The Home Office has published initial details of changes to commercial partner visa application services in and outside the UK that will be happening in future months. This follows the awards of new contracts for the provision of these services. Visa application centres are operated by commercial partners on behalf of UK Visas & Immigration; in some locations the commercial partner will now change, meaning applicants may have to start a visa application with one commercial partner and finish it with another.

The Home Office has published an independent evaluation of three initiatives introduced in late 2024 to improve the asylum move on period: (1) a temporary extension from 28 to 56 days; (2) deployment of Asylum Move On Liaison Officers (AMLOs) in select local authorities and (3) a £2.8 million recognition payment to select local authorities. The evaluation drew on 76 qualitative research encounters with 110 participants, surveys of AMLOs and local authorities, analysis of Home Office management information data and a cost-benefit analysis. Primary data collection took place between April and September 2025. The evaluation found that the initiatives, particularly the 56-day extension, improved refugee experience and operational planning, but were constrained by systemic housing shortages. Key recommendations include: (1) maintaining an extended move on period; (2) strengthening AMLO integration within the support sector; (3) providing sustainable ring-fenced funding to local authorities; (4) addressing systemic housing shortages and (5) improving communication and data sharing processes between the Home Office and local authorities.

The Home Office has published the final version of the Employer’s guide to right to work checks, dated 1 October 2026, which has come into force on the same day, when the extended liability regime under section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (BSAIA 2025) comes into force. It follows the second draft of the guide published on 11 September 2026 and the first version published on 16 July 2026. The final version includes new text on TUPE transfers and a detailed new Annex C, which sets out questions and answers to the scheme. The changes have been made further to stakeholder feedback. Details of the changes are set out below.

The Home Office has published research examining how UK employers conduct immigration checks across different contractual work models. The research, which it commissioned from IFF Research, aimed to understand employer immigration checks, focusing on gig economy employers, self-employed contractors, and employment intermediaries. The study found that while digital platforms and employment agencies maintain stringent checks, smaller employers often lack full understanding of Right to Work (RTW) requirements. The research identified that self-employed workers often fall outside current RTW legislation scope, creating potential illegal working risks through substitution rights.

The Home Office has published its first progress report on the Economic Crime Plan 2 (ECP2), covering England and Wales. The report highlights collaboration between the public and private sectors to combat economic crime, protect national security, and support legitimate growth. It focuses on the outcomes framework developed under ECP2, sharing insights from key indicators used to track system performance. While the data shows some progress and strategic understanding, the report notes challenges in assessing overall impact due to data limitations. It also outlines efforts to improve data quality and coverage to better measure performance across the economic crime system.

The Home Office has formally published its response to key recommendations from both Jonathan Fisher KC’s Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences and Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts respectively. Central to the response is the acceptance of proposals to enhance the management and review of disclosure material. The government plans to legislate for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in evidence review, with the National Centre for Police AI (PoliceAI) set to pilot AI tools that automatically generate summaries of digital material. This initiative, backed by £75 million in funding, is intended to be scaled across all police forces by 2027. Additionally, amendments to the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and its Code of Practice will allow technology-assisted identification and review of disclosure material without manual scrutiny of every item and a pilot of an Intensive Disclosure Regime is planned for complex Crown Court cases.

The Home Office has issued new guidance in relation to applications for registration as British citizens by Irish citizens under the new section 4AA of the British Nationality Act 1981. This section was introduced by the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 and permits registration for Irish citizens who have been resident in the UK for five years. The guidance sets out the process for caseworkers assessing applications submitted under this provision.

The Home Office has published guidance on the information sharing measures in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The guidance sets out provisions to ensure that businesses abide by the new measures as well as practical considerations for businesses including mechanisms for cross-sector sharing and requirements for law enforcement reporting, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance and customer redress.

The Home Office has published non-statutory guidance, supplementary to its section 27 statutory guidance, on the requirement to notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) under section 9 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (T(PP)A 2025). Responsible persons for qualifying premises must notify the SIA within 3 months of commencement, with a 28-day requirement thereafter. Responsible persons for qualifying events must notify the SIA within 14 days of commencement or first publicity. Notifications must be submitted via the SIA's online portal, and legal responsibility for compliance cannot be delegated, even where submission is authorised to a third party. T(PP)A 2025 received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025 and is not yet in force, subject to a minimum 24-month implementation period from that date. A statutory instrument setting out further detail on the notification requirement was laid on 14 July 2026, informing the non-statutory guidance.

The UK Home Office published guidance on the planned use of facial age estimation (FAE) in age-disputed asylum cases. FAE uses artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate an individual's age from a facial photograph however it does not identify individuals or search databases. The technology is intended to provide supplementary information to assist immigration officers when making initial age assessments. The Home Office is testing FAE during 2026 and aims to implement it in 2027. The guidance states that immigration officers will remain responsible for these decisions, considering all available information, including an individual's appearance and demeanour and the views of social workers.

The Home Office has published caseworker guidance clarifying how holders of pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) can prove their status when they subsequently obtain other UK immigration permissions. Holders retain their pre-settled status if they hold pre-settled under the EUSS for one of the eligible reasons.  The eligible reasons include holders being from the EU, Switzerland , Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, or being a family member of someone from these countries, or possessing a retained right of residence by virtue of being a family member of someone from these countries who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

The Home Office has published operational guidance setting out the use of powers on the seizure, retention and examination of electronic devices under powers introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (BSAIA 2025). The guidance explains the circumstances in which immigration officers, Border Force officials, police and National Crime Agency (NCA) officers may search for and seize electronic devices from a person who has entered or arrived in the UK and has not been given leave to enter or remain, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a device contains information relevant to commission of an immigration offence under the Immigration Act 2025, s 25 or 25A.