The Law Commission has proposed a major refit of the UK’s Immigration Rules, which it says are complicated and difficult to follow.
The overhaul would not affect any substantive policy but would focus on how the Rules are drafted and presented: for example, removing unnecessary repetition, providing a less confusing structure and using clearer language. It asks for views, in a consultation launched this week, on making the Rules less prescriptive by creating shorter, more general Rules supported by guidance that is illustrative only in order to give more discretion to caseworkers.
Since 1973, the Rules have grown from 40 pages to about 1,100 pages. Their complexity, the Commission says, adversely affects not only applicants themselves but also Home Office caseworkers who must put them into practice.
Law Commissioner for Public Law, Nicholas Paines QC, said: ‘As the Immigration Rules have become longer, more detailed and more specific, they’ve also become more complicated and harder to follow for applicants.
‘The Home Office has asked us to help put things right. Our proposals would introduce clearer language, and improve the presentation of the Rules so they’re easier to understand and follow.’
According to the Law Commission, one problem is that the Home Office has pursued a policy of making the Rules more prescriptive and therefore more transparent in recent years. Unfortunately, however, this has made the Rules longer, more complicated and harder to follow. Consequently, applicants may find it necessary to seek expensive legal advice in order to navigate the system.
Its proposals include taking a uniform, standardised approach to the wording, headings, definitions and section numbering; removing overlapping provisions; and investigating whether adding hyperlinks, signposting and interactive tools could help applicants.
The consultation, Simplifying the Immigration Rules, closes on 26 April.
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