On 24 July 2024, the House of Commons library published an accessible overview of the immigration rules. The House of Commons library is a research and information service based in the UK parliament. They undertake research and produce resources to help MPs and their staff, as well as to support constituents. 

The immigration rules make up a large part of the UK’s immigration system. 

The rules contain most of the practical details about who is allowed to enter and apply to remain in the UK, as well the various conditions they need to meet. They set out rules for visitors, workers, students, and their dependents, as well as the procedure for different immigration routes for people from different countries.

We explain different parts of the immigration rules in the ‘Immigration’ sections of the Toolkit. 

This short blog explains the key points made in the House of Commons overview on the immigration rules.

What is the procedure for changing the immigration rules?

The immigration rules are statements of policy, rather than secondary legislation. This means that they are easier to change than law. In fact, the immigration rules can be changed at any time by the Home Secretary, by publishing a ‘Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules’. There are scheduled major changes to the rules twice a year (April and October) but in reality there are much more frequent changes. 

This means that the immigration rules are fast-changing, making them hard to stay up-to-date with, even for immigration law specialists. Many people, including judges, have commented that the rules should be simplified so that they are easier to understand and apply.

Statements of changes automatically come into effect on the day that is chosen by the Home Secretary. There is a convention (this means agreed practice) that changes should not come into force earlier than 21 days after being laid in Parliament, but this convention isn’t always followed.

Is it possible to challenge proposed changes to the immigration rules?

As outlined above, the Home Secretary can change the immigration rules at any time by making a ‘Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules’. In recent years, these changes have been very frequent, and the government has had a lot of power to make changes.

There is only a limited mechanism for Parliament to challenge proposed changes to the immigration rules. Parliament is made up of the House of Commons (elected Members of Parliament) and the House of Lords (unelected Lords).

Statements of changes to the immigration rules come into effect on the day that is chosen by the Home Secretary. They remain in force unless either the House of Commons or the House of Lords agrees on a motion (this means a proposal put forward for debate) to disapprove them within 40 days of the statement of changes being made. In practice this is very rare.

Statements of changes to the immigration rules are also examined during the 40-day period by the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Committee. However this process of review is advisory, and even if the Lords introduce a ‘motion to regret’, which outlines the reasons of disagreement, this does not mean that the proposed changes will be dropped. 

As outlined in the briefing, there have been criticisms that the parliamentary approval process for statements of immigration rules (and changes to the rules) is inadequate and side-lines the input of Parliament.

The report shares some suggestions that have been made to increase the ability to review and examine changes to the immigration rules, such as changing the approval procedure for changes to the rules or providing a regular opportunity for parliament to scrutinise them.

However, the report also states that many governments have not shown any interest in amending the review process, as it gives the government of the day flexibility in making changes quickly.  

The next scheduled Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules will be in October 2024.