The Home Office has published a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules which will affect immigration applications for the UK. The statement was published on 10 September 2024. The changes will take effect on dates throughout the end of 2024 and early 2025, outlined below.
Parts of our website information will need to be amended and updated to reflect these changes, and we will be doing this soon. Home Office guidance to accompany these changes may not be published until on, or after, the effective dates of the changes. Therefore, our website information may be subject to change for a short while after the changes come into force. Where appropriate, we have provided a link, or links, to our current information, so that you know where to look out for our changes.
Student route
For applications on or after 2 January 2025, the amount of money Students will be required to have available as evidence to meet the financial requirements of the route are changing. For details on these changes, please see our recent news item.
Part 9 (general grounds for refusal)
For applications made on or after 8 October 2024, medical grounds on which an immigration officer must currently refuse permission to enter the UK will also be grounds on which entry clearance applications will be refused.
Further changes are being made for those whose immigration permission or entry clearance is refused on the basis of deception, or failing to comply with the conditions of their permission. For applications made on or after 8 October 2024, you must be aged 18 years or more when the breach was committed in order for this to be considered a previous breach of immigration laws.
Visitors
New provisions have been imposed for Jordanian nationals wishing to travel to the UK as a Visitor. The new requirements mean that Jordanian nationals are now required to obtain entry clearance (a Visitor visa) before travelling to the UK, as opposed to seeking permission to enter the UK upon arrival. This change was implemented with immediate effect from 3pm (UK time) on 10 September 2024.
If you were already in receipt of an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), had a confirmed booking to the UK prior to 3pm (UK time) on 10 September 2024, and your intended travel to the UK is scheduled to be no later than 3pm (UK time) on 8 October 2024, you will still be permitted to seek entry to the UK as a Visitor on entry without needing a prior Visitor visa.
Electronic Travel Authorisations
Jordanian nationals are no longer able to obtain an ETA to enter the UK and must now apply for and obtain permission before travelling to the UK when seeking entry as either a Visitor or Creative Worker. This change was implemented with immediate effect from 3pm (UK time) on 10 September 2024. The only exception to this will be applied if you were granted an ETA before 3pm (UK time) on 10 October 2024, and your planned arrival to the UK is no later than 3pm (UK time) on 8 October 2024.
For applications made on or after 8 October 2024, the list of nationalities requiring an ETA to travel to the UK as either a Visitor or Creative Worker will be expanded. The list of nationalities will be found in a new Appendix ETA National list. This list will outline two groups of countries requiring an ETA for travel to the UK from 8 January 2025 and 2 April 2025 respectively.
For applications made on or after 8 October 2024, two new reasons for refusal have been added to the Rules. The details of these reasons for refusal are outlined in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes in paragraph 5.11.
Appendix Children
For applications made on or after 8 October 2024, a minor change is being made to the requirement for parental consent where an applicant under the age of 18 is not applying for immigration permission for the UK as a dependent child. The Rules now explicitly require any written consent from the parent(s) or legal guardian to actively consent to the applicant’s application, living arrangements, travel to, and reception in the UK, rather than support it.
Also for applications made on or after 8 October 2024, any applicant aged 18 or over who is applying under this appendix can only do so if their last grant of permission was as a dependent child of their parent(s) and if that permission is still valid, or expired no more than 14 days before the date of the new application. This will not apply to applicants over the age of 18 applying as a dependent child under Appendix Bereaved Partner or Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse.
Miscellaneous changes
The Home Office uses a currency conversion website called OANDA to convert currencies to GBP as part of their case working process. OANDA do not provide an exchange rate for Mongolian Tugrik, and so case workers will be instructed to use the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office consular rate of exchange (FCDO CER) for this currency for all applications made on or after 8 October 2024.
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