Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: 7 September 2023

The latest statement of changes, published 7 September 2023, brings updates to the Youth Mobility Scheme, introduces the ETA scheme for non-visa nationals, removes the right of administrative review for EUSS refusals and presents Appendix Children. These changes will come into effect on varying dates from 28 September 2023 onwards.

Youth Mobility Scheme

The Youth Mobility Scheme allows young adults from participating countries to experience life in the UK for up to 2 years (or 3 years for specified countries).

The existing arrangements with Australia and Canada have been expanded. The age range is being expanded from 18-30 to 18-35 years, and the length of stay being granted is increasing from 2 to 3 years. This is the same age range and duration that New Zealand citizens currently benefit from.

Andorra has been added to the list of countries participating in the scheme.

ETA scheme

The new ETA scheme is being launched in October 2023. It will be phased out over several months, with different nationalities being added to the scheme as time goes by. Qatar nationals travelling to the UK after 15 November 2023 will need to apply for an ETA, with applications opening from 25 October. From 22 February 2024 the ETA scheme will apply to nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The change to the ETA scheme is that health service debt will not be a ground for refusal of an ETA application, due to systems not being in place to allow these checks to be conducted in a timely manner. However, it should be noted that entry at the border can still be refused for this reason.

EUSS changes

The right of administrative review for EUSS refusals and cancellation decisions is being removed from 5 October 2023. A right of redress will continue to be available through the right of appeal. This change will align the EUSS with the rest of the immigration system, where no dual right of redress exists.

Appendix Children

This will add an additional Appendix to the Immigration Rules and will include “common requirements for both children applying as dependants of a lead applicant, and children applying in their own right”. Common requirements relate to age, independent life, care, and relationship requirements.

This will apply to certain routes from 5 October 2023 and will be rolled out to other categories in the future. No policy changes have been made to these requirements, and the intention is to provide clarity and consistency between routes.

Our team are happy to discuss your circumstances in more detail and see how these changes may affect you. Please contact us to speak to a member of our Immigration Team.