Denmark
Changes to interpretation of work permit rules for professional athletes and coaches
Effective 1 September 2024, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) now assesses differently the work permit exemption for professional athletes, coaches and associated personnel.
According to section 24(2)(8) of the Executive Order on Aliens’ Access to Denmark, professional athletes and coaches, and associated personnel, may be exempt from the work permit requirement for a period of 90 days from the date of entry for the practice and training of sports, including test training.
In practice, ‘associated personnel’ includes personnel accompanying athletes and coaches during their stay in Denmark, e.g. a masseur, a team leader, a chef, etc.
In the assessment of ‘associated personnel’, SIRI will now take into account the special needs of the individual sporting event to a greater extent. SIRI will in the future expand the interpretation of “associated personnel” so that personnel who perform tasks at a specialized level of knowledge to support the sporting event as a whole will also be exempt from the work permit requirement.
With this change, new types of sporting events, such as e-sports events, are taken into account, so that these can be carried out on the same terms as other sporting events in Denmark.
Finland
In-country residence permit applications restricted
Effective 1 September 2024, visitors to Finland can no longer apply for a residence permit from within the country.
Certain categories of applicant are exempt from this new rule and are permitted to apply to change their status from visitor to resident, including:
- a family member of a Finnish citizen
- someone applying for a residence permit for a child born in Finland;
- someone applying for a residence permit for studies or a family member of a student;
- those applying for a residence permit for a researcher or a family member of a researcher
As before, the following can be applied for only in Finland: an extended permit, a permanent residence permit, registration of an EU citizen, international protection, temporary protection, a residence permit for a victim of human trafficking, a residence permit due to misconduct of the employer and a residence permit on a discretionary basis on humanitarian grounds.
This requirement will also be applied to those applicants who submitted a residence permit application before the entry into force of the amendments on 1 September 2024 but have not yet received a decision.
Germany
Border checks to be introduced at all German land borders
Ton 9 September 2024, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community informed the European Commission that it has ordered the temporary reintroduction of border control at Germany’s land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for six months, starting 16 September 2024.
This means that border checks will be possible at all of Germany’s land borders starting on that date. The complete package of stationary and mobile border policing measures, including the possibility to refuse entry at the border, will be applied at all of Germany’s land borders as allowed by EU and national law.
Checks at Germany’s land border with Austria are currently in place until 11 November 2024, while the order to conduct checks at the land borders with Switzerland, the Republic of Poland and the Czech Republic remains in force until 15 December 2024. These temporary border control measures will be continued and their scheduling coordinated.
Since the temporary border checks were reintroduced at Germany’s borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland on 16 October 2023, the Federal Police have detected approximately 52,000 illegal entries and refused entry to some 30,000 people at Germany’s borders.
Entry is currently denied to people who do not have valid entry documents, who present forged or falsified documents, or who attempt to enter without a visa or valid residence title.
United Kingdom
Statement of Changes establishes Electronic Travel Authorisation system
On 10 September 2024, the Home Office published a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. A written ministerial statement was also made in Parliament.
The principal changes are as follows:
Imposition of a Visa regime on Jordan
Effective immediately, the changes impose a visa regime on Jordan.
- This means the Home Office will be able to assess an individual against the requirements of the Immigration Rules prior to them traveling to visit or transit the UK; where it is not satisfied that an individual meets these requirements, the Home Office can refuse their application for a visit visa.
- Following the lifting of the visa regime in February 2024, there has been a significant increase in Jordanian nationals who have travelled to the UK for purposes that are not permitted under the visit and Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) provisions, such as to live, work or claim asylum in the UK.
- The imposition of the visa regime will include a transition period for Jordanian nationals to travel to the UK without a visa where they hold a valid ETA and confirmed travel booking prior to the imposition. This period will commence at the same time as the visa regime is imposed and run until 28 days after the imposition date. During this period, Jordanian nationals who hold both a confirmed travel booking to the UK for travel within the 28-day transition period at the time of imposition, and who hold a valid ETA before the time of the imposition, and where arrival in the UK is no later than 28 days after the imposition, will not be required to obtain a visit visa before travel. Those who do not meet these conditions during the transition period will require a visa. Jordanian nationals who hold confirmed bookings for travel to the UK on a date after the transition period ends will need to obtain a visa in advance of travel. Amending the date of travel on a confirmed booking to an earlier date that falls within the transition period would still require the person to have a visa and they would not be permitted to travel on their ETA.
- The visa imposition will also be accompanied by amendments to the Immigration (Passenger Transit Visa) Order 2014, to ensure that Jordanian nationals will also require a direct airside transit visa (DATV) when conducting airside transit travel. Airside transit passengers are those who do not need to change airports and do not need to pass through the UK border.
Implementation of the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme
A change is being made which extends the requirement to obtain an ETA to all nationalities who can currently travel to the UK without a visa and sets out the date from which the requirement applies.
- An additional Appendix will be inserted following Appendix Electronic Travel Authorisation, to set out the remaining rollout for all non-visa nationalities to be onboarded onto the ETA scheme:
- The requirement already applies to nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
- The ETA requirement will apply to all remaining non-European visa-exempt nationalities for travel to the UK on or after 8 January 2025; the ETA will be available for these nationalities from November 2024.
- The ETA requirement will apply to all European visa-exempt nationalities for travel to the UK on or after 2 April 2025; The ETA will be available for these nationalities from March 2025.
- Changes are being made to amend the suitability criteria relating to overstayers, which will bring ETAs in line with the current approach to visitors under part 9 which is applied across other routes.
- Changes are also being made to specify that the passport provided in the application process must be a national passport and establish a nationality eligible for an ETA.
- Finally, the ETA suitability criteria are being expanded to include two additional suitability grounds:
- Firstly, those that have previously been refused a visit visa or permission to enter as a visitor will be refused an ETA, unless a visit visa has been granted subsequent to the refusal or a valid permission was held and not cancelled as a result of the refusal.
- Secondly, this change will allow for refusal where the applicant has previously had an ETA cancelled for reasons not relating to suitability.
End Diplomatic Visa Waivers and introduce a “Diplomatic Visa Arrangement” (DVA) Visitor visa
A new Diplomatic Visa Arrangement visa route, which will replace Diplomatic Visa Waivers with select visa national countries, will provide a bespoke visitor visa for select diplomatic passport holders. The route aims to support and better facilitate official travel to the UK but will also enable DVA visitors to undertake a range of standard visitor activities.
- DVA visa applications must be supported by the government of the applicant’s nationality though the inclusion of the applicant’s name in a Note Verbale provided by their government to the UK. The applicant must complete a DVA visitor visa light- touch application form, which does not incur a fee. There is no requirement to provide fingerprint biometrics. Applicants will normally be issued a two-year multi-entry visit visa, with a maximum stay of six months on each visit. Applicants must be over 18 years old.
- There will be a three-week transition period between the introduction of DVA and the withdrawal of DVW to ensure that those applying for DVA visas have sufficient time to obtain a visa prior to the withdrawal of DVW. There are six months prior to implementation of these provisions to enable the countries which currently have DVW to prepare for the transition.
Introduction of the VIP Delegate Visa
This change implements a long-term solution for a capped number of delegates accompanying heads of state and government ministers visiting the UK on official government business, by introducing a new route and product: the VIP Delegate Visa.
- The upper limit for the number of applicants eligible for this route will be set at 20 for heads of state delegations and 10 for ministerial delegations.
- Applicants eligible for the product will be expected to submit a light touch application form, along with providing biographical information and a facial image. This legislation will not introduce an application fee and there will be no requirement for applicants to submit fingerprints.
Appendix Bereaved Partner and Appendix Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997
Changes are being made to Appendix Bereaved Partner and Appendix Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997, to allow bereaved partners and their dependents to benefit from a fee waiver if they are destitute.
Changes to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
In accordance with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the changes in respect of the. Immigration Rules for the EUSS in Appendix EU are as follows:
- To refer to the scope for the Secretary of State to automatically convert pre-settled status under the EUSS to settled status (indefinite leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU) where the person qualifies for this and without the need for them to make a further valid application.
- To apply the procedural provisions in Annex 2 to the consideration of whether a person granted limited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU continues to meet eligibility requirements.
- To enable a child applying to the EUSS who was resident in the UK before the end of the transition period, and has turned 21 years of age since then, to rely on the fact that they were aged under 21 at the end of the transition period and therefore have to meet no requirement as to dependency on their parent(s).
- To enable an EEA or Swiss citizen applying to the EUSS as a family member who has retained the right of residence, following the death or divorce of the relevant EEA or Swiss citizen who was resident in the UK before the end of the transition period, to meet simpler criteria.
- To require a joining family member to apply to the EUSS within three months of their first (not latest) arrival in the UK since the end of the transition period (or later where there are reasonable grounds for their delay).
- To enable limited leave to enter or remain granted under the EUSS (also referred to as pre-settled status) to be curtailed (subject to a right of appeal) for helping a person after the end of the transition period to obtain, or to attempt to obtain, EUSS leave or an EUSS family permit fraudulently.
There are several other minor changes, set out in the Statement of Changes and its accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.
