{"id":505384,"date":"2026-03-31T15:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/505384\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:23:10","slug":"vanessas-article-on-the-uks-tougher-immigration-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/505384\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanessa’s article on the UK\u2019s tougher immigration rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

31 March 2026<\/p>\n

\"Solicitors\"<\/p>\n

Vanessa Ganguin explains the consequences of extending mandatory visa refusals and revocations for 12 month custodial sentences to suspended sentences in Solicitors Journal this week. Managing Partner Vanessa writes about a barely reported yet draconian new immigration measures that mean from 26 March 2026, anyone who has received a suspended sentence of at least 12 months \u2013 either in the UK or abroad \u2013 face having their UK visa refused or revoked, regardless of how long ago the crime took place.<\/p>\n

The changes to Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules \u2013 the framework in the UK Immigration Rules for refusing and cancelling people\u2019s permission to be in the UK or settle \u2013 are in line with the Sentencing Act 2026 which removes provisions that previously excluded suspended sentences from counting as a period of imprisonment for the purposes of defining a foreign national offender. A sentence of a year, whether suspended or not, would mean automatic liability for deportation \u2013 a framework for excluding people from the UK that is significantly more draconian than the threat of mere administrative removal.<\/p>\n

These changes affect those not yet settled in the UK and follow last November\u2019s amendment of Part Suitability of the UK Immigration Rules, which considerably tightened them for applications by family members such as children, parents, spouses and partners. We wrote about this development in more detail here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Previously, someone sentenced to between 12 months and four years for a criminal offence was generally able to join their family in the UK as long as 10 years have passed since. Since November any conviction with a prison sentence of 12 months or more will now attract a mandatory refusal for those wishing to join loved ones in the UK, no matter where in the world the offence occurred or how much time has passed since the end of their sentence.<\/p>\n

Now even if the offence only warranted a suspended sentence, this would still mean a lifetime ban from the UK. There are also no transitional provisions to protect those already investing in lives in the UK in good faith.<\/p>\n

You can read more about these changes here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just one of a raft of controversial measures that the Home Secretary is currently risking a rebellion among Labour colleagues to implement,\u201d Vanessa warns in Solicitors Journal. \u00a0\u201cThis Autumn she promises to make many people\u2019s path to settle in the UK more protracted, precarious and expensive. Many organisations have warned that the hurdles Shabana Mahmood proposes in her \u201cearned settlement\u201d review<\/a> will prejudice women, children and those on lower-salaried jobs, harming their ability to make a life for themselves here.<\/p>\n

Among her proposals is an insistence that a \u201cclean criminal record\u201d will be necessary to settle in the UK \u2013 suggesting something even more draconian may be intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please contact us<\/a> if you are concerned about how any of these developments will affect you, your employees or your family, or if you would like to instruct us on any UK immigration, nationality<\/a>, right to work<\/a> and sponsorship procedures<\/a> and compliance<\/a>\u00a0issues. You can use the form below, email one of our lawyers<\/a> or call 0207 033 9527.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"31 March 2026 Vanessa Ganguin explains the consequences of extending mandatory visa refusals and revocations for 12 month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-505384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}