News Update – 24 July 2026
This week’s developments span a closing ballot for Indian nationals, fresh data on the UK’s standing as a study destination, renewed activity in the Channel under a new Prime Minister, and a run of illegal working enforcement that sits directly alongside the right to work reforms due on 1 October.
India Young Professionals Scheme: Second Ballot Now Open
The second and final ballot of 2026 under the India Young Professionals Scheme opened on 21st July and closes on 23rd July 2026. Advisers with Indian clients in the relevant age bracket should note that the ballot is the only gateway into the route: there is no facility to apply for the visa directly, and entry into the draw is the necessary first step towards receiving an invitation. This round distributes the places left over after the February ballot, the first of the year, absorbed most of the 3,000 visas allocated to Indian nationals for 2026. Entering costs nothing, but the Home Office has been clear that only those who genuinely intend to apply and who already meet the requirements should register, and only one entry per person will be counted in each round.
The eligibility position is worth restating for advisory purposes. Applicants must be Indian citizens, ordinarily aged between 18 and 30, holding a bachelor’s degree or another qualifying award, with savings of at least £2,530 and no dependent children under 18. The route is unusual among work-related categories in requiring neither a job offer nor a sponsor, and a successful applicant may live, work, study and travel in the UK for up to 24 months subject to the conditions of leave.
Selection in the draw is not a grant of leave; it produces an invitation, after which the applicant has 90 days to submit the online application, pay the £340 fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge, and enrol biometrics.
Those who are selected are under no obligation to proceed, while unsuccessful entrants have no right of challenge, the outcome being final, although they may enter later rounds if the scheme continues and they remain eligible. The route sits under the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership, and its ballot mechanism exists purely because demand outstrips the annual allocation.
The UK Leads on Study Visa Issuance Despite a Restrictive Policy Climate
Analysis published this week by The PIE News with Higher Insights indicates that the UK issued more new study visas in 2025 than any other country, at 394,921 across all study levels, placing it ahead of its three principal competitors for the first time since 2022. Australia followed on 365,616 and the United States on 298,881, with France, Germany and Canada forming the lower half of what the analysis describes as a new “big six”. The finding is striking given the domestic policy climate and given that UK issuance fell by around 32 per cent in the final quarter of the year.
The explanation appears to lie less in UK attractiveness than in competitor disruption: caps and refusal rates elsewhere, a pronounced Canadian contraction, and continuing visa delays and status changes in the United States. The UK’s relative position is being sustained by comparative advantage rather than by any softening at home, and the sector’s financial strain, reflected in mounting university job cuts, has not eased.
Channel Crossings Resume Under the New Prime Minister
This week brought the first small boat arrivals since Andy Burnham took office, following a period of nearly two weeks in which weather prevented launches, and included what has been described as only the second so-called mega dinghy crossing, with more than 100 people reported aboard and French rescue services intervening repeatedly.
Arrivals this year now stand at more than 12,500, a figure more than 40 per cent below the equivalent point last year, with maritime sources attributing part of the fall to weather and to increased French patrols around Calais and Dunkirk pushing launches further along the coast.
Illegal Working Enforcement: Arrests, Penalties and the Subcontracting Problem
Illegal working enforcement continues to be the most pressing practical concern for business immigration advisers, with ten Evri workers arrested across three separate operations in various parts of the UK. Those detained, a mix of overstayers and individuals held for other immigration offences, have been placed on immigration bail with strict conditions while enquiries continue, and the Government intends to remove them.
The Home Office has repeated that a liable employer risks a penalty of up to £60,000 per worker where illegal employment is established and proper pre-employment checks were not carried out. Evri maintains that right to work checks are conducted for all employees and is cooperating fully, though the delivery sector’s reliance on subcontracted recruitment is precisely where questions of liability become most difficult to resolve.
Two recent cases in the news show how bluntly the civil penalty regime operates, and that it reaches local authorities as readily as private businesses.Cheshire West and Chester Council was fined £45,000 after a routine Home Office data share with HMRC and says it has no record of any illegal worker. A small chip shop owner was fined £40,000 for employing a man who had allegedly used another person’s identity, the decisive failure being that the original passport was never seen, secondary documents such as national insurance numbers and student loan papers carrying no weight as proof of identity or status.
With early payment discounts on one side and the risk of a higher figure on objection on the other, challenge was effectively discouraged, and the Federation of Small Businesses has argued that genuine mistakes deserve proportionate treatment and that employer size should be reflected in the penalty framework.
Right to Work Checks: What Changes on 1 October 2026
Advisers should be preparing clients for 1 October 2026, when the statutory right to work scheme is extended in scope. Through amendments to the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 and provisions commenced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, civil liability for illegal working will reach beyond direct employers to organisations obtaining labour under contracts for services and subcontracts, including agency supply and certain gig and platform arrangements, with “employer” broadened to capture entities that direct or supervise the work even where payment comes through an intermediary.
End users will not be expected to repeat full checks on every third-party worker, but will need contractual assurance, audit rights and documented evidence that compliant checks are being carried out somewhere in the chain, and any digital checking must go through a Government-registered identity service provider if a statutory excuse is to be preserved. The Codes of Practice and employer guidance remain in draft, and the evidential standards for supply chains will be the detail to watch as they are finalised. We are delivering a course covering on Rights to work checks, see here
What’s on
The rigorous developments on the Home Office front as witnessed this week make HJT’s new season of courses particularly timely. The season opens on 8 October with Danai Papachristopoulou of the Refugee and Migrant Centre leading a live webinar How to Prepare Fee Waivers, covering in-country and overseas applications and evidential flexibility.
