UK Immigration Rules Update: Statement of Changes HC 584 Explained

On 3 September 2026, the Home Office laid a new Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules before Parliament, numbered HC 584. It is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum setting out the Home Office’s reasoning for each change. Statements of Changes are the standard mechanism through which the government updates the Immigration Rules made under sections 1(4) and 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971, and this one is a substantial one, touching routes as varied as Skilled Worker, the EU Settlement Scheme, the Visitor route, the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route, and the protections available to victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery.

As is usual for a Statement of Changes of this kind, these amendments were not subject to formal public consultation; the Home Office considered this disproportionate given the nature of the changes. In due course, the changes will be folded into the consolidated version of the Immigration Rules published on GOV.UK.

This guide explains, in plain English, what is changing, why the Home Office says it is making these changes, and — just as importantly — exactly when each change takes effect and whether it applies to applications that have already been submitted.

At a Glance

• Suitability rules: a wider ground for refusing applicants who have acted to frustrate immigration controls

• Skilled Worker: visa holders confirmed as victims of modern slavery will be able to work for any employer

• Family Returns Process: no more fee for raising a human rights claim

• Part 1 of the Rules: two changes closing loopholes around fee waivers and biometric enrolment

• Victim of Domestic Abuse route: extended to adult dependent children

• Erasmus+: the UK’s return to the programme is being built into the Immigration Rules, opening new options under the Visitor, Student, Child Student and Government Authorised Exchange routes

• EU Settlement Scheme: six changes, including a new deadline for joining family members and the removal of expired biometric residence permits as acceptable proof of identity

• Hong Kong BN(O) route: dependent children will no longer need a separate five-year residence period before they can settle

• A number of smaller, more technical changes across several other routes (Minister of Religion, Religious Worker, Student maintenance funds, Long Residence, and others)

1. Suitability: A Wider Definition of “Breach of Immigration Laws”

The Suitability part of the Immigration Rules sets out the grounds on which someone can be refused because of their immigration history or conduct. From the date this change takes effect, having previously acted to frustrate immigration controls will itself count as a breach of immigration laws for Suitability purposes.

According to the Home Office, the point of this is parity: as things stand the wording bites more clearly on people applying for entry clearance from abroad than on those already in the UK, and this change puts both groups on the same footing. In practice, that means someone in the UK with a history of skipping bail reporting requirements, or of absconding from bail or from immigration detention, can now be refused specifically on that ground.

2. Skilled Worker: New Flexibility for Victims of Modern Slavery

The Skilled Worker route exists to allow a person to do a specific job for a specific sponsoring employer. Ordinarily, a Skilled Worker cannot take up other work if they are not doing the job for which they were sponsored.

This change removes that restriction for Skilled Workers who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism and have received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision confirming them as a victim of modern slavery, provided that decision was made during their current permission. Once identified in this way, the individual will be able to work for any employer (including on a self-employed or voluntary basis) for the remainder of their existing permission — the only exception being work as a professional sportsperson, including as a sports coach.

The Home Office’s stated aim is twofold: to encourage victims of modern slavery to come forward earlier, and to guard against the sponsorship system being used as a tool by those seeking to exploit vulnerable workers.

3. Family Returns Process: No More Fee for Human Rights Claims

The “Family Returns Process” is the process used where a child (and the parent or carer living with them) is due to be removed from, or required to leave, the UK. Under this change, families who have been notified that they are in the Family Returns Process will be able to raise an Article 8 (family or private life) human rights claim without having to make a formal, fee-paying application on a specified form. Instead, the claim can be given directly to Home Office staff handling the case.

This isn’t an entirely new practice — it already happens administratively — but the Rules are now being amended to formalise it and give it a proper legal footing. It also brings the treatment of families in the Family Returns Process into line with the position that already applies to those in immigration detention, who can raise such claims informally under existing provisions in Appendix FM and Appendix Private Life.

The stated aim is to reduce delays and to cut down on repeat fee waiver applications made by families who do not go on to actually pursue a human rights claim.

4. Part 1 of the Rules: Closing Two Loopholes

Two related, more technical changes are being made to Part 1 of the Immigration Rules, both aimed at applicants who use repeated variations of an application to extend their “Section 3C leave” — the automatic extension of permission that applies while a valid application remains undecided.

Fee waiver requests and the date of application. The Rules are being clarified so that, where someone applies for a fee waiver and then submits their full application, that full application must be for the same category of permission specified in the original fee waiver request. This is intended to stop a pattern where applicants make a fee waiver request tied to a human rights application, and then switch that application to a different, non-human-rights category once the fee waiver decision comes through.

Biometric enrolment on variation. The Rules will now confirm — reflecting existing policy under the Immigration (Biometric Registration) Regulations 2008 — that even if an applicant varies their application, there is only a single window in which to enrol their biometrics. This closes a gap that had allowed some applicants to make a human rights application, avoid enrolling biometrics, and then vary the application (sometimes repeatedly) without ever enrolling for any version of it — again, typically as a way of prolonging Section 3C leave.

