Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UK immigration, visa and nationality guidance

The Home Office’s previous position was that non-EEA nationals who were in the UK and who had overstayed, or would do so, would be able to obtain an extension of stay until 31 May 2020. On 22 May 2020 the cut-off date was extended until 31 July 2020.

Unfortunately, Shona Dunn, Second Permanent Secretary, Home Office, providing evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on 13 July 2020 stated: ‘It is not our intention at the moment to provide any further extension. We will of course continue to look at more information that comes forward on a case-by-case basis, but we are not at the moment intending to do a blanket further extension.’

On 29 July 2020, the Home Office updated its information to confirm that the blanket concession on short-term stays in the UK due to Covid-19 would come to an end on 31 July 2020. Its position being that, from 31 July 2020, it would no longer be possible for a person to make an application to extend their stay from inside the UK using the concession. They expect individuals to take ‘all reasonable steps to leave the UK….or apply to regularise your stay’.

The Home Office has stated that anyone whose leave to remain in the UK has an expiry date between 24 January 2020 and 31 August 2020, and who wishes to leave the UK but cannot do so, or cannot switch into another category, will be given a grace period allowing them to remain in the UK until 31 August 2020. This is to allow them to make necessary arrangements to leave the UK. The Home Office says that this will be granted automatically — an application does not need to be made — and the same conditions of stay will continue to apply.

If such individuals cannot leave by 31 August, they can apply to the Home Office for what it calls an ‘exceptional assurance’ (this was originally called an ‘exceptional indemnity’). The request must be made by emailing the coronavirus immigration team at CIH@homeoffice.gov.uk. The indemnity will not grant further leave but will, according to the Home Office ‘act as a short-term protection against any adverse action or consequence after your leave has expired’. Applicants will need to provide details of why they cannot leave the UK and supporting evidence.

The legislative basis underpinning both the pre-31 July and post-31 July arrangements is currently vague, although we are expecting that Immigration Rules may be laid in the near future with retrospective effect. We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about their immigration status to consider taking legal advice to assess if another option may be better for them.

We are members of ILPA which is seeking clarity from the Home Office on a number of points that are unclear.

The Home Office has also published guidance for those intending to apply for a longer visa from inside the UK.

Those who are in the UK in a route which already allows for in-country switching should make their immigration application in the usual manner.

Those who would ordinarily have had to leave the UK to file an application overseas, because they are in a route which does not allow for in-country switching, can benefit from a temporary concession by submitting their application from inside the UK.

This is subject to certain conditions as follows:

• this concession is currently in force for those whose leave expired, or expires, between 24 January 2020 and 31 August 2020, including those whose leave was extended to 31 August 2020 under the grace period referred to in the section above;
• applicants must ‘meet the requirements of the route you are applying for and pay the UK application fee’.

The guidance also confirms that a person whose leave to remain is due to expire after 1 September 2020 can make an in-country ‘urgent’ application, for example, if they need to start a new job or course of study.

We would advise anyone who has made, or is considering making, an application under the scheme to consider taking legal advice to assess if another option may be better for them.

The UKVCAS service run by Sopra Steria was suspended in full on 27 March 2020.

Centres started to reopen on 1 June 2020 and you can find information on the reopening process here. There are very few free appointments available.

On 2 July 2020, UKVI announced that, for some applicants, it may be able to reuse fingerprints previously provided. Further information is available here. The Home Office is currently finalising a new app  – the ‘IDV app’. Those who are able to use it will receive communication from UKVCAS.

If the online immigration application was submitted when the individual had leave to remain in the UK, they will continue to be lawfully in the UK whilst waiting for an appointment. The same conditions of stay will remain in force.

If the application was made after leave to remain had expired, we would recommend that legal advice is obtained.

It is still possible to submit an online UK visa application and many visa application centres overseas have now reopened.

If the centre overseas remains closed, applications that have been submitted will be held until the centre reopens.

Visa application centres overseas are currently operated by two commercial companies. You can find further information on the status of centres at:

• TLScontact (Europe, Africa and some countries in the Middle East)
• VFS Global (the rest of the world)
  

As centres are reopening on a regular basis now, we recommend that applicants check the websites frequently.

