On 22 October 2020 the Home Office released its new statement of changes to the immigration rules, providing more detail on the infamous Points-Based Immigration System.
Despite the Government stating that these reforms will lead to a “simplified system”, the new policy paper comes in at an eye-watering 514-pages. The accompanying Explanatory memorandum, which explains the changes in more accessible forms and would often only necessitate a page or two, is itself 50-pages long.
Many commentators have concluded that the rules have been made unnecessarily complicated on purpose, and will inevitably lead to migrants rights being infringed upon in future. George Peretz QC of Monckton Chambers said of the changes:
“When lawyers talk about the government undermining the rule of law, this is one of the things they mean: (a) making the law in an area fundamental to people’s lives so complex no one can understand it without professional help and then (b) failing to ensure they get that help.”
The new changes were also criticised for being released “without notice of scrutiny” with Stuart McDonald MP, Shadow SNP Spokesperson and member of the Home Affairs Committee saying:
“500+ pages of new immigration rules shoved out by Home Office without notice or scrutiny (as ever, on the last day before a recess). Just no way to make such important laws that are so crucial to the rights of so many!”
The full implications of the new changes will likely trickle out for some time to come, and many will only be fully comprehensible with a degree in law and a lot of reading.
On the evening the changes were released, Chai Patel of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said that the rules “are incomprehensible to most lawyers and indeed most judges”, before adding:
“[The] Explanatory Notes, the one thing that anyone normal could possibly be expected to understand, are written in such a misleading way they direct you away from reading things that could be utterly crucial to your life.”
Only rarely were the changes approachable and their potential impacts easier to grapple with, but finding them is the equivalent to a needle in a haystack.
One such change is the government’s reduction of the minimum salary migrants must secure to settle in the UK. The government reduced the £35,800 minimum salary by almost 30% to the lower threshold of £25,600, with migrants taking jobs on the shortage occupation list requiring salaries of £20,480.
The £35,800 salary threshold was originally introduced by then Home Secretary, Theresa May; it was seen as a central policy in the administration’s attempts to bring down net migration.
The quiet reduction of the threshold has been seen by some as “the government tacitly acknowledged the essential contribution that lower paid migrant workers make to the UK.”
The Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, which identified the change in the 507-page rulebook, said it was “the final nail in the coffin of the net migration target”.
However, Amnesty UK’s refugee and migrant rights programme director, Steve Valdez-Symonds said of the change:
“Sadly, this latest development does not appear to signal any new or firm commitment to encourage equality of opportunity through the UK’s immigration system or to respect the rights and human dignity of all women, men and children regardless of class or colour.”
Others have opposed the change for different reasons. Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for tighter immigration control, said:
“This is quite outrageous. It will weaken immigration control further and risks helping drive settlement beyond even the record highs of a decade ago…It will also reduce the incentive for employers to train British workers.”