ficheb

Migrant Rainbow – April 2025

1st May 2025 by ficheb

Our monthly summary of Migration Justice news

Local / Community Updates

Anti Raids Leeds are looking for volunteers to join their community outreach sessions educating the local community on how to resist immigration raids- head to their instagram bio @antiraidsleeds to sign up.

Leeds Refugee Forum are also looking for volunteers for their homework club to support children year 1-6 with English and Maths homework – no previous teaching experience required! @leedsrefugeeforum on Instagram for more!

In Leeds, the NHS trust has apologised to a woman with an active asylum claim, and cancelled over £10,000 of charges for maternity care after she was pursued by debt collectors. Many asylum seekers entitled to free NHS maternity care are being charged, as campaigners warn that migrant mothers and their children are at risk.

The issues with the exploitation of migrant care workers is prominent in Yorkshire, as an individual shares her story with the BBC about travelling from Zimbabwe to South Yorkshire for care work on a sponsored visa, and then being forced to work 16 hour days with no days off. She shared that she was unable to search elsewhere and had to ‘suffer in silence’ due to her visa being tied to her sponsoring employer.

Migrant Action Updates

Migrant Action has published a new analytical paper interrogating the rationale behind visa fees and their annual increases, in the wider context of immigration charging regimes. This was in response to the government’s recent visa fee increase which saw fees for the already precarious sponsorship scheme more than double. Click here to read it in our Migration Justice Library!

Spotlight on some client feedback from this month!!

General / National Updates

Migration and Labour Justice

The BBC have launched an investigation on ‘rogue recruitment agents’ who are scamming migrant workers, particularly carers, with fake jobs and Certificates of Sponsorship that cost individuals tens of thousands of pounds and then leave them with no work, no money, and a precarious immigration status once they have arrived in the UK. Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of Work Rights Centre says that ‘”The scale of exploitation under the Health and Care Work visa is significant’, and she thinks ‘it has turned into a national crisis’.

The government has released two reports – one being an evaluation of ‘the compliant’ environment during 2021-2023 covering six key restrictions affecting people without a legal migration status (work, housing, driving, banking, health, public funds) and the second relating to employer awareness of, and compliance with, Right to Work checks. Relatedly, free movement have published an up-to-date guide covering Right to Work checks for employers available on their website.

The latest visa data shows applications fell by over a third in the year ending March 2025, reflecting the restrictions faced by dependents of health and care workers and students, and the increase in the salary threshold for skilled workers. Reuters report that high visa charging are deterring overseas working, slowing down scientific research in an already understaffed sector.

InfoMigrants have shared a study outlining how how the UK is increasingly reliant on its migrant workforce – highlighting the transport, communications and health sectors in particular.

The Resolution Foundation has published a new briefing on their research into the precarious positions of ‘foreign-born workers’. The research finds that ‘foreign-born workers’ are disproportionately likely to be in precarious employment, such as temporary and zero-hours contracts and other positions in the ‘gig economy.’

Social Justice

Migrants Organise have published a report outlining highlighting how the crisis in legal aid is leaving people without quality legal advice and representation when they need it most, and opening up further possibility for exploitation of migrant individuals.

The Independent Monitoring Authority has launched a survey for EU nationals on life in the UK following the end of free movement

A campaigner’s legal challenge and freedom of information request has discovered that the Home Office spent at least £22,000 on legal fees to prevent publication of an internal Windrush report suggesting reasons behind the Windrush scandal are embedded in racist immigration legislation

136 organisations signed a collective statement calling on Keir Starmer to stop using anti-migration rhetoric following his remarks at the recent international people-smuggling summit.

Asylum

The Home Office will start processing asylum claims for people who had been earmarked for deportation to Rwanda. This announcement comes just before a court was due to hear JCWI’s legal challenge about the processing of asylum claims in the UK.

The government is being sued by at least 250 people who were detained at Manston asylum centre in 2022, due to breaches of their human rights. Several former Home Secretaries and Ministers have been named as people who may be called to give evidence – including Johnson and Sunak.

Immigration Policy

In an open letter, 40 Parliamentarians have called on ministers to introduce digital IDs as a way of ‘managing illegal immigration’ and ‘tackling off the books’ employment. The Immigrant Defence Project outlines the many risks of utilising Digital IDs – including the racially biased nature of increased digital surveillance

Yvette Cooper announced that government would review the application of human rights law to immigration cases, including using the right to family life as a basis for staying in the UK. The Attorney General has highlighted that misinformation is being ‘whipped up’ relating to how the right to family and private life has been applied.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is now in the Report Stage. Free movement outlines the amendments so far on their website – available on our Migration Justice Library. The Joint Committee on Human Rights is carrying out legislative scrutiny of the Bill to assess compatibility with international and domestic human rights.