5. Victim of Domestic Abuse Route: Adult Dependent Children Now Eligible

Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (VDA) allows a person to settle in the UK where their relationship with a partner has broken down permanently because of domestic abuse, provided they had entered the UK with a legitimate expectation of settlement based on that relationship. Until now, this route was built around spouses, partners and their children.

This change extends eligibility to adult dependent children whose relationship with their sponsoring parent has broken down because of domestic abuse by that parent (or the parent’s partner). In other words, an adult child who is dependent on a parent for their permission to remain, and who has suffered domestic abuse from that parent, will now be able to apply in their own right, in the same way a partner already can.

This change follows a Northern Ireland High Court ruling, JR337 Application for Judicial Review [2026] NIKB 12, in which the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession was found to be unlawful as applied to an adult child who had been a victim of domestic abuse by the parent on whom she was dependent for her permission to remain. The Home Office’s legal advisers concluded that continuing to exclude adult dependent children from Appendix VDA would likely lead to further successful legal challenges, and that dependent parents could be in an analogous position. The Rules are therefore being amended to bring both cohorts within scope.

Based on internal analysis, the Home Office estimates this change will lead to an additional 163 to 447 Appendix VDA grants per year — a modest but meaningful number of additional victims gaining protection.

6. The UK Rejoins Erasmus+: What It Means for Visas

A significant part of this Statement of Changes is dedicated to preparing the Immigration Rules for the UK’s return to Erasmus+, the EU’s flagship programme for education, training, youth and sport.

Background. At the UK-EU summit in May 2025, the UK and the EU agreed that the UK would work towards rejoining Erasmus+, as part of the wider UK-EU Common Understanding package. On 17 December 2025, the UK Government and the European Commission announced they had reached agreement on the UK’s association with Erasmus+ from 2027. On 15 April 2026, Protocol I to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was formally amended to implement that association.

New definitions. To support this, the Immigration Rules now include formal definitions of “job shadowing”, “participative observation”, “skills competition”, “traineeship” and “youth worker” in the context of Erasmus+, and the existing definition of “course of study” has been expanded to cover courses that fall outside a short educational exchange or visit.

Changes to the Visitor route. Visitors will be permitted to study at UK state-funded schools and academies where they are participating in an Erasmus+ project, for short-term placements of up to six months — something not previously allowed. New eligibility requirements have also been introduced to make sure Erasmus+ participants are genuine, and to safeguard those under 18: where a participant under 18 is coming to undertake a traineeship or job shadowing placement, written confirmation of permission from their parent or legal guardian, and from their home institution, will be required.

Changes to Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities. All visitors, not just Erasmus+ participants, will now be able to attend workshops and debates, and to take part in skills competitions. In addition, a brand-new “Erasmus+ Activities” section has been added, allowing Erasmus+ participants who meet the relevant eligibility requirements to, under the Visitor route:

• provide or receive training at a UK-based organisation or educational institution;

• take part in courses at a UK-based organisation or educational institution;

• undertake a traineeship of up to 30 days at a UK-based organisation or educational institution;

• undertake job shadowing at a UK-based organisation (including sports organisations) or educational institution; and

• take part in coaching or training assignments at a UK-based sports organisation.

Changes to Appendix Student and Appendix Child Student. Several long-standing requirements are being relaxed specifically for Erasmus+ participants sponsored by a participating institution:

• they will be able to be sponsored even where their course does not lead to an approved qualification (Erasmus+ courses do not always do so);

• the minimum course level is being lowered for Erasmus+ participants only, from the normal minimum of RQF level 3/4 (or SCQF level 6/7, depending on the sponsor’s licence status) to RQF level 2 or above (or SCQF level 5 or above in Scotland);

• Erasmus+ courses with a work placement will be exempt from the usual rule that a sponsor must have passed its first Basic Compliance Assessment (i.e. moved beyond Probationary Sponsor status) before offering work placements below degree level, and from the requirement that such placements lead to an approved qualification;

• Erasmus+ work placements will also be exempt from the usual cap on how much of a course can be made up of a work placement (normally a third of the course, or up to half for certain degree-level courses); and

• Erasmus+ students will be able to study at a state-funded school or academy where that school holds a sponsor licence and is sponsoring them specifically for an Erasmus+ programme.

Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) scheme. A new “Erasmus+” scheme has been added to the list of Government Authorised Exchange schemes, covering eligible traineeships, teaching placements and training assignments (other types of Erasmus+ placement will use other routes, such as the Visitor or Student route). The Department for Education endorses the scheme and will monitor how it performs; day-to-day administration sits with an overarching sponsor, IRARA Services Ltd, which the DfE selected through a competitive procurement process.

