Skilled migrant rules unlawful

High Court overturns ‘unfair and discriminatory’ immigration rule change

The UK Government has suffered a blow after new, tougher immigration rules for skilled workers who want to remain in the UK were declared unfair and unlawful by the High Court.

Thousands of highly skilled migrants who faced being thrown out of the country are to be allowed to stay after a high court judge ruled yesterday that government immigration rule changes were unlawful and “an abuse of power”.

The Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HMSP), introduced in 2002, was designed to allow individuals with exceptional skills to come to Britain to seek work or set up as self-employed. The HSMP has been brought under the new points-based immigration scheme, and the Government had gone back on it’s pledge to those already on the old scheme, retrospectively taking away the rights of migrants and their families to live and work in the UK.

Skilled migrants win right to stay as judge says rule change unlawful – The Guardian

Government’s immigration policy in tatters – The Herald

Immigration rule change ‘illegal’ – BBC News website

The Times of India was also one of the many Indian papers covering the story, with a large proportion of highly skilled migrants originating in the sub-continent.