Immigration

The use of hotels as temporary asylum accommodation has recently increased. This has been due to issues with some asylum accommodation contracts and, more recently, measures to limit the risk of spreading Covid-19.

The Government is reviewing its policy on restricting asylum seekers' rights to work. The current position is that people seeking asylum can only apply for permission to work if they have been waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim for over 12 months. Those who are given permission can only do skilled jobs on the Shortage Occupation List.

The Government has created a new visa for people from Hong Kong with British National (Overseas) status. The five year visa will enable BN(O)s and their dependent family members to live, work and study in the UK, and give them a route to permanent settlement and British citizenship. It will launch in January 2021.

The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2019-21 has completed its Committee stage and is due to have its Report stage and Third Reading on 30 June. The Bill was passed by the Public Bill Committee without amendments.

This Commons Library briefing paper considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the overseas health and social care workforce. The paper discusses the measures used to increase numbers of overseas staff during the pandemic, the immigration measures introduced for health and social care workers, and the potential implications for overseas recruitment.

Efforts by the Home Office to remedy the injustices suffered by people caught up in the Windrush scandal are ongoing. The Windrush compensation scheme is operational, and legislation underpinning the scheme received Royal Assent in June 2020. But some stakeholders remain dissatisfied with aspects of the Home Office's response to the scandal, for example citing ongoing delays in processing cases and applications for compensation.

On Thursday 25 June 2020, there will be a debate in the House of Commons on a number of e-petitions relating to the recognition and reward of health and social care workers. The subject for the debate was determined by the Petitions Committee. Its Chair, Catherine McKinnell MP, will open the debate. Below are the associated e-petitions submitted to the Petitions Committee, relevant Committee proceedings and Library and other briefings on the health and social care sector. The motion for debate is: That this House has considered e-Petitions relating to the recognition and reward of health and social care workers

Most non-EEA nationals applying for temporary leave to remain in the UK must pay an 'Immigration Health Surcharge' (IHS) to the Home Office, in addition to the immigration application fee. The Government has a manifesto commitment to increase the charge and extend it to EEA nationals after the Brexit transition period. The charge, and the proposed increases, have generated some controversy, particularly against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a recent change of policy, the Government now intends to exempt NHS and care workers from the IHS in the future, although it has not yet confirmed when this will take effect.

This Commons Library briefing paper is a guide to understanding UK migration statistics. It explains the concepts and methods used in measuring migration and setting out a range of data on migration in the UK and in European Union countries.

Over 67,000 NHS staff in England are EU nationals - 5.5% of all staff. Overall, 13.8% of NHS staff say that their nationality is not British. Facts and figures on the nationality of NHS staff for doctors, nurses and other groups, and changes since the Brexit vote.

The tables in this paper provide a summary of the UK and EU positions in the future relationship negotiations, based on their proposed draft treaty texts and other publicly available statements

This Insight explains how migration statistics are transforming and the implications of this change.

This paper provides an update on the first three rounds of negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship and analysis of the draft new partnership treaty tabled by the EU in March 2020