Sources / Further Resources

Local Updates:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/13/asylum-seeker-billed-10000-for-nhs-maternity-care-could-only-afford-penny-a-month

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewgy52lgevo.amp

Migration and Labour Justice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1en4dx7yn9o

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-compliant-environment-interim-report/evaluation-of-the-compliant-environment-interim-report

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-awareness-of-right-to-work-checks/employer-awareness-of-and-self-reported-compliance-with-right-to-work-checks

A guide to right to work checks

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-visa-applications-immigration-figures-b2731004.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/high-uk-visa-costs-deter-international-scientists-engineers-2025-04-15

https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/64041/uk-increasing-reliance-on-migrant-workforce

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2025/04/precariousprospects.pdf

Social Justice

New Report! Threadbare: the Quality of Legal Aid

IMA launches survey for EU citizens on life in the UK after Brexit

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/04/home-office-spent-22000-on-failed-attempt-to-stop-windrush-report-release

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/07/rights-groups-starmer-anti-migrant-rhetoric

Asylum

https://jcwi.org.uk/updates/jcwi-legal-action-ends-limbo-for-people-once-targeted-by-rwanda-plan

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-claims-under-the-migration-and-economic-development-partnership/asylum-claims-under-the-migration-and-economic-development-partnership

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/07/people-held-at-uk-migrant-centre-sue-government-for-human-rights-breach

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd02ngnm58lo

Immigration Policy

https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Digital-IDs-FAQ.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/08/labour-mps-launch-campaign-to-introduce-digital-ids

https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/63914/uk-parliamentarians-push-for-digital-id-to-track-and-manage-undocumented-migrants

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/30/yvette-cooper-reviews-right-to-family-life-for-people-who-enter-uk-irregularly

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-secretary-joint-committee-on-human-rights-european-convention-on-human-rights-lord-courts-b2726219.html

https://freemovement.org.uk/what-amendments-have-been-made-to-the-border-security-asylum-and-immigration-bill

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9005/border-security-asylum-and-immigration-bill/publications

UK Visas and Immigration Visa Fee Updates- What you need to know

8th April 2025 by ficheb

UKVI has confirmed increases to immigration fees that cover visa, sponsorship and nationality services. These changes aim to generate additional revenue for the Home Office and are effective from 9 April 2025. This resource breaks down the key changes and provides some supplementary resources

Visit Visas:

Short-term(up to 6 months): Increased from £115 to £127.

Long-term: Up to 2 years from £432 to £475; Up to 5 years from £771 to £848; Up to 10 years from £963 to £1,059.

Study Visas:

Student Visa (main applicant and dependents): Increased from £490 to £524.

Child Student Visa: From £490 to £524.

Short-term Student Visa (English language, 6-11 months): From £200 to £214.

Work Visas:

Innovator Founder Visa (main applicant and dependents): Increased from £1,486 to £1,590.

Start-up Visa (main applicant and dependents): From £584 to £625.

Skilled Worker Visas:

Entry clearance applications (for individuals applying outside the UK): Up to three years from £719 to £769; More than three years from £1420 to £1,519.

In-country applications (for applicants already in the UK): Up to three years from £827 to £885; More than three years: from £1636 to £1,751.

Nationality and Settlement Fees:

Naturalisation (British citizenship): Increased from £1,500 to £1,605

Nationality Registration as a British Citizen – Adult: From £1,351 to £1,446.

Indefinite Leave to Remain: £2,885 to £3,029

Passport Application Fees:

Standard Online Application (within the UK): Adults has increased from £88.50 to £94.50; Children from £57.50 to £61.50.

Postal Applications: Adults from £100 to £107; Children from £69 to £74.

Premium Service (1-day processing): Adults from £207.50 to £222; Children from £176.50 to £189.

ETA Fee: Increased from £10 to £16

Sponsorship Fees for Workers:

Employers sponsoring migrant workers will see higher costs:

The sponsor licence application increased from £1,476 to £1,579 for large organisations, and from £536 to £574 for small organisations.

The CoS fee for Skilled Workers and Global Business Mobility (Senior or Specialist Worker) will more than double, rising from £239 to £525

Supplementary Resources

Details of all visa fee changes

Migrants Rights Network’s explainer on the changes

Info on Migrant Voice’s campaign against visa fees

If you are affected by the changes and need support please contact us at info@migrant.action.org.uk

Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules – What you need to know

8th April 2025 by ficheb

On 12th March, the Home Office published a statement of changes to immigration rules (HC 733), which includes updates to several visa categories. These changes come into effect on 9th April 2025. This resource breaks down the changes.

