Immigration News Update – 23 October 2026
This week in UK immigration news is led by divisions emerging within the Government. Regarding the stalled earned settlement reforms, findings of Student visa refusals concentrated in seven countries, and a nationwide crackdown on organised immigration crime, that included illegal working.
Indefinite leave to remain: reforms stall amid cabinet split
More than 200,000 people have been granted indefinite leave to remain since the Home Office proposed tightening settlement rules in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement in November 2025. The plans would increase the standard qualifying period from five to ten years, and to 15 years for some lower-paid workers, including in social care, applying to arrivals from 2021 onwards. Although the consultation received around 200,000 responses before closing in February 2026, the government has not published its response or included the reforms in the latest Immigration Rules. Without changes, around 1.6 million people could qualify for ILR between 2026 and 2030, with at least 5,000 reportedly reaching settlement each week.
The delay has exposed political divisions. Opposition parties accuse the Home Secretary of stalling under pressure from within Labour, and senior Labour figures have raised concerns about extending the care worker route to 15 years. The Prime Minister reportedly still backs the Home Secretary, but an exemption for care workers and transitional arrangements remain possible. The Home Office warns that an exemption could see overseas care workers leave the sector once their sponsorship ends, and insists settlement must be earned. With no timetable set, employers, migrants and local authorities remain uncertain about when or how the new system will take effect.
Student visas: 70% of refusals from seven countries
Analysis published by The PIE News found that seven nationalities; Indian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Ghanaian and Sri Lankan accounted for more than 70% of UK University Student visa refusals over the previous three quarters. Each recorded a refusal rate above 5%, the threshold introduced under the tightened Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA).
Since 1 June 2026, student sponsors have been required to keep refusal rates below 5%, down from 10%. India, the UK’s largest source market, has seen its average refusal rate climb to around 8%, while rates for Nigerian and Ghanaian applicants reached a 12-month high in Q2 2026. Against this framework, some universities have reportedly suspended recruitment from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana and Sri Lanka.
The analysis, drawing on 2024-25 HESA data, also highlights a sharp divide in institutional exposure. The seven higher-refusal markets represented only 5% to 23% of international enrolments at Russell Group universities, but more than 80% at the University of Hertfordshire, Coventry University, the University of East London, Ulster University and the University of the West of Scotland.
The University of Sunderland, where the figure was 78%, has announced budget cuts of more than £40m as international enrolments decline. By contrast, refusal rates remain below 1% in markets including China, the United States, Hong Kong and Malaysia, from which Russell Group institutions drew 67% of their international enrolments in 2024–25. With sponsors’ BCA ratings set to appear on the Register of Student Sponsors, the balance of a university’s recruitment markets has become a central compliance consideration.
Right to work checks: a solicitor’s breach of conduct to evade civil penalty
An undercover investigation reported that a solicitor was recorded discussing, for a fee equal to 10% of a £45,000 illegal working penalty, how liability could be transferred to an overseas individual named as the business owner. The solicitor denies advising anyone to pursue the arrangement or providing false information to the Home Office, and says he refused to act after learning that the proposed owner was not genuine.
A reminder, the right-to-work rules changed on 1st October 2026 under section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025. The duties now extend beyond employees to workers, individual subcontractors and people engaged through online platforms, with principal contractors, labour suppliers and businesses using substitution clauses potentially liable for illegal working further down their supply chains, even where they did not engage the worker directly.
The changes apply only to engagements and arrangements entered from that date, with penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat breaches. A compliant right-to-work check can still provide a statutory excuse, but businesses using subcontractors must include prescribed contractual safeguards and actively monitor compliance; knowingly employing or having reasonable cause to believe someone has no right to work, remains a criminal offence punishable by an unlimited fine and up to five years’ imprisonment, while licensed sponsors also risk action against their sponsor licence.
For a full coverage on the changes in effect from 8th October 2026, read our blog HERE
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Organised immigration crime: 452 arrests in Operation Lockstream
The results following the Operation Lockstream has unfolded this week that targeted UK road, rail and port routes used to move people, goods and criminal assets. Across 387 deployments, 49 police and law-enforcement agencies stopped more than 6,000 vehicles and engaged over 11,000 people.
Arrests were linked to illegal working, immigration offences and fraudulent documents, while intelligence gathered on routes and methods will guide future enforcement. Border Security and Asylum Minister Anna Turley described the operation as part of the largest crackdown on people-smuggling gangs on record, citing more than 6,500 disruptions since the general election.
Immigration detention: Haslar removal centre to reopen
The Home Office has begun recruiting detention engagement officers ahead of reopening Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport, Hampshire, which closed in 2015, with an initial 130 beds planned for next year, while a separate proposal to expand the site to 600 beds including a new three-storey accommodation block has attracted almost 500 objections and will be examined at a Planning Inspectorate public inquiry beginning in November.
Officials are also reportedly considering nearby Fort Blockhouse, a former naval fort, as a Border Force disembarkation point for small boats taking longer routes from Normandy towards the Hampshire coast; 149 people were brought ashore there on 4 October before being taken to Kent for processing, although no decision on regular use has been announced. Gosport Borough Council and local MP Dame Caroline Dinenage have criticised the lack of Home Office information, citing restricted road access and pressure on emergency services, while policing recent protests in Gosport and Eastney has cost more than £800,000.
Deportation: order revoked in Windrush case
The Home Office has revoked a deportation order against a man who came to the UK as a child to join his Windrush-generation parents. Following a conviction and a failed removal attempt, his insecure immigration status left him unable to work, rent, claim benefits or access NHS treatment for many years. His representatives welcomed the decision but said the prolonged uncertainty reflects continuing concerns among Windrush-affected families about the security of their status.
Full coverage on the procedure, rules and regime on Removal and Deportation covered in Module 13 of Mastering Immigration Law. To unlock, subscribe HERE
Family reunion: DNA evidence reform urged
Research from King’s College London’s Refugee Family Reunion Project, published found that families using DNA evidence in UK immigration cases face unclear requirements, inconsistent provider standards and high costs, despite Home Office guidance describing testing as voluntary.
Standard parent-child tests may be unsuitable for relationships such as siblings or grandparents, and inconclusive results can be misinterpreted, while only 12 organisations were Ministry of Justice-approved compared with 23 companies advertising immigration DNA tests in June 2026, some sending samples overseas. The report calls for clearer Home Office guidance and decision-maker training, greater provider transparency and standardisation, an accessible toolkit, and fairer consideration of legal aid for testing costs; practitioners are advised to ensure that any test commissioned is appropriate for the relationship being proved.
Full coverage on the procedure, rules and regime on Family routes (inside and outwit the Rules) covered in Module 4 and 6 of Mastering Immigration Law. To unlock, subscribe HERE
Skilled Worker visas: shortages test immigration cuts
Falling migration and Skilled Worker visa applications could leave employers without enough skilled workers to deliver the government’s industrial strategy. Net migration fell to 171,000 in the year to December 2025 from a peak of 944,000 in the year to March 2023, while Skilled Worker visa applications dropped 43% year on year to 26,400 in the 12 months to September; ministers are also reportedly seeking additional visas for shortage roles such as welders. The CITB estimates that construction needs 41,200 extra workers annually, Make UK reports around 48,000 manufacturing vacancies, and Skills England forecasts that priority sectors will require 1.8 million additional workers by 2035.
With apprenticeships in trades such as plate welding taking up to three years, ministers face a choice between restricting overseas recruitment and risking labour shortages or using migration as a temporary bridge while domestic training catches up.
Judicial review: urgent applications now decided on Form N463
A new Administrative Court Practice Statement, in force from 19 October 2026, makes Form N463 the sole basis for deciding whether a judicial review application receives urgent consideration. Court staff and judges will no longer look through the claim form, witness statements or bundles for the reasons for urgency. An application whose N463 does not itself justify urgency may be summarily refused. The court attributes the change to a substantial rise in urgent applications.
For immigration practitioners handling removal, detention and certification cases, the form must now be complete and self-contained, setting out the imminent harm, key dates and decision references, the order sought and why the matter cannot wait for ordinary consideration.
Separately, the 2026 Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide was published on 1 October, with immigration-specific guidance at section 6.5 and Upper Tribunal guidance at Annex 8. GOV.UK guidance on immigration and asylum judicial reviews was also updated on 9 October, with minor changes to forms UTIAC4 and UTIAC5.
Judicial Review Conference 2026
With the court now deciding urgency on Form N463 alone, and judicial review likely to become the main remedy as policy changes reach many immigration routes, it has never been more important to stay up to date with judicial review and to use it correctly. Judicial review updates and applying this remedy correctly
HJT Training’s Judicial Review Conference 2026, on Friday 27 November (10am-4pm), brings together Mark Symes, David Jones, Adrian Berry KC, Duran Seddon KC with Ranjiv Khubber of No5 Chambers, to review immigration public law in 2026.
The day is also an excellent chance to network with leading counsel and peers from across the sector. You can attend in person or online and earn CPD hours for just £119.
Places are limited if you are joining in person, book early to avoid disappointment. For more information and booking, visit HERE
Home Office Guidance and Policy Updates
To view the Home Office Guidance and Policies updated between 18th October 2026 to 23rd October 2026 visit here
What’s On
Right to Work Checks – New Illegal Working Regime 1 October 2026
Judicial Review Conference 2026
Immigration Law Review of the Year 2026
For assistance with booking, email us at enquiries@hjt-training.co.uk or call us on 07446466898
Useful Links
Shabana Mahmood urged to ‘read the room’ on Labour opposition to immigration policy
Britain’s settlement rules face a reckoning as ministers delay immigration crackdown
70% of visa refusals for UK study visas come from seven countries
Lawyer caught offering to make illegal-worker fine go away
Arrests target organised immigration crime across UK
Home Office lifts deportation order for man, 62, who has lived in UK for 50 years
King’s report urges reform of DNA testing in UK immigration cases
Why skills shortages are the price of cutting immigration
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.