Point B Legal

09/10/2026

An important and genuinely welcome change came into effect today.

From 9 October 2026, recognised victims of modern slavery on the Skilled Worker route are no longer tied to a single sponsor. Once formally recognised as a victim, a worker can leave an abusive employer and take up any lawful work for the remainder of their visa, without putting their immigration status at risk.

Until now, the choice was brutal: stay with an abusive sponsor, or risk losing both your status and your income, with no recourse to public funds to fall back on. That impossible choice ends today.

It matters most for workers across the Skilled Worker route, including care workers, who came here in good faith and were exploited by rogue employers. The government has also pointed to a record crackdown on rogue sponsors, with thousands stripped of their licence to hire overseas workers.

A meaningful step towards protecting people from exploitation, and one that anti-slavery campaigners have long called for.

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08/10/2026

A change to Part Suitability took effect on 8 October, and it is easy to miss because it is only two lines.

The suitability provisions already covered overstaying, breach of a condition, illegal entry and deception. A fifth limb now covers acting to frustrate immigration controls: failing to report, absconding from bail or custody, failing to co-operate with redocumentation or removal, using false or multiple identities, and accessing work, housing, benefits or services without entitlement.

What changed is not the conduct. It is where it bites. Until now this was relevant to entry clearance only, and only once another breach had been established. It was not a breach in its own right. It can now support a discretionary refusal of an application made from inside the UK, on its own.

There is a second effect that will catch people later. Someone whose only adverse history was this, and who has since left the UK, may now fall within a re-entry ban where they previously did not.

The ground is discretionary rather than mandatory, so circumstances, time elapsed and mitigation are relevant and need to be addressed rather than assumed. It applies only to conduct from age 18. And it does not apply to Appendix EU, the EU Family Permit, most asylum applications or Appendix Settlement Protection.

Applications made before 8 October remain subject to the rules in force on 7 October.

If your history involves reporting, bail or a period without status, take advice before submitting an in-country application. This is now part of how your file will be read.

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General information only and not legal advice. Point B Legal Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, at Level 3 (Highest Level) registration

24/09/2026

The Home Secretary has confirmed the earned settlement policy will be set out later this year, with decisions coming "very soon."

The key points from her evidence to MPs:

The plan still stands: the standard qualifying period for ILR would rise from five years to ten, with settlement "earned" through contribution and a new set of tests.

She confirmed the rules that apply to you are the rules in force when you apply, not when you arrived. That principle continues as normal.

On transitional protections, she said a range of options are on the table, from passporting some groups through at five years with no change, to longer arrangements for others. This is still to be decided.

She acknowledged the anxiety this uncertainty is causing, especially for those who arrived in 2022 and expected to qualify in February 2027.

My read: nothing is settled yet, and that is precisely why this is the time to understand your own position, not to panic and not to assume. If you are approaching five years, get clear advice on where you stand under the current rules while they still apply.

Questions about your settlement timeline? Get in touch.

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Source: article by the Electronic Immigration Network (EIN).

10/09/2026

"My visa expired months ago and I still haven't heard anything. Am I even allowed to be here?"

Usually, yes. If you applied before your visa expired, your permission continues automatically until the Home Office decides. You can work, rent, see a doctor, travel. Nobody sends you a letter explaining this, which is why so many people spend the wait quietly afraid.

But it only holds if the application was done properly, and from 8 October three situations get riskier.

Changing your application after you submitted it. Asking for a fee waiver and then applying on a different route. Waiting on a settlement application after ten years in the UK.

If none of those are you, nothing changes. Keep waiting.

If one of them is, get advice before 7 October rather than after. Losing your permission reaches your job, your tenancy and your ability to travel, and it is far easier to protect than to repair.

Link in bio for the full piece on our website and also Substack.

General information, not advice on your own case.

www.pointblegal.com

27/08/2026

24/08/2026

Bu hafta İngiltere vize başvurusu yapacaklar için önemli bir duyuru.

UKVI, Sağlık Sigortası Ücreti (Immigration Health Surcharge) ödeme sisteminde 26 Ağustos Çarşamba saat 09:00 ile 27 Ağustos Perşembe saat 03:00 (İngiltere saati) arasında planlı bakım çalışması yapacaktır. Bu süre zarfında IHS ödemesi yapılamayabilir.

Bu neden önemli: Online başvuru, IHS ödemesi tamamlanıp ödeme referans numarası oluşturulmadan tamamlanmış sayılmaz. Ödeme yapılamazsa başvuru gönderilemez ve mevcut izin süresinin bitimine az kalan başvuru sahipleri için bu ciddi bir risk oluşturur.

Önerilerim:

Başvurunuz hazırsa Çarşamba sabahından önce gönderip ödemenizi yapın. Bu mümkün değilse, kesinti sırasında tekrar tekrar denemek yerine Perşembe gününü bekleyin. Ödeme yarıda kalırsa yeni bir başvuru başlatmayın, mükerrer başvurular çok daha büyük sorunlara yol açar. İzniniz bu hafta sona eriyorsa Çarşamba gününü beklemeden bugün danışmanınızla görüşün.

Planlı kesintiler olağandır, ancak göçmenlik hukukunda zamanlama her şeydir. Bu hafta yapılacak küçük bir planlama, ilerleyen günlerde büyük sıkıntıları önleyecektir.

Burcu Koroglu, Point B Legal

15/08/2026

What's better than one review? Two, from the same client.

Returning trust is the highest compliment we can receive.

Thank you.

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13/08/2026

Big news for researchers, scientists and engineers and the world's brightest minds in AI, life sciences and clean energy:

The UK has just made it a lot easier for you to come and work here.

Until now, the Global Talent visa route was mostly the world of universities. That has changed. More than 100 of the UK's most innovative companies can now support the world's best scientists and engineers to move here and work.

And we are not talking about small names. AstraZeneca. Jaguar Land Rover. Alongside fast-growing innovators like AVS, Denroy Plastics and Ffilm Cymru.

For the first time, if you are an exceptional researcher working on a funded project, a commercial business can support your move to the UK, not just a university. That is a real shift.

The focus is on the fields shaping the future: artificial intelligence, clean energy, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and quantum technology.

This follows changes back in April that already widened the fast-track academic route to cover more leadership and PhD-level research roles. And the route is proven: more than 12,500 people from over 130 countries have already built their research careers in Britain through it.

So if you work in one of these fields and have ever thought about the UK, the door may now be open to you in a way it simply was not before.

If that sounds like you, let's talk. We would be glad to look at your eligibility and map out the strongest way forward. (visit our website for our detailed blog to learn more)

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🌐 www.pointblegal.com

26/07/2026

The Home Office now offers a priority service for British citizenship applications: a decision within 30 working days, for an additional £500.

But faster is not always simpler.

The fee is not automatically refunded if your case is treated as complex, and factors like absences, gaps in residence, or an unresolved character issue can take an application outside the expected timeframe, even when the applicant believed it was straightforward.

In our latest guide, we explain how the priority service works, which applications are eligible, who qualifies for discretionary priority treatment without paying the fee, and, importantly, how to establish whether your case is genuinely straightforward before you pay.

Essential reading if you are preparing your own naturalisation application.

Read the full guide in our blog written by our Director, Burcu Koroglu - link in the comments.

21/07/2026

UK settlement rules are changing, and a new Prime Minister has just taken office.

Our latest blog breaks down the proposed "earned settlement" model, the retroactive impact on up to two million people, the House of Lords' alternative proposal, and what to expect this autumn.

If you or your employees are working toward ILR, this is essential reading.