Changes to the Skilled Worker Route

These changes have been implemented to provide greater protection to care workers. An increasing number of individuals on the Health and Social Care Route are reporting exploitation and abuse on the visa route, as well as many individuals becoming displaced after their sponsors have their license revoked due to such abuse.

Care workers who have been displaced due to their sponsor losing its license will no longer have their visa curtailed and be issued with a ‘60 day letter’, instead being able to access various support from a Regional Hub for displaced workers.

Sponsors are now required to recruit from workers who are already in the UK at these Regional Hubs before seeking to recruit new sponsors from other immigration routes or overseas. These changes relate only to care jobs with working locations entirely in England.

Find out about the regional hubs here

Changes are also being made to update the minimum salary from £23,200 per year (or £11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per year (or £12.82 per hour).

EU Settlement Scheme Changes

To enable a non-EEA national applicant to the EUSS to use a UK-issued biometric residence card or permit which has expired by up to 18 months as proof of their identity and nationality and, where they use such a biometric residence card, not require them to re-enrol their fingerprint biometrics.

To confirm that a person with a pending administrative review of an EUSS decision, who has not left the UK or has been granted entry into the UK (except on immigration bail), will not be removed from the UK.

To confirm that a person who became an EU, other EEA or Swiss citizen after the end of the transition period cannot sponsor an EUSS family permit application.

To enable an EUSS or EUSS family permit application to be refused on suitability grounds, without a deportation or exclusion order being in place, where the applicant’s conduct before the end of the transition period meets the relevant EU law public policy test applicable under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements.

To confirm that, under the EU law public policy test applicable under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to suitability decisions based on the applicant’s conduct before the end of the transition period, the threshold of ‘serious grounds’ of public policy or public security is to be met where they have (or are eligible for) indefinite leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU and not under other parts of the Immigration Rules.

ETAs

Nationals from Trinidad and Tobago will now be required to obtain a visitor visa to visit the UK. Individuals will also need a Direct Airside Transit Visa if transiting through the UK, unless exempt. There is a 6 week transition period in place for this (until 23 April 2025) so that individuals with travel plans already in place and an existing ETA to travel to the UK without a visa.

British Nationals Overseas (BNOs) will no longer be required to obtain an ETA before travel to the UK.

Other Key Changes

Changes to Appendix Ukraine Permission Extension and Homes for Ukraine Schemes

Appendix Short-Term Study (English Language) – inclusion of a genuine intention to study requirement.

Updates to the Global Talent and Global Talent: Prestigious Prizes routes

Annual update of the Permit Free Festival (PFF) list for 2025

Update to the annual quotas of Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) partner countries for 2025

Changes to Appendix Child Student relating to Child Student safeguarding

Changes to Administrative review to remove “error correction grants” and amend Administrative review validity rules.

Changes regarding PhD students following supervisors to another institution

Details of these changes can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum

Supplementary Resources

Full Statement (HC 733)

Explanatory Memorandum

Information on regional hubs

Breakdown of the changes in the Right to Remain Toolkit

Tulia’s Blog regarding the changes for care workers

If you have any queries or are affected by the changes and need support, please contact us at info@migrant.action.org.uk

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Migrant Action (@migrant_action_)

Transforming Period Poverty Towards Period & Reproductive Justice

3rd April 2025 by ficheb

Migration and reproductive justice intersect. Forced displacement, poverty and poor access to essential support for migrants underpin the exacerbation of period poverty and poor reproductive health outcomes. Refugees, asylum seekers, and other individuals who have been forcibly displaced repeatedly experience limited access to sanitary and period products over the course of their migration journey, as well as unsafe spaces to attend to their menstrual health. Furthermore, research and casework by Migrant Action and many of our partners has consistently demonstrated the significant financial barriers for migrants that are in the UK. These barriers, which include immigration charging regimes; restrictions on the right to work for asylum seekers; and the exploitative certificate of sponsorship scheme, leave many individuals in a position of poverty, often with No Recourse to Public Funds and support from the State. Because sanitary products are not free or accessible in the UK, many migrants who are struggling financially are then unable to access these essential items and be able to attend to their menstrual health with dignity and autonomy.

The lack of access for period products and safe spaces to practice menstrual health is exacerbated by the culture of shame, stigmatisation and menstrual taboo which exists across many cultures and can impact how individuals who menstruate navigate their daily life and activities. For example, many individuals report that their ability to learn, work, exercise and generally be in public is hindered by their lack of access to period products and the shame that they carry.

