News Update – 27 February 2026
UK’s border policy underwent a notable transformation this week with the Government’s implementation of comprehensive enforcement measures for its digital permission to travel requirements, effective from 25 February 2026. All travellers who do not require a visa must hold a valid Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before boarding any transport bound for the UK. Airlines and other carriers are now obligated to verify passengers’ permission to travel through automated checks against Home Office records, and those without valid permission face being refused boarding. The ETA scheme, which costs £16, has been in phased rollout since October 2023 and has now become a firm legal requirement rather than a formality.
British and Irish citizens are exempt from the ETA requirement entirely, but enforcement has brought to light a significant issue affecting British dual nationals. The Immigration Act 1971, British citizens cannot be issued an ETA, a visa, or any other form of immigration permission. To enter the UK as a British citizen, a person must present a valid British passport or a foreign passport endorsed with a Certificate of Entitlement (CoE) to the right of abode. This is not new law, but it is newly enforced, and the practical consequences for dual nationals who have historically travelled on a non-UK passport have proved far-reaching.
Pleas for a grace period from campaign groups including the3million, the Liberal Democrats, and former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis were firmly rejected by the Home Office. Hundreds of affected individuals contacted national media in the days preceding enforcement, describing disrupted family visits, cancelled flights, and a complete lack of awareness about the rule change until it was reported in the media in mid-February. The Government maintains that public guidance has been available on GOV.UK since November 2025 and that communications have been ongoing since 2023, but critics argue these measures failed to reach those most in need of the information.
For practitioners, the implications are immediate and practical. Advisers should be aware that the alternative to a valid British passport, a Certificate of Entitlement linked to a foreign passport cost £589 and takes up to eight weeks to obtain, placing it well out of reach for those with urgent travel needs. As a short-term measure, the Home Office has issued temporary operational guidance to carriers permitting them, at their discretion, to accept an expired British passport issued in 1989 or later alongside a valid non-visa national third country passport, provided the biographical details match. This remains a carrier-level commercial decision and does not constitute formal permission to travel. The Carrier Support Hub, available around the clock, can assist carriers in verifying British citizenship for passengers with digital records on UK immigration and passport systems, though this service is not accessible to passengers directly.
A separate development which warrants close attention is the Government’s proposed overhaul of the settlement route for legal migrants, currently on the 10-year path to Indefinite Leave to Remain. Under proposals put forward by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, migrants who have accessed public funds at any point even whilst in employment could face a doubling of the qualifying period from 10 to 20 years. The consultation closed on 12th February, and the changes are expected to come into force as early as April, with indications that they will apply retrospectively.
The scale of the potential impact is considerable. Over 200,000 people are currently on the 10-year route, with each 30-month visa renewal costing £3,908.50, including healthcare surcharge. The most recent Home Office figures show that 78,088 people with limited leave to remain are currently claiming Universal Credit many with the Home Office’s own discretionary lifting of the no recourse to public funds restriction in cases of hardship. Migration charity Ramfel surveyed affected families and found that 90 per cent of those currently using public funds would choose to forgo them, rather than risk a longer wait for settlement, despite facing severe financial hardship as a result.
Proposals have drawn sharp criticism from welfare and legal advisers who warn that the measures will push vulnerable families including British citizen children further into poverty. AdviceUK has highlighted real-world cases of individuals cancelling legally entitled benefits out of fear, including disability support for children with additional needs. As such, Practitioners should proactively assess clients’ situations regarding the 10-year route, explain the current rules, and highlight potential risks from proposed reforms that may affect settlement timelines.
In another significant development the Court of Appeal set a precedence this week by blocking the Home Office’s attempt to deport KS, an Afghan national who came to the UK as a child and has been formally recognised as a victim of trafficking. The court upheld the original tribunal’s decision that returning him to Afghanistan would put his life and safety at serious risk. The Home Office lost the appeal not because of any sweeping ruling about Afghan deportations generally, but because it simply failed to challenge the expert evidence placed before the tribunal.
For asylum seekers and refugees, the case is an important reminder that thorough, well-evidenced claims, particularly those involving vulnerability, trafficking, or country-specific risk can and do withstand Home Office challenge at the highest level.
The KS court decision highlights the stakes and evolving nature of asylum and protection law. With the Government’s “Restoring Order and Control” agenda proposing temporary protection status, refugee leave in 30-month increments, and a potential 20-year route to settlement, the implications for practitioners are far-reaching.
HJT Training’s live webinar on Asylum Reforms on Thursday 19th March 2026, led by David Jones and Antonia Randall-Brandwood, is essential attendance for anyone advising in this area. With courts setting new precedents and the system undergoing its most significant restructuring in decades, now is the time to ensure your practice is prepared.
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For the full list of updates on media news, reports and Home Office Guidance and Policy updates, see BELOW
Immigration News
UK enforces digital permission to travel – UKVI News
Non-visa nationals who try to enter the UK without an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be barred under new rules coming into force. From 25 February, it will be mandatory for visitors to the UK to have obtained digital permission to travel. This means that airlines will prevent passengers from boarding if they do not have an ETA, eVisa or have other valid documentation. To view the full article, visit here
UK suspension of refugee family reunion scheme to be challenged in high court – The Guardian
The Home Office’s controversial decision to suspend the right of refugees to bring their children and partners to the UK is to face a legal challenge in the high court. Safe Passage International, a charity working with unaccompanied children and refugees, has been granted permission to launch a judicial review of the decision to halt refugee family reunion after it claimed the suspension was unlawful. To view the full article, visit here
Pakistani visitors to the UK can now use eVisas – UKVI News
Visitors will continue to submit their applications online and attend a visa application centre to provide biometrics. Successful applicants will have a digital record of their immigration status provided through an eVisa, accessible through an online UK Visas and Immigration account. To view the full article, visit here
Behind the Guardian’s analysis of 100 years of MPs’ language on immigration – The Guardian
The Guardian has revealed a significant rightward shift toward sentiment relating to immigration among MPs speaking in the House of Commons in the past five years. To do this analysis the Guardian’s Data Science and Data Projects teams, in collaboration with University College London, developed an in-house machine learning model to measure linguistic sentiment in debates in the Commons over the course of a century. To view the full article, visit here
British dual nationals risk imminent refusal of travel to UK, Home Office affirms – The Guardian
British citizens with a second nationality risk being blocked from entering the UK, the Home Office has confirmed. The Government has decided to ignore pleas from families, the3million campaign group, the Liberal Democrats and the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis for a grace period to allow British dual nationals to adapt to the new rules they face. To view the full article, visit here
UK migrant families face giving up vital in-work benefits to avoid being ‘punished’ – The Guardian
Families claiming in-work benefits face giving them up and enduring hardship to avoid being “punished” under a planned Government migration crackdown, experts have said. More than 200,000 people living legally in the UK are on the 10-year route to settled status, which requires legal migrants to renew 30-month visas four times at a cost of £3,908.50 including healthcare costs per renewal, before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). To view the full article, visit here
Passport changes prevent British dual national from visiting dying mother – The Guardian
A British woman living in the Netherlands has told of the “stress upon stress” caused by new Home Office rules that leave her unable to travel to see her 91-year-old dying mother back in England. Annie, who requested her surname was not published, said her British passport expired last Friday and had been submitted as part of her passport renewal application. She had “reasonably expected” to use her Dutch passport to carry on visiting her mother, as she had done every couple of weeks for the past few months. To view the full article, visit here
Case Law
Munir, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (AI hallucinations; supervision; Hamid) [2026] UKUT 81 (IAC)
Two immigration lawyers faced Hamid hearings after submitting incorrect case law citations suspected to involve AI misuse. Neither case conclusively proved AI was responsible, one involved a single erroneous citation likely from Google’s AI Overview, while the other appeared to stem from poor supervision of an unqualified trainee. Both practitioners were referred to their respective regulators, and the tribunal emphasised that legal professionals are fully responsible for the accuracy of their submissions regardless of how errors arise. To view the full decision, visit here
Khan v SSHD [2026] EWCA Civ 148
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant’s appeal, clarifying that the Joint Presidential Guidance Note on vulnerable witnesses does not impose mandatory legal obligations on tribunals. Failing to formally record a vulnerability finding is not automatically an error of law what matters is whether the proceedings were substantively fair. As the appellant had full legal representation, gave comprehensive evidence, and suffered no demonstrable prejudice from his depression, the appeal was dismissed. To view the full decision, visit here
KS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWCA Civ 149
The Court of Appeal dismissed the Home Office’s appeal, upholding decisions that returning KS a trafficked Afghan national with severe PTSD to Afghanistan would breach Articles 2 and 3 ECHR. The Home Office lost not due to any general finding about deporting Afghan nationals, but because it failed to challenge a substantial body of expert evidence on KS’s specific vulnerabilities, including risks of re-trafficking and Westernisation-related harm. To view the full decision, visit here
AM v SSHD [2026] EWCA Civ 159
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal of an Iraqi Kurdish mother and daughter, finding that the First-tier Tribunal had erred in law by fixating on a general credibility assessment based on peripheral matters, without making clear findings on the core elements of the honour-based violence claim. The Tribunal also failed to adequately address the husband’s corroborating evidence. The case was remitted for a fresh hearing before a different tribunal. To view the full decision, visit here
Home Office Guidance and Documents Policy Update
Guidance: Biometric information: caseworker has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors: workers has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors: students has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Overseas domestic workers: supporting documents has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Diplomatic Visa Arrangement (DVA) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Cuba: apply for a UK visa has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Living in the UK: applying from overseas has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Very Important Person (VIP) Delegate visa has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Correspondence: Updates on the move to eVisas has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Prove your English language abilities with a secure English language test (SELT) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Visit: caseworker guidance has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Transparency data: Online immigration status (eVisa): UKVI account creation data has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Transparency data, visit here
Guidance: Exemptions for visa applications caseworker has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Appendix HM Armed Forces: caseworker has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Appendix International Forces: caseworker has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, Visit here
Form: Application to register child under 18 as British subject has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated From, Visit here
Form: Application to register child under 18 as British Overseas citizen has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, Visit here
Guidance: Electronic travel authorisation (ETA): guide for dual citizens has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, Visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form UKM) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, Visit here
Form: Application to register child as British Overseas Territories citizen has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Application to register as British overseas territories citizen has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen – stateless person born outside the UK or British Overseas Territories (form S2) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, Visit here
Form: Application for a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode (form ROA) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, Visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen – stateless person born before 1983 (form S1) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen: UK-born stateless person (form S3) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form RS1) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form UKF) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form T) has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Correct a registration or naturalisation certificate has been updated on 25th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Guidance: Right of abode: caseworker has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Ethiopia: tuberculosis test clinics for a UK visa has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors: workers has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors: students has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Form: Register as a British Overseas Territories citizen (form BOTC(M)) has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated form, visit here
Form: Register as a British Overseas Territories citizen (form BOTC (F)) has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form B(OTA)) has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Register as a British citizen (form B(OS)) has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Application to register as British citizen: form EM has been update on 24th February 2026. To view the updated Form, visit here
Form: Apply by post for British citizenship as a person of Chagossian descent (form BIOT) has been updated on 24th February 2026. To view the updated form, visit here
Guidance: The Immigration (Form and Manner of Passenger and Service Information) Direction 2026 has been published on 23rd February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Evidence in criminal investigations: caseworker has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, Visit here
Guidance: Global Talent: caseworker has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Biometric information: caseworker has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Transparency data: Country returns guide has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Transparency data, visit here
Guidance: Using the ‘UK ETA’ app has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Pakistan: tuberculosis test clinics for a UK visa has been updated on 20th February 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Written by Shareen Khan – Legal Content Writer
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.