Many English Testing Centres have started to reopen. You can find further information within the Home Office’s guidance.

Anyone who makes a successful immigration application from outside the UK has their passport endorsed with a visa. This permits them to enter the UK within a 30 day window. They can then collect their biometric residence permit (‘BRP’), which will contain the full grant of leave, once inside the UK.

The Home Office has stated that if the 30 day visa has expired before the applicant can travel to the UK, they will have until the end of 2020 to request a free replacement, valid for 90 days.

To do this they must email the Coronavirus Immigration Help Centre, stating ‘REPLACEMENT 30 DAY VISA’ in the subject line, and provide the:

• GWF reference number (this is the reference number from the application form); and
• name, nationality and date of birth.

The Home Office says applicants will then be contacted to arrange a replacement visa in their passport (once the visa application centre has reopened).

The Home Office has also confirmed that applicants will not be ‘penalised’ for being unable to collect their BRP whilst coronavirus measures are in place.

The government has confirmed that migrants can be supported by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (if eligible under the rules of the scheme).

Specific information regarding Tier 2/5 sponsorship can be found here.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is not defined as ‘public funds’ in the Immigration Rules (Part 6 ‘Interpretation’). Therefore, migrants who are placed on furlough will not be in breach of their conditions of stay. However, it is important that they do not also claim any benefits which are defined as public funds.

On 9 June 2020, the Home Office updated its coronavirus guidance to include concessions for those who needed to make spouse, partner and fiancé immigration applications. Unfortunately, at the moment, these concessions only cover the period up to 31 July 2020. We do not know if the Home Office intended this, or if this is an error.

The concessions covered in-country applications, the financial requirement and English language testing. Please contact us for advice on these concessions.

The Home Office has not provided any specific guidance at this stage on how it will treat absences that are due to the coronavirus outbreak and that exceed the requirements for ILR and naturalisation applications. It does however already exercise discretion in relation to excessive absences that are due to exceptional, serious or compelling circumstances.

We expect that it will adopt a reasonable approach in cases where an applicant can demonstrate that excessive absences were due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, there is a possibility in our view that the Home Office may look closely at the reasons for the excessive absences. It could, for example, accept scenarios where a person was physically unable to reduce their absences – due to travel restrictions, illness etc. – but not where a person was able to return to the UK but decided not to do so due to concerns about coronavirus.

As such, we would advise that a cautious approach is taken and strong evidence is retained.

The Home Office has stated:

‘If your endorsement from an endorsing body has expired because you’ve not been able to make an application for a visa, you may still be eligible.

Your endorsement will be accepted if both:

• it was granted on or after 24 January 2020
• you apply for your visa before 1 January 2021

Applications that do not meet these requirements will be considered on a case by case basis’.

The Home Office’s guidance includes information for those holding leave to remain in the UK under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur scheme. It states that:

‘You no longer need to employ at least 2 people for 12 consecutive months each. The 12 month period you are required to employ someone for can be made up of multiple employees across different months. Time when your employees were furloughed will not count towards the 12 month period.

If you have not been able to employ staff for 12 months in total by the time your visa expires, you will be allowed to temporarily extend your stay to give you time to meet the requirement.’

On the 29 April 2020, the Home Secretary sent a letter to the Home Affairs Committee in which she provided information on visa exemptions etc. for NHS workers (and others). You can find this here.

The Home Office has also updated its visa information generally for NHS and independent health and care providers which is here.

The Home Office has produced information for those who need support which can be found here.

The following services are also starting to operate on a limited basis:

• Citizenship ceremonies
• Life in the UK test centres
• Police registrations

Free Movement are keeping this page up to date on a range of topics including asylum interviews, immigration tribunal hearings, detention, removals etc.

The UK’s borders remain open to international travellers.

However, you will need to check if you may need to self-isolate upon arrival in the UK. You can find further information here.

You can find information on Tier 4 here and on Tier 2/5 here.