UK Guardian: EU Students say permit delays are putting degrees at risk

An article in the UK Guardian reports how delays for work permits are damaging the employment opportunities for Romanian students. One student, Emilia Gheorghe, described how, as a second-year university student, she should be beginning work at a summer school, trying to boost her CV and help her obtain post-graduate employment. Instead, she is forced to wait for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to process her application for a work permit. She submitted her application over eighteen months ago, and she still has not heard a decision. This delay has forced her into limbo, without permission to work, and she is missing valuable opportunities as a result.

The situation that Gheorghe is in is not unique. At least a few dozen other Romanian students studying in the UK have experienced extraordinary delays in the processing of their visa applications. Without the visa, students are not able to work part-time jobs to support themselves, and obtain jobs in their field to gain experience that could be crucial when it comes to starting a career. Various complaints have been lodged by the students to the UKBA, and a formal petition was filed, stating, “If the United Kingdom . . . would like to continue setting a high educational standard and attracting the best and brightest from across the glob, the UKBA needs to guarantee that it will process visa applications in a timely, transparent, and effective manner.”

When Romania and Bulgaria were accepted into the EU in 2007, there was an initial gradual transition period, where they were not allowed to work. However, after a few years, students obtained permission to work f they could provide a registration certificate confirming that they are students. The UKBA has promised to process these applications quickly, but students are experiencing a significant delay.

Ireland has recently lifted all restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian workers, meaning that they now have total access to the labor market, but the UKBA has issued statements saying that it intends to keep the restrictions on the labor market in place until January 1, 2014, keeping them until the end of the seven-year transition period.

Brophy Solicitors

03.08.12

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/aug/02/work-permit-delays-plague-romanian-students

Skilled migrants ruling prompts emergency action by Theresa May

                                                                                                                                                    

An article in the UK Guardian from Wednesday, 18^th July, described how a Supreme Court ruling challenged previous changes to the skilled migrant program. The ruling threatened to make thousands of previous decisions illegal, because the court declared that the changes were unlawful, since they had not been brought before parliament before their implementation. In addition, the ruling said that “changes to lists of shortage occupants, salary and skill levels, and advertising requirements had been set out in codes of practice that had not been laid out before parliament and so could not be relied on by UKBA to refuse work permits or visa applications.” The lead justice in this case, Lord Hope, stressed that changes to the immigration legislation had to be scrutinized by parliament, no matter what, or else the practices would be unlawful. This ruling could influence cases reaching as far back as 2008, but it should not have a direct effect on applications being made at the present moment. Home secretary Theresa May has put a statement of immigration policy changes before Parliament today, 19^th July, and they should go into effect tomorrow, however, this is a further blow on her already poor reputation. An unnamed Home Office spokesperson claimed that the ruling yesterday was intended to further simplify the immigration process, but it appears to have just muddled the waters even further.

Brophy Solicitors

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jul/18/skilled-migrant-ruling-emergency-action?INTCMP=SRCH

ROMANIAN AND BULGARIAN PARENTS OF IRISH CITIZEN CHILDREN TO HAVE UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO THE LABOUR MARKET

We have been informed that a Government decision was reached on the 28^th February last to permit Romanian and Bulgarian parents of Irish citizen children unrestricted access to the Labour Market with immediate effect. We understand that notice of this change will be posted on the Department of Job, Enterprise and Innovation this week.

It seems that this change in the law will be automatic, and immediate; Therefore Romanians and Bulgarian who arrived in the State from 2007 onwards and who are the parents of Irish citizen children will not be required to apply for work permits in order to be legally employed in the State. For those already in employment, they will be automatically regarded as legally employed.

The decision comes following a number of cases, which have recently been issued in the High Court to challenge the State’s policy to exclude Romanian and Bulgarian parents of Irish citizen children from the ambit of the Zambrano judgement. In one such case taken by this office, we claimed on behalf of our client that the State had acted unlawfully in failing to give preference to him, as a citizen of the European Union, over third country nationals in respect of access to the labour market in the State. Furthermore, it was argued that the State had acted unlawfully by discriminating against the applicants as families consisting of Irish citizen children with a Romanian/Bulgarian parents by treating them less favourably in respect of the parent’s access to the labour market when compared with families consisting of an Irish citizen children with a third country national parent.

We very much welcome the State’s change in position to accept that all Romanian/Bulgarian nationals, who are parents of Irish citizen children, must have full access to the Labour Market.

Brophy Solicitors