With the new right to work rules due to take effect on 1st October, the Sacha Special returns, offering two courses for £99: Sacha Wooldridge presents the Sponsor Licence Masterclass on 5 November, addressing what it takes to obtain a licence and, more importantly, to retain it, followed on 12 November by a practical session on Right to Work Checks, from manual and online checks through to statutory excuses and discrimination risk, including the expanded scope of the scheme for non-employment activity and non-traditional working relationships and the extended civil penalty regime discussed above.
The highly regarded Judicial Review Conference then returns in person on 27th November in central London, fully catered, with a panel of KCs alongside Mark Symes and David Jones on judicial review proceedings and challenges to immigration refusals. Early booking is advised. Visit here for MORE!
All our courses carry CPD acknowledged by regulators.
For assistance with booking or enquiries, contact us at enquiries@hjt-training.co.uk or call us on 074 4646 6898
For the full list of updates and media news below
News
UK led the world in study visa issuance in 2025 despite woes – The PIE
The UK, despite experiencing a 32% decline in visa issuance in Q4 of 2025, appears to have issued the newest study visas across all levels in the year, taking it ahead of all three major competitors for the first time since 2022. To view the full news, visit here
First migrant Channel crossing attempts since Burnham became Prime Minister – The Bolton News
Crossings resumed on Wednesday morning amid warm, sunny weather and calm conditions at sea after an 11-day hiatus when wind swept the Channel. Several boats are already thought to have made the journey and arrived in Dover, Kent. To view the full news, visit here
Take Away owner given ‘devastating’ £40,000 fine by Home Office for allegedly illegal hire – The Guardian
A fish and chip shop owner has been handed a “devastating” £40,000 fine by the Home Office after hiring a man who had allegedly forged his identity, as ministers face calls to reduce the size of such penalties for small businesses amid a surge in enforcement. To view the full news, visit here
Evri workers arrested in London in immigration crackdown
Three Brazilian nationals, two Pakistani nationals and an Indian national were arrested for various immigration offences. Ten Evri workers have been arrested as part of a Government crackdown on illegal workers in the delivery sector, including six in London. The Home Office said the arrests were made in three separate operations and the individuals have been placed on immigration bail, subject to strict conditions, while further inquiries take place. To view the full news, visit here
Eight arrested in illegal gambling raids – BBC News
Eight people were arrested after two suspected illegal gambling venues in Doncaster were raided. Officials said two unlicensed premises were targeted in an operation codenamed Operation Snaresbrook. The raids involved the Gambling Commission, Immigration Enforcement, South Yorkshire Police and City of Doncaster Council’s trading standards and licensing teams. To view the full news, visit here
‘No secrecy’ over asylum camp decision, court told – BBC News
The Home Office did not act in secrecy over its decision to house asylum seekers at a former military training camp in East Sussex and engaged with relevant bodies beforehand and afterwards, the High Court has heard. Community interest company Crowborough Shield is taking legal action over the Government’s use of Crowborough Training Camp to house up to 540 men. To view the full news, visit here
Lewisham council could become the first in the UK to resist immigration raids – ITV News
Lewisham council could be the first in the UK to ban its administration from cooperating with the Home Office on immigration raids. A motion is being debated which would commit the Green run council to systematically review its work with immigration enforcement and refuse to assist raids “wherever legally possible”. The mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava says it is part of the council’s attempts to “protect our diverse communities from Labour’s anti-migrant onslaught.” To view the full news, visit here
Jailed Hong Kong democracy leader told he is to be deported from UK – The Times
A former leader of the main Hong Kong opposition Democratic Party has been detained at Heathrow airport and told he is to be deported. Wu Chi-wai, who was also a legislative councillor, the territory’s equivalent of an MP, for eight years, arrived in Britain to seek asylum, friends said. To view the full news, visit here
Council queries £45k fine for ’employing illegal worker’ – BBC News
Cheshire West and Chester Council were included in a list of penalised organisations reportedly hiring staff with no right to work in the UK – receiving penalties as a result. In a statement, a council spokesperson said: “We have no knowledge or record of illegal workers, and we are currently in the process of contacting the Home Office.” To view the full news, visit here
Case Law
Rahim v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWCA Civ 930
The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the Upper Tribunal’s refusal to consider his relationship with his British-citizen child under section 117B(6) of the 2002 Act. Elisabeth Laing LJ held that there is no conflict between the mandatory language of Part 5A and the procedural provisions of Part 5: Part 5A always applies where a tribunal considers whether a decision breaches article 8, but its reach depends on what is properly before the tribunal, and section 85(5) bars consideration of a “new matter” without the Secretary of State’s consent. To read the full decision, visit here
Home Office Policy and Guidance Updates
Guidance: India Young Professionals Scheme visa ballot system has been updated on 23rd July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors – workers has been updated on 22nd July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors- students has been updated on 22nd July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Form: Register child under 18 as British citizen (form MN1) has been updated on 21st July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Become a British citizen by naturalisation (form AN) has been updated on 21st July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Form S, to register for British citizenship if you are a stateless person. has been updated on 20th July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Form RS1, how to apply to become a British citizen again after giving up (renouncing) citizenship has been updated on 20th July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Form UKF, to register as a British citizen if you were born to a British father and your parents were not married has been updated on 20th July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Form UKM to register as a British citizen if you were born before 1983 to a British mother has been updated on 20th July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Form MN1, to register a child under 18 as a British citizen has been updated on 20th July 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Caseworker Guidance Appendix HM Armed Forces has been updated on 17th July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Caseworker Guidance: Victims of domestic abuse has been updated on 17th July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Written by Shareen Khan- Legal Content Writer, HJT Training
Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration advisors should consult the full decisions and official policy documents when advising clients on specific cases.