A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was announced on the 10 th of October 2018 (HC 1534).

Flexibility on Missing Documents from Applicants – Applying for UK visas, such as a spouse visa:

Some of these changes include more flexibility given to Home Office caseworkers on whether and when they can write to applicants to ask for missing documents. (Whether they will in practice or still refuse for minor mistakes is another matter.)

This is good news since I know of applicants who were refused visas because 1 or 2 documents were not submitted, such as a Tuberculosis Test certificate or the correct IELTS English Language test certificate.

A refusal, especially based on minor mistakes, can certainly be devastating not only for the applicants but also for their families. I hope that this new change will be implemented and complied with by Home Office caseworkers.

Photocopied documents (instead of original documents) are now allowed to be submitted:

In addition, the Home Office will no longer insist on seeing original documents, copies may be provided.

For example:
Sandra is an American national. She lives in America, and is married to a British national, Matt. Sandra wants to make an application for a spouse visa.

Some of the documents she needs to submit are with her, including the couple’s marriage certificate and her English language test. However, Sandra, in the UK, has all of the documents relating to his employment, to show that Sandra meets the financial requirement of the rules.

Currently, Matt would have needed to send his original employment documents to Sandra to submit in the U.S.

In other countries, the documents are submitted to the Home Office processing centre in Sheffield, so that Sandra would probably have couriered her documents to Matt, who would then post them to Sheffield.

Under the new changes, the couple can simply upload their documents on, for example, a shared Dropbox folder, and the application can be printed out by either one to submit to the relevant body (the Visa Application Centre in the applicant’s country or Sheffield).

When will the changes be implemented by the Home Office?:

These changes will come into force on 5 November 2018, although the statement of changes does not specify whether it is for applications submitted after 5 November or decided after 5 November.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is best to assume it is for applications submitted after 5 November 2018.

More flexibility and copies of documents: Applicants applying under the Points Based System:

Changes to part 6A of the Rules, relating to Point Based System migrants, also offer more flexibility. For example, Home Office caseworkers can decide to:

• request an applicant to submit specified evidence which they have left out entirely. As the Rules are currently drafted, they could only do so if “some of the documents within a sequence have been omitted (for example, if one page from a bank statement is missing) and the documents marking the beginning and end of that sequence have been provided”.
  
• request more evidence as many times as they wish (the Rules currently specify that a request for documents will only be made once.
  
• grant an application even if a specified document is omitted or submitted in the wrong format, if the missing information is verifiable from other documents provided in the application or elsewhere.
  

Documents will not be requested when even if they were provided, the application would still fall to be refused.

Returning an Applicant’s original passport while the application is being processed:

• the Secretary of State will return an applicant’s ID while the application is outstanding, unless he “considers it necessary to retain it”. This is good news, especially if an original passport is needed to give notice of an intention to marry or sit the English language / Life in the UK tests.
  

   However, leaving the UK while an application is pending will still result in the application being treated as withdrawn.
   These changes will take effect on 1 November 2018 and will apply to applications made on or after that date.

Other changes: submitting passport-sized photos and paper application forms:

The Home Office are trying to go digital — the explanatory memorandum says “the ambition is that most applicants will apply online”. Accordingly:

• applicants will no longer need to submit passport-size photographs. This has probably been a redundant requirement for some time, given that applicants are already required to enrol their biometric information, which includes a photograph, as part of their application.

• paper forms can only be used if submitting the application by post. Those who will want to use the Premium Service Centre, or its future equivalent, will need to apply online.
  

If you need legal advice as to the legal requirements, procedure and documents required, please contact Melanie on 07761 306 670 to arrange a consultation. This entails a fee of £100 for a telephone/video conference/face to face meeting, for a maximum of 45 minutes. This fee is deducted from the overall legal fees, should you instruct Melanie to advise and assist you with an application.