Change to Immigration Rules from January 2018

11 January 2018

The government has published a statement of changes to the immigration rules, the key policies of which came into force on 10 January 2018.

The purpose of the main changes is to:

  • Take account of the future commencement of the immigration bail provisions in Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016

  • Provide for entry clearance to be issued electronically

  • Allow standard and marriage/civil partnership visit visa holders to transit using the same visa

  • Clarify and remove inconsistencies from the rules relating to indefinite leave to remain for main applicants and their dependants in work categories

  • Double the number of available places in the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) category to 2,000, and allow accelerated settlement for certain applicants

  • Consolidate and clarify the rules for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applicants

  • Make new Tier 2 provisions for research positions and for students switching from Tier 4

For further details read the statement of changes to immigration rules on GOV.UK.