Immigrants: Finance

(asked on 14th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to provide emergency support for highly skilled migrants with pending indefinite leave to remain applications and without rights including access to public funding under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 17th December 2020

Highly skilled migrants within the cohort affected by the Judgement in the case of Balajigari (and others) are considered to have 3C leave by virtue of the fact that the original decisions were quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Section 3C leave allows an individual to continue on the conditions attached to their last grant of permission to stay and therefore in the case of these individuals they were not permitted to access public funds under Tier 1 (General).

Where an individual applied for indefinite leave to remain when their permission to stay had already expired they would not benefit from Section 3C leave. However, individuals in this position have been issued with Immigration Bail letters confirming their right to work and study.

As such we do not consider access to public funds is necessary for the purpose of these applicants as they are able to undertake employment.

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