Scale. For context, the most recent Erasmus+ annual data (from 2019, the last year the UK fully participated) recorded around 60,000 Erasmus+ participants coming to the UK. By comparison, in the year ending March 2026 the UK granted 2.2 million visitor visas, 25.1 million Electronic Travel Authorisations, 412,825 study visas and 7,235 Government Authorised Exchange visas — so while Erasmus+ participation is expected to increase noticeably relative to current GAE volumes, its overall effect on the Visitor and Student routes is expected to be comparatively modest.

7. EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS): Six Changes to Note

This Statement of Changes makes six separate changes to the EU Settlement Scheme:

1. More flexibility to keep pre-settled status. Under the Withdrawal Agreement, pre-settled status can be removed where the holder no longer meets EUSS eligibility requirements and it is proportionate to remove it. This change allows a small number of pre-settled status holders who no longer technically meet the requirements — for example, because of a sudden change in family circumstances — but where removing their status would not be proportionate, to remain within the scheme and go on to qualify for settled status in due course.

2. A new deadline for joining family members. First-time applications from family members joining someone in the UK must now generally be made within three months of the applicant’s most recent legal entry to the UK since the end of the transition period (31 December 2020). To prevent abuse, someone whose previous EUSS application was rejected or refused after they entered the UK without an EUSS family permit will need to show reasonable grounds for applying more than three months after that entry, or re-enter the UK with a valid EUSS family permit to trigger a fresh three-month deadline.

3. Biometric residence permits removed as proof of identity. The EUSS previously allowed a biometric residence permit — even one that had expired by up to 18 months — to be used as proof of identity and nationality. Since almost all such permits had expired by the end of 2024, the Home Office has concluded there is no continuing benefit to keeping this option open, and it is being removed. This is the one EUSS change that takes effect later than the rest — see the dates section below.

4. Protection for children completing their education (following the Ayoola case). In Ayoola v SSHD [2025] EWCA Civ 1519, the Court of Appeal held that a child with pre-settled status, whose EU citizen parent was formerly a worker or self-employed person in the UK, has a right of residence under the Withdrawal Agreement that continues until they finish their education in the UK — and that this right is not lost simply because, after the end of the transition period, the child stops being a “family member” of an EU citizen in the technical sense. The Rules are being amended to reflect this: such a child will be able to retain their pre-settled status (and go on to qualify for settled status), and their primary carer (along with any dependant of that carer under 18) will be able to obtain or retain pre-settled status where this is necessary for the child to finish their education.

5. The EUSS travel permit route is being removed. This route previously allowed an EUSS status holder to return to the UK on a new passport using a special travel permit. It is being replaced by the ability to use the “Update My Details” service from outside the UK, including to link EUSS status to a new passport.

6. The EUSS Administrative Review route is being removed from the Rules. This route closed to new applications in April 2024, and all outstanding administrative review applications under it have now been concluded, so the corresponding provisions (Appendix AR (EU), and a related provision in Appendix AR) are being deleted as redundant.

8. Hong Kong BN(O) Route: Children No Longer Need a Separate Five-Year Residence Period

Under the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route, dependent children currently have to complete their own continuous period of five years’ residence with permission in the UK before they can qualify for settlement — even where their parents already meet the settlement requirements.

This change removes that separate requirement for children who are under 18 at the date they apply, allowing them to settle alongside their parents once their parents qualify, rather than being held back by a continuous residence requirement they would otherwise be unable to meet. The Home Office says this aligns the BN(O) route with the approach already taken on most other immigration routes to settlement.

9. Other Notable Changes

A number of smaller, more technical changes are also being made across other parts of the Rules:

Religious workers

• Appendix T2 Minister of Religion: members of religious orders are being exempted from the usual requirement that their role must not mainly involve non-pastoral duties; where a main applicant is not entitled to the National Minimum Wage (because they do not receive a salary while in the UK), the way the financial requirement is assessed for them and their dependants is changing; and the previous upper limit on how long someone can remain on this route is being removed, to bring it into line with other work routes. These changes take effect on 29 October 2026.

• Appendix Temporary Work – Religious Worker: the requirement for a sponsor to advertise the role is being replaced with a requirement to demonstrate an established affiliation with the sponsoring faith-based organisation; and the same change to how the financial requirement is assessed (where the applicant is not entitled to the National Minimum Wage) is being made here too. These changes also take effect on 29 October 2026.

Student route maintenance funds

Student applicants must show they have enough funds to support themselves for each month of their course (up to a maximum of nine months). This figure is set to match the maintenance loans available to home students, which the Department for Education reviews annually. For the 2026/2027 academic year, the relevant monthly figures are increasing from £1,529 to £1,570, and from £1,171 to £1,203, depending on the applicant’s circumstances. A related figure also rises from £1,529 to £1,570, which — based on the Home Office’s own confirmation that the accommodation offset (the amount by which a paid accommodation deposit can reduce the funds an applicant needs to show) has been increased in line with the maintenance requirement — appears to be that offset cap, though readers relying on this figure specifically should check the published Rules directly. This change takes effect on 30 November 2026.

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Investor)

Outdated references to entry clearance and extension applications