6 Keeping up-to-date

Immigration law is constantly evolving: there were 204 changes to related legislation or policy between 1983 and 2020.

Being able to find both current and previous rules and regulations is an important skill for an immigration adviser. It is not possible to memorise every change, but developing a good system of recording information and noting change can assist. If you wish to explore some of those changes in more detail, the Refugee History website hosts histories of UK immigration policy and immigration detention [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Girvan, 2018; Taylor et al., 2018).

Government policy is influenced by a wide range of factors, including manifesto commitments on targets, labour market shortages of skilled workers and the end of the right to free movement after the UK left the EU. Policy documents are readily available online (such as on UK Visas and Immigration’s website), as are reports on immigration law and planned legislative changes from Parliament committees.