Immigration Law in the United Kingdom
UK immigration law is national — the same rules apply in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — and it changed more in 2025 and 2026 than in the previous decade. One rule matters before anything else: only regulated people may give immigration advice on your case. That is the law (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999), and it exists to protect you from the unqualified "agents" who wreck applications. Legal Hotline gives you clear general information about how the system works, free, 24/7 — and connects you with a qualified UK solicitor for a fixed-fee £145 consultation when you need advice on your own situation.
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How Immigration Law Works in the United Kingdom
Work routes now start at degree level. Since July 2025 the Skilled Worker visa is limited to graduate-level jobs, with a general salary threshold of £41,700 a year (or the occupation's official going rate if that is higher), and from January 2026 the English requirement rose to B2. Lower-skilled roles are sponsorable only while they sit on a temporary shortage list due to expire at the end of 2026 — and workers sponsored in those roles cannot bring partners or children. The care worker route closed to new overseas applicants in July 2025. Students keep the Graduate route after their course — currently two years of post-study work, reducing to eighteen months for applications made from January 2027.Family routes run on hard numbers. A partner visa needs a genuine relationship and a minimum income of £29,000 a year (or £88,500 in savings), with exact, prescribed evidence — technically wrong paperwork is a refusal with the £2,064 fee lost. English rises in steps: A1 to enter, A2 to extend, B1 to settle. Bringing an elderly parent under the adult dependent relative rules is, in practice, close to impossible — very few applications succeed, and honest advice before paying the fee matters.
Settlement and citizenship are where the biggest change is brewing. Today, most work and partner routes lead to indefinite leave to remain after five years (with no more than 180 days' absence in any twelve months), and citizenship a year later. The government has proposed moving the standard settlement period to ten years — a consultation closed in February 2026 with over 200,000 responses, and rule changes have been signalled for late 2026 but are not law today. If you are close to qualifying under the current rules, that timing matters enormously.
Asylum was overhauled in March 2026: people recognised as refugees on claims made from 2 March 2026 now receive 30-month renewable "core protection" leave rather than five years, reviewed against conditions in their home country, and refugee family reunion has been suspended since September 2025. Support rates are £49.18 a week for those in self-catered accommodation. Appeals go to the First-tier Tribunal with a strict 14-day deadline, and around 80,000 appeals are waiting — the system's new bottleneck. The paperwork itself is now digital: physical biometric residence permits expired at the end of 2024, status is proved online by eVisa and share code, and visitors who do not need a visa need a £20 Electronic Travel Authorisation to board a flight to the UK.
How Legal Hotline Can Help
Our AI legal assistant explains the system in plain English, any hour: which visa route fits which situation, what the current thresholds and fees actually are, what the eVisa change means, how the asylum process runs, and what deadlines apply to refusals and appeals. That is general legal information — the law restricts advice on your individual immigration case to regulated advisers, and we respect that line absolutely. When your situation needs real advice — a refusal, a deadline, a complex application — we connect you with a qualified UK solicitor (solicitors are regulated to advise on immigration) for a one-hour consultation at a fixed £145, bookable right on the call. If cost is a barrier: asylum work is covered by legal aid, and the free organisations listed in our sources — the Immigration Advice Authority register, the Refugee Council, Citizens Advice and local law centres — are the right doors to knock on.How to Get Help — Step by Step
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is legally allowed to give immigration advice in the UK?
Only "qualified persons": advisers registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (the regulator formerly called the OISC), solicitors, barristers and CILEX lawyers. Section 84 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 says no one else may advise on immigration, and doing so unqualified is a criminal offence carrying up to two years' imprisonment. Before paying anyone, check them on the official register at gov.uk/find-an-immigration-adviser. Legal Hotline provides general legal information, not immigration advice — and the consultations we arrange are with qualified solicitors.
What income do I need to sponsor my partner's visa?
£29,000 a year gross, or £88,500 in savings held for six months, with the exact documents the rules prescribe — payslips and bank statements in specified formats. The fee is £2,064 from outside the UK, plus the £1,035-a-year health surcharge. A review recommended against raising the threshold further, and £29,000 remains the figure in force. Sponsors receiving certain disability benefits meet a different "adequate maintenance" test instead.
How long until I can settle permanently in the UK?
Under today's rules, most Skilled Worker and partner-route holders qualify for indefinite leave to remain after five years (ten on the harder family route), keeping absences under 180 days in any twelve months, with the fee currently £3,226. Be aware: the government has proposed a ten-year standard period, consulted on it over winter 2025–26, and signalled rule changes for late 2026 — the proposal is not law today, but anyone near the five-year mark should get regulated advice about timing rather than wait.
How do I claim asylum, and what support do I get while waiting?
You must be in the UK — tell an immigration officer at the border, or contact the asylum intake unit as soon as possible after arriving; delay damages credibility. After screening comes a substantive interview. Housing (no choice of location) and £49.18 a week are provided where you would otherwise be destitute. Claims decided from March 2026 that succeed lead to 30-month renewable protection rather than five years. Asylum legal advice is covered by legal aid — Migrant Help and the Refugee Council are the main free doors in.
My visa application was refused — what are my options and deadlines?
Read the refusal letter for which route it offers. If you have a right of appeal it goes to the First-tier Tribunal within 14 calendar days of the decision if you are in the UK (28 from abroad). Some decisions instead offer administrative review — £80, also on a 14-day clock. Both deadlines are hard, and around 80,000 appeals are queued, so acting immediately with a regulated adviser matters. A refusal for wrong evidence can often be fixed in a fresh, properly documented application.
What is an eVisa, and do visitors need anything new?
Physical residence permits expired on 31 December 2024 — immigration status now lives online as an eVisa, proved by a share code from your UKVI account, with your current passport linked before you travel. An expired card does not mean your visa expired, and a card does not prove live status. Separately, visitors who do not need a visa — including Europeans, Americans and Australians — now need a £20 Electronic Travel Authorisation before boarding, valid two years. British and Irish citizens are exempt.
Is this legal advice? Are you a law firm?
No. Legal Hotline is not a law firm and does not give immigration advice — the line explains how UK immigration law works in general terms, which the law permits, and calling creates no solicitor-client relationship. For advice on your specific case we connect you with a qualified UK solicitor for a fixed-fee £145 consultation, and we signpost the regulated free services — the Immigration Advice Authority register, legal aid for asylum, the Refugee Council, Citizens Advice and law centres.
General legal information, not legal advice. We research every page from primary sources — legislation, the courts, and government legal-aid bodies — and check it for accuracy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at admin@platfirm.ai.
Sources & further reading
- Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, s.84 — only qualified persons may give immigration advice
- GOV.UK — Find a regulated immigration adviser (Immigration Advice Authority register)
- GOV.UK — Skilled Worker visa (current salary and skill requirements)
- GOV.UK — Family visas: proof of income (the £29,000 minimum income requirement)
- GOV.UK — Claim asylum in the UK
- GOV.UK — Immigration and asylum tribunal appeals (14-day deadline)
- GOV.UK — eVisas: proving your immigration status
- GOV.UK — Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
- Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025
- GOV.UK — Legal aid: what's covered
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