Permission to travel to the UK

This overview provides a summary as to which non-British or Irish nationals require leave (or permission) to enter or remain in the UK and, if so, whether they will require prior entry clearance or an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before they can travel to the UK. For further information, see Practice Note: Permission to travel to the UK and the related Practice Notes referred to below.

The right of abode

The Immigration Act 1971 provides that all persons with the right of abode do not require leave to enter or remain in the UK. Persons with the right abode are:

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British citizens, and
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Commonwealth citizens who held that status immediately before the coming into force of the British Nationality Act 1981 on 1 January 1983 and had a right of abode at that time—this includes only a limited number of people

The right of abode in the UK is an immigration status. A person who has the right of abode is free to live in, and to come and go into and from, the UK, subject only to certain restrictions to enable

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Latest Immigration News

Amendments will remove Refugee Convention deport protections for sex offenders, and AI announcement

The Home Office has announced that it is adding new amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which include provisions to exclude foreign nationals convicted of sex offences from protection under the Refugee Convention, in relation to deportation. Under the proposed amendment, any conviction that would resulting in registration on the sex offenders register would lead to a presumption that the person has been convicted of a ‘particularly serious crime’, which is an exception to the Refugee Convention protection in relation to automatic deportation. Other amendments being laid before the report stage include a new requirement for the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber to decide appeals within 24 weeks, aimed at reducing processing times for asylum claims, and stronger powers for the Immigration Advice Authority against non-registered immigration advisers. The same announcement also confirms that the Home Office is to start using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist caseworkers in making decisions on asylum claims, by speeding up access to the relevant country advice, and summarising interview transcripts. This is to facilitate quicker decisions on asylum claims ‘without compromising on the quality of human decisions’.

Home Office pilots two AI tools to assist in asylum decision-making process

The Home Office has published an evaluation of small scale-pilots of two artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed to assist in the asylum decision-making process. These were the Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) tool, which uses AI to generate concise summaries of lengthy interview transcripts, and the Asylum Policy Search (APS) tool, which retrieves and summarises country policy information. Pilots conducted between May and December 2024 indicated that the ACS tool reduced transcript review time by approximately 23 minutes per case, while the APS tool saved about 37 minutes per case. Quality assurance measures using the Home Office’s existing Calibre tool appeared to show that neither tool compromised decision quality. The evaluation states that both tools adhere to the ‘human in the loop’ principle, so that they cannot be used by themselves to make a decision. User feedback was collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews, with some participants noting issues such as the lack of source references and some inaccuracies/missing information in ACS summaries and suggestions for further functionality in the APS tool. Limitations of the tools identified in the evaluation should be addressed before a full rollout, and any further rollout should be continuously monitored in its early stages, and then fully evaluated after deployment.

WoRC report calls for urgent reforms to safeguard migrant workers

The Work Rights Centre (WoRC) has published a report calling for reforms to the UK’s work visa sponsorship system to better protect migrant workers from exploitation. Drawing on a six-country comparison (Australia, Canada, Finland, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA), the research reveals that current practices expose workers to overwork, underpayment, and coercion—risks that could contravene the European Convention on Human Rights by amounting to forced labour and degrading treatment. The report states that while the Home Office has undertaken some policy responses, such as increased enforcement action against non-compliant sponsors, there is little compensation or measures available for exploited workers, and the National Referral Mechanism is an inadequate framework for this. Moreover, an open letter signed by more than 130 experts from charities, the legal field, and academia reinforces the need for reform. The report asserts that without meaningful changes, the UK risks violating its international obligations and maintaining a system that facilitates migrant worker exploitation. It proposes three key reforms in this context, if the UK government is to remain committed to the employer-sponsorship system.

House of Commons library briefing on SNP immigration bill

The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on an SNP-backed private members' bill. The Devolution (Immigration) (Scotland) Bill, sponsored by Stephen Gethins MP of the Scottish National Party (SNP), seeks to amend the Scotland Act 1998 to grant the Scottish Parliament legislative competence over immigration matters. Currently, immigration is a reserved matter under the Scotland Act, meaning it is controlled by the UK Parliament. The bill proposes removing immigration-related provisions from the list of reserved matters, effectively transferring responsibility to the Scottish Parliament. The SNP argues for more generous visa rules for Scotland, citing its reliance on migration for population growth. The bill's second reading is scheduled for 25 April 2025.