Santa Fe A/S : September Update from our Head of UK Immigration

Posted: 26/09/2017 Author: Nishil Patel

Global media and talks around immigration continue to be dominated by Brexit. What is a new UK immigration policy going to look like? Will there be a transition period? What do we need to know?

The leak of recent government papers has raised debates over how 'low skilled' jobs will be re-evaluated, especially when considering the increased shortage of workers with the UK's agricultural and healthcare industry. Essentially, the UK government still can't offer any certainty.

Over the last few months our Brexit talks have been extremely popular. It has been fantastic to speak to European workers about their rights to remain in the UK under EU regulations, whilst also providing strategic advice to businesses. We have been helping businesses to prepare, as best they can, for any changes to UK or European immigration policies that might affect their workers. Permeant residency is still very much an open option to European nationals and anyone who is eligible should still consider applying.

We have also attended numerous seminars with notable Home Office speakers. Yesterday, for example, we watched the Head of European and in Country Permanent Migration present, before questioning her on the new settled worker status. She maintained that, although this is still in negotiation status, anyone who is eligible for permanent residency can continue to apply. She also highlighted that, if a fee has already been paid for a permanent residency application it would be unfair to pay a fee for a settled worker application.

On a separate note, it was also exciting to hear from the Director of Citizenship/Work/Study/Premium surrounding the new changes to the sponsor management system, which is scheduled to be rolled out in November 2017. This will give sponsors better functionality over the system and will seek key data for all their sponsored workers.

We are now booked up with further Brexit talks for the next few months. But don't worry; there are still a few spaces available until the end of the year. So, if you would like us to arrange any visits to any businesses and their employees, please do not hesitate to contact me.

And finally, I am also delighted to announce that we are proudly sponsoring the 8th Biennial IBA Global Immigration Conference, whose key note speaker is London Mayor Sadiq Khan. I will be intrigued to hear of further updates and will continue to share all my information with you.

Nishil is a qualified solicitor and has over ten years UK immigration experience. He leads and manages Santa Fe's UK Immigration practice. He has extensive experience in providing UK immigration advice for corporate accounts and private individuals. This includes managing immigration programmes focusing on risk and compliance, being the main client/ assignee contact throughout the process from case initiation through to its completions as well as attending a client's premises to deliver training. He presents at global mobility events and seminars to corporate clients. He is also a regular attendee of Home Office Panel meetings and consults with the Home Office on immigration policy matters.

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