This multifaceted issue of reproductive and period justice and the ways it intersects with migration justice has been highlighted to us through our service delivery practices, and we have seen first-hand the challenges and hardships this is bringing to our community. Migrant Action is committed to being a dynamic organisation that can be consistently responsive to the needs of our community as they emerge, working collaboratively and in solidarity.

It is within this context of collaboration and solidarity that Migrant Action developed an impactful partnership partnered with ‘Bloody Good Period’ (charity) to support our community with access to period products, as well as a safe space for them to engage with and attend to their menstrual health. Bloody Good Period adopts an intersectional approach that not only provides practical support and essential items for menstrual health but works to de-stigmatize menstruation and provide menstrual health education to individuals that cannot access it. The research they produce connects the issue of period poverty with many other systems of injustice and works to dismantle period injustice for all.

Our service users in Barnsley who have been utilising our collaboration with Bloody Good Period have shared some feedback with us which has provided us with an insight into the impact of this new initiative:

We are grateful to have also been provided with feedback on how to make this initiative even more successful in supporting period justice within migrant communities. One suggestion is to introduce more discreet bags for individuals to take items home in which will help them to feel empowered even after leaving the safe space. Two other key suggestions were to expand our network and collaborations further to involve other organisations so that we can keep up with the high demand, and reach more ‘hard to reach groups’ groups; and for greater awareness and engagement of period poverty within schools to provide help for families with menstruating parents and children. This feedback reflects the multi-faceted issue of reproductive justice and demonstrates why simply period products alone is not enough to counter period inequality. Our client voice guides our approach and frameworks, and so Migrant Action and Bloody Good Period will be working together to respond to these suggestions and refine our initiative which is already having such a positive impact.

Thank you to Bloody Good Period for this collaboration and their work to achieve period justice FOR ALL.

Migrant Rainbow – March 2025

3rd April 2025 by ficheb

Our monthly summary of migration justice news

Local / Community Updates

Four Windrush projects in Yorkshire and Humber are receiving funding under the Government Windrush Day Grant. The projects are: Cricket Arena CIC; Kirklees Local Television; MAPA Cultural Arts Centre; Prison Radio Association.

Yorkshire International Recruitment Hub is requesting views on how to strengthen support for migrant healthcare workers in our region – hoping to hear from organisations supporting individuals on Health and Social care Visas, and the individuals themselves. The survey is live until 4th April

People seeking asylum in Leeds have shared how the ban which prevents them from working is affecting their lives. One individual claims to feel like a ‘wasted resource’ who cannot contribute to our community, and many share the impact that this has on their wellbeing.

Saifullah Ahmadzai, who sought asylum in the UK nearly two years ago, has shared how a community bike project in Barnsley enabled him to build independence in the UK – emphasising the importance of community solidarity and the various ways that this can show.

Leeds City Council are welcoming feedback on their 2021-2025 Strategic Coordinated and Inclusive Approach to Migration, with a deadline on 14th April

Migrant Action Updates

Migrant Action is building a new grassroots Economic Justice Collaboration initiative aiming to build a new architecture for interrogating extractive exploitative economic regimes that are harming migrants, and working towards building alternative economies and migrant-led eco-systems for economic justice. This would enable migrants to re-imagine humane and liberatory economic futures where individuals are not ‘tools’ for extraction, but architects of their owns dreams for economic. Migrant Action will support migrant workers to build knowledge, capacity, leadership, and infrastructures for building new solidarity economies, wealth creation, and systemic advocacy for migration justice. If you are excited and want to know more about our migration economic justice vision or contribute to the project get in touch with us at Migrant Action – all are welcome and individuals who are affected are particularly encouraged to get involved.

Migrant Action has welcomed Nova to the Migrant Action team in a full time capacity, after 2 years as a volunteer! They will be carrying out communications and community engagement work in this role and we are grateful for this addition to the team and look forward to their contribution!

Client feedback spotlight

General / National Updates

Migration and Labour Justice – Care Workers

The Royal College of Nursing urged the government to accelerate its planned investigation into the exploitation of care workers, expressing concern at lack of government action about serious issues such as employers demanding large repayment fees if staff decide to leave.

Furthermore, the National Audit Office has published a report criticising the Home Office for failing to assess the potential impact of making it easier to recruit care workers from overseas. Their report states the department does not have a full understanding of how the Skilled Worker visa route is operating, and that they ‘cannot be confident it is achieving value for money’. This coincides with Anti-slavery commissioner Eleanor Lyons attributing the exploitation of care workers to the flawed design of the visa scheme – expressing the need for the government to go further to address exploitation.

On the 12th March, the Government launched a series of new immigration rules, including changes to the skilled worker route which will require employers to prioritise recruiting migrant care workers who are already in England before recruiting from overseas, which they claim ‘ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so and will help end the reliance on overseas recruitment as we restore order to our immigration system through our Plan for Change’. Tulia Group states that many issues and barriers to justice remain for individuals on the scheme despite the changes: including transportation barriers and issues specifically for men on these visas struggling to get work.

Economic and Labour Justice

The Government announced a general hike in visa fees set to come into effect on the 9th April – visas to study, work, and settle in the UK are all affected. The certificate of sponsorship fee is being raised by 120% – from from £239 to £525. This comes at a time when many migrants justice organisations have been sharing the financial difficulties faced by migrants due to these visa fees and the effect that this has on one’s physical and mental health. Migrant Action are working to formulate a response to this hostility and maintain resilience in our community.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research finds that 46% of children in the UK with at least one parent born outside the country are living in poverty. The report also highlights how many families who have No Recourse to Public Funds have restricted access to free childcare which prevents parents from working. This highlights just one of the inhumane barriers that the No Recourse to Public Funds policy perpetuates for migrants.

Employers in the UK have shared that the attempts by the government to reduce overall net migration, including the ban for care workers to bring dependents, has made it difficult for recruiters to hire the right staff. The Work Rights Centre warns that this increases the risk of exploitation for migrant workers in the fields of construction, hospitality, and care.

Data from ApplyBoard suggests that international students’ aspirations, as reflected by their field of study, align with the UK’s long-term workforce demands. Sheffield business owners have expressed their worries on the negative impact on the falling number of international students in the city upon their businesses.

Asylum

Migrants Rights Network has released research surrounding the issues of using AI in asylum decision making, focused on the perspectives of individuals in the system. Individuals expressed concern at AI’s ability to understand human emotions and how this may particularly impact neurodivergent people, the lack of transparency about how AI is used in the system, and the ability of AI to make errors which are unchecked and the impact this will carry.

The UK Government has hosted an ‘organised immigration crime summit’ with over 40 countries and organisations attending, emphasising the commitment to ‘securing borders’ and ‘tackling smuggling gangs’ . Whilst the establishment of safe routes for individuals who are seeking safety and asylum is still not being considered as a legitimate solution, the government has already introduced some new measures which will harm irregular migrants:

In an extension of the Hostile Environment, the government is expanding right-to-work checks to cover gig economy workers by making amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Businesses that do not carry out the checks could be fined up to £60,000, or face closures and up to five years in prison. This is despite the Home Office’s own report which found that there is no evidence of “a long-term correlation between labour market access and destination choice”. Free movement says ‘These changes are therefore unlikely to have any impact on people coming over by small boat, but they will create more problems for those who are here lawfully and are approaching the expiry of their leave, or who are on section 3C leave.’

£30m of funding for the Border Security Command will be used to tackle supply chains, finance and trafficking routes across Europe, the Balkans, Asia and Africa. A further £3m is being given to the Crown Prosecution Service to increase its ability to deal with people-smuggling cases.

General

British Future research argues that the politics of immigration have not caught up with the reality, as immigration numbers are consistently falling- particularly work visas in the health and care sector and study visas including dependents- yet there is still a political push to get the lowest numbers of immigration, rather than acknowledgment of the contribution of migration to economic growth.

The Government has been pushing to increase deportations of Foreign National Offenders through a new ‘immigration crack squad’ as well as trying to review the application of Article 8 of the ECHR (the right to private and family life) to UK immigration cases, after many of these deportations are halted under this human rights basis. There has also been an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration bill which allows Foreign National Offenders who cannot be deported under Article 8 to be subjected to electronic tagging and curfews. The Committee on Human Rights is conducting an inquiry to scrutinise the Bill- submissions needed by 11th April.

The government has also produced a series of guides in multiple languages to help ensure people receive reliable immigration advice. The guidebooks highlight risks posed by unregulated advisors and give details on how to report illegal activity.

EU visitors can now apply for the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) needed for the travel to the UK from 2 April. Meanwhile, the government confirmed the plans to exempt BN(O) passport holders from ETA requirements, initially introduced to this group in January. From now on, all people with a biometric-chipped passport or national identity card can update all their UKVI details, including name and nationality, online.

Free Movement have released a resources on rules surrounding continuous residence for the EU Settlement Scheme- available in Migration Justice Library