other than those set out in the Immigration Rules. This includes applications that:

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request that the Home Office exercises its discretion to grant leave outside of the Immigration Rules (the Rules)
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request that the Home Office grants leave outside of the Rules in line with a published concession, and/or
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allege that the refusal and/or, in the case of leave to remain applications, the removal of a person consequent to the decision, would breach their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR)

Article 8 of the ECHR confers the right to respect for a person’s private and family life, home and correspondence, but is a qualified right which means that a contracting state can interfere with the right in certain circumstances. As from 9 July 2012, the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) adopted a more codified approach to the assessment of Article 8 claims, formulating Immigration Rules which purport

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Latest Immigration News

Sponsor licence revocation and ‘genuine roles’ (Prestige Social Care)

Immigration analysis: In R (on the application of) Prestige Social Care Services Ltd v Secretary of State for the Home Department (‘Prestige Social Care Services Ltd’), the High Court considers, for the first time in a fully reasoned judgment applying the post 2024 Sponsor Guidance, whether Annex C1 Ground (z) (‘non genuine roles’) always requires dishonesty or other reprehensible conduct, and how that ground interacts with Annex C2(a)–0(b), C1.44 (‘genuine vacancy’) and section 31(2A) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (SCA 1981). His Honour Judge Tindal holds that the examples of non genuine roles in Ground (z) and paras C1.46–C1.47 do entail dishonesty or other reprehensible conduct and so attract the Balajigari v SSHD/Prestwick Care Ltd v SSHD fairness safeguards, but that outside those examples, UKVI can treat a role as non genuine where, focusing on the vacancy rather than the worker, it lacks one or more of the C1.44 characteristics, even without dishonesty, subject to ordinary public law fairness para [55]. The court finds the Home Office’s reliance on Ground (z) irrational on the specific facts (Ms K’s inability to drive), but upholds revocation under Annex C2(a) and (b) and refuses relief under SCA 1981, s 31(2A), applying the Court of Appeal’s approach in R (Bradbury) v Brecon Beacons NPA and R (Gathercole) v Suffolk CC [90]–[98]. The claim is dismissed, permission to appeal refused and costs of £18,000 awarded to the Secretary of State paras [99]–[100]. Written by Nazib Ullah, partner at Internations Legal LLP.

Home Office to enforce ETA scheme from February 2026

The Home Office has announced that the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will be enforced from 25 February 2026. Visitors from 85 nationalities who do not need a visa will be required to obtain digital permission in advance before travelling to the UK. Enforcement will apply to visitors from countries including the US, Canada and France, with carriers responsible for verifying permissions prior to travel. Since the ETA scheme’s launch in October 2023, more than 13.3 million visitors have applied, with applications costing £16 through the official UK ETA app. British and Irish citizens, including dual citizens, remain exempt. The Home Office strongly advises dual British citizens to ensure that they have a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement to ensure ease of travel to the UK from 25 February 2026.

GLOBALCIT publishes comparative study on European citizenship acquisition laws

The Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT) has published a report examining the legal conditions under which immigrants and their descendants may acquire citizenship across Europe. The study identifies considerable variation in residence, integration and procedural requirements among European states. Commissioned by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) in Switzerland, the report analyses the citizenship frameworks of eleven European countries and draws on the GLOBALCIT Citizenship Law Dataset, which covers 31 European jurisdictions. It examines the rules governing naturalisation, birthright citizenship and descent, as well as procedural aspects such as residence periods, integration tests and administrative discretion.

Government announces consultation for earned settlement reforms

The UK Government has announced the opening of a consultation around significant planned reforms to the requirements for obtaining settlement in the UK, and their replacement with an ‘earned settlement’ system. The standard period for obtaining settlement will no longer be five years, and there would be significant changes to the qualifying requirements, period, and conditions under which migrants can obtain indefinite leave to remain. This initial analysis summarises the key proposed changes.