Royal Assent for the Immigration Bill

On 14 May the Immigration Bill received Royal Assent and became the Immigration Act 2014.

The Act’s main provisions include:

  • Reducing the number of immigration decisions that can be appealed from 17 to 4 while preserving appeals for those asserting fundamental rights.
  • Making it harder for those who try to gain an immigration advantage by entering into a sham marriage or civil partnership.
  • Requiring private landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants, which will be implemented on a phased basis in one geographical area first.
  • Introducing a new requirement that temporary migrants must make a financial contribution to the National Health Service.
  • Making it easier for the Home Office to recover unpaid civil penalties.
  • Requiring banks to check against a database of known immigration offenders before opening bank accounts.
  • Introducing new powers to check driving licence applicants’ immigration status before issuing a licence and revoking licences where immigrants are found to have overstayed in the UK.

NGOs concerned about the equality and human rights impacts of the measures produced briefings and other material during the passage of the Bill:

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