Boris Johnson critical of UKBA immigration policy Mayor of London Boris Johnson has voiced concerns that UK visa and immigration policy is damaging to the British economy The Conservative-led coalition Government has pledged to reduce net migration to ‘tens of thousands’ by the time of the next election, much to the indignation of London’s enigmatic […]

Ruling confirms the right of refugees who married after fleeing to be joined by their spouses In the case of Hode & Abdi v. the United Kingdom, which has not yet been finalised, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that there has been a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), in conjunction with […]

Egyptian Cultural Attache Says UKBA ‘Unresponsive’   The Egyptian government has threatened to shun the UK as a destination for postgraduate students on state scholarships because of frustrations over visas. Egyptian officials have said that they find the UK Border Agency to be unresponsive and have difficulty arranging visas for doctoral students’ dependants. Speaking at […]

UK refuses visa to Iran’s snooker world champion   The Secretary of State for the Home Department in Britain is preventing Hossein Vafaee, the current IBSF World Snooker Championship title-holder, from taking part in a key international tournament because he is Iranian. Hossein Vafaee Hossein Vafaee from Iran cruised to championship in the 2011 IBSF […]

PACE calls for further action to address the Syrian refugee crisis The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has published Resolution 1902 (2012) on the European Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in Syria. The resolution affirms that the situation is becoming more and more critical every day, with 294,005 people already having sought refuge outside of the […]