New Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules: Key points

There have been several significant changes, updates and amendments to the Immigration Rules, affecting sponsorship and a number of other immigration routes.

The new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules was published on 24 June 2025. A number of substantial amendments were made, including more significant changes to continuous residence and the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

The Explanatory Memorandum explains that the main changes to the Immigration Rules (to come into effect predominantly from 16 July 2025) relate to the following sections:

• Appendix Long Residence
• Appendix Continuous Residence 
• Appendix Private Life 
• Appendix EU (EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS))
• Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees
• Part 9: Changes to make refusals of applications or cancellation of permission mandatory for people excluded from asylum or humanitarian protection or non-refoulement
• Appendix Adult Dependent Relative and Appendix FM

Appendix Long Residence

Paragraph 5.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum states the following regarding the upcoming changes to Appendix Long Residence: “The qualifying period requirements are being changed to clarify that time spent as a British citizen is considered lawful presence, except where that British citizenship has subsequently been deprived. A person who has been deprived of their British citizenship, for example because it was obtained by deception, should not be able to count that time as lawful presence for the purposes of long residence.”

Paragraph LR 3.1 (the qualifying period requirement for permission to stay) and paragraph LR 11.1 (the qualifying period requirement for settlement) will be amended accordingly. This will cement the position that any time spent as a British citizen will count towards lawful residence (unless the British citizenship in question has been deprived).

These changes are only applicable to applications that are submitted from 29 July 2025. 

Appendix Continuous Residence 

The Immigration Rules regarding continuous residence (Appendix Continuous Residence) are being amended to “remove an inconsistency that currently exists for long residence applications”. Paragraph CR 2.4 is being replaced by paragraph CR 3.5, and this explains that for any applications that will be submitted from 29 July 2025, time spent in any of the Crown Dependencies (such as the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) on an equivalent, valid immigration route will be counted as lawful time spent in the UK. 

As per paragraph 5.6 of the Explanatory Memorandum, “(t)his change improves consistency and simplicity in the immigration system.”

Appendix Private Life 

The main changes to Appendix Private Life are regarding children applications and the half-life concession. As defined in the Explanatory Memorandum, “the half-life test is where ‘a person is aged between 18 and 25 at the date of application, arrived in the UK before the age of 18, and has spent at least half of their life continuously in the UK. That concession was then incorporated into the Rules in Spring 2022 when Appendix Private Life was introduced.” The amendments to Appendix Private Life now allow for young adults or children to qualify for settlement after a five year qualifying period, if they meet the half-life test at the time that they submit their application (or if they previously met it in a past application), provided that they have been granted permission to stay in the UK on the basis of their family or private life before 20 June 2022. 

Furthermore, changes will be made to allow children to qualify for settlement after five years, if they have lived in the UK for a period of seven years. This should increase consistency in the Rules, and as the Explanatory Memorandum states, “(t)o prevent this group accessing the five-year route is not in the spirit of the private life rules, and disadvantages children in comparison to young adults”.

Interestingly, regardless of whether any private life applications are submitted prior to or after the above-mentioned changes, all changes will be coming into effect from 29 July 2025. 

Additionally, for applications submitted from 29 July 2025 onwards, the requirements around continuous residence for children who are born inside the UK will be amended to ensure consistency between extension and settlement applications (by way of the new paragraphs PL 15A.1 – PL 15A.3).

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Amendments to Appendix EU have also been made in the Statement of Changes. Most notably, there has been a change to the definition of the ‘continuous qualifying period’ in Annex 1. 

This has now been changed to reflect the streamlined continuous residence requirements for pre-settled status holders under the EUSS. The new definition explains that individuals who hold pre-settled status will be able to qualify for settled status when they have been resident in the UK for at least 30 months (two and a half years) in the most recent 60-month period (five years). 

EU advocacy group, the3million, have celebrated these changes. Ms Dumitrache (CEO of the3million) stated the following in relation to the Statement of Changes: “We are delighted that the government has taken a pragmatic approach, which should offer peace of mind to many of the 1.6m people with pre-settled status who have made their lives in the UK. We’ve been advocating for a compassionate approach which takes into account the diverse life circumstances that led to people being away from the UK for more than six months. It’s heartening to see the government provide the security that people need to continue living here - this is our home”.

Although these amendments come into effect on 16 July 2025, they also apply to applications submitted prior to 16 July 2025. 

Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees

The most significant amendment to Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees is the addition of a paragraph AFI 3.3. This inputs new requirements to be met in order to be granted entry upon arrival to the UK by a border control officer. This is only applicable to non-visa nationals, and should allow for faster entry and work to be carried out in the UK by eligible individuals. The period of grant would only be for 60 days, and this is designed to allow for “…a request from the Ministry of Defence to enable a group of approximately 50 US Department of Energy federal employees and civilian sub-contractors to come to the UK to work on US military equipment, to be recognised as civilian employees of an International Force. Due to the nature of their work, the Rules are required to enable entry to the UK within 24 hours of an incident.”

As a result of this amendment, certain civilian, non-visa individuals (who are eligible on this route) should now be granted entry upon their arrival to the UK, as opposed to waiting a few days (after application submission and the attendance of a biometric appointment) for a super priority entry clearance application to be approved.

This change came into effect from 17 July 2025. 

Part 9: Changes 

Paragraph 5.18 of the Explanatory Memorandum states the following: “These changes will amend Part 9.5.1 of the Immigration Rules to make it mandatory to refuse an application for entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay to a person who are excluded from asylum or humanitarian protection or non-refoulement. It will also amend the reference in Part 9.5.1 in relation to paragraph 339AA to limit it to those excluded from being a refugee in accordance with Article 1F.”

The abovementioned amendments to Part 9 of the Rules will change Parts 9.5.1 and 9.5.2 in order to make it mandatory to refuse an application or cancel the permission of an individual who has been excluded from asylum or humanitarian protection or non-refoulement. This means that this ground for refusal has transitioned from being a discretionary ground to a mandatory one. 

Appendix Adult Dependent Relative and Appendix FM 

This amendment (correcting drafting errors in both Appendix Adult Dependent Relative and Appendix FM: family members) should clarify that a sponsor in a family application must meet condition 1(a)(i), and should have, therefore, been a relevant national of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland by the 11pm on 31 December 2020. This change will also be applicable to applications submitted before 16 July 2025. 

Other Changes

There is a wide variety of further clarifications, changes and amendments across the Immigration Rules. The majority of these changes were to increase consistency across the board and correct any out-of-date information and repetition. The changes are as follows:

• Amending Part 8 of the Rules to clarify the English language points on Ecctis.
• Amending the Rules and guidance regarding English language test certificates so that they remain consistent and align with each other.
• Correcting various drafting errors, specifically regarding refusals.
• Clarifying points on Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) and who needs one – Specifically, if an individual enters the UK from the Republic of Ireland, and they do not hold any leave to enter or remain in the UK, they must now apply for and obtain an ETA prior to travelling across the border.
• Amending the relationship requirements for dependant partners on the Graduate route.
• Aligning the relationship requirements for dependant partners on the Graduate and Student route with other Points Based System routes (such as Skilled Worker).

These changes will all come into effect from 16 July 2025, and further details can be found from paragraphs 5.20 – 5.30 of the Explanatory Memorandum. 

Final Thoughts 

As we can see from this Statement of Changes, navigating the changes can be difficult and the legal jargon can be hard to understand. 

A few days after this Statement was released, a new Statement of Changes was published on 01 July 2025, mainly relating to sponsored work routes. This explains major changes to the Skilled Worker route in particular, including: 

• The phasing out of the Immigration Salary List (which only came into effect in 2024), and the introduction of a new Temporary Shortage List (TSL - which is also subject to change and will be monitored).
• For RQF 3-5 occupations that are on the TSL, no dependants are permitted and only Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned prior to 31 December 2026 can use this.
• The closing of the Care Worker and Senior Care Worker visa routes for applicants from outside the UK (please see: Care Worker visa route to close: major immigration reform effective 22 July 2025).
• The removal of approximately 180 occupation codes from Appendix Skilled Occupations and general sponsorship eligibility. 
• The increasing of going rates and salary thresholds for both pre and post 2024 visa applicants.

These changes will be coming into effect from 22 July 2025, and any CoS assigned prior to this date, should still be decided within the current Rules and thresholds. Our Trainee Solicitor Charlotte Roach has provided a helpful overview of these changes here. 

How We Can Assist

As we have seen in 2025, the Home Office are consistently increasing enforcement action, and are making the requirements for valid immigration routes increasingly stringent. This can be difficult to navigate, and we can assist with queries, compliance and visas for you, your family or your business. 

Here at Irwin Mitchell, our immigration specialists provide clear, practical advice and a holistic approach, tailored to your business and personal needs. We support employers with right to work audits, compliance reviews and training to help safeguard against breaches and maintain workforce integrity. We also support individuals, families and businesses in a wide range of matters, including partner visas, settlement, naturalisation and other nationality queries, global talent, sponsor licences, and many other immigration routes. As a full-service law firm, we can also assist with other types of law (such as family, employment or criminal law) when needed. For a private chat about your situation, contact us today on 0370 1500 100 or contact us online and we’ll call you back.