The government has decided not to challenge the High Court’s decision that it was acting unlawfully by applying changes to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) made in November 2006 to those who entered the UK before that date.
The changes implemented in November 2006 made it more difficult to obtain a HSMP visa and demanded that all migrants already in possession of a valid HSMP visa applied for renewals under the new rules.
The HSMP Forum, which brought the case to the High Court, said that up to 40,000 migrants could be forced to leave the country because the rules changed once they were already working here.
In a letter to campaigners Border and Immigration Agency chief executive Lin Homer said that the government had stopped sending letters telling workers to leave the country. Homer added that all those who secured their HSMP visas before the changes were made were now eligible to apply for an extension to stay in the UK until their case could be heard according to the old rules.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
