What the Immigration Rules are
The Immigration Rules are the Home Office’s statement of how it will decide applications to enter or stay in the UK. They are made by the Home Secretary and laid before Parliament, and they run to many hundreds of pages. They are not an Act of Parliament, but the courts treat them as law that the Home Office must apply.
How they are organised
The Rules were reorganised in recent years into a smaller number of parts and a long series of Appendices, one for each route. A visa application is decided by reading the relevant Appendix together with the general rules.
| Part or Appendix | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Appendix FM | Family routes: partners, children, parents and adult dependent relatives, with the financial requirement. See the spouse and partner visa |
| Appendix Private Life | Private life routes. See human rights and private life |
| Appendix EU | The EU Settlement Scheme. See the EU Settlement Scheme |
| Appendix Skilled Worker | The Skilled Worker route. See the Skilled Worker visa |
| Appendices for other routes | Student, Graduate, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Global Business Mobility, Visitor and others |
| Appendix English Language | How English is proved. See English language requirements |
| Appendix Suitability | Criminality and earlier breaches of immigration law. See overstaying and re-entry bans |
| Appendix Settlement and Long Residence | Settlement. See indefinite leave to remain and long residence |
| Appendix Administrative Review | When and how administrative review is available. See administrative review |
How they change
The Rules change several times a year, through documents called Statements of Changes, which usually take effect on a stated date and often apply to applications made on or after that date. A change can alter a salary threshold, a fee, an English level or the qualifying period for settlement. Transitional provisions can protect people already on a route, but not always. Because the rules in force on the date of your application usually decide it, the date you apply can matter.
Rules, guidance and policy
The Rules are only part of the picture. The Home Office also publishes guidance for caseworkers, which says how they will apply the Rules in practice, and some decisions turn on policies outside the Rules. Where the Rules do not give you what you want, a human rights argument may still succeed. See the Human Rights Act and the Convention.
Reading the Rules yourself
The official text is on GOV.UK. It is dense, and it is easy to read the wrong version or the wrong Appendix. If your decision hangs on a particular rule, we will set out the rule, the date from which it applies and how it has been interpreted.
How we help
We identify the rules that apply to your application on the date you apply, tell you what the Home Office must be satisfied of, and prepare the evidence to match. Book a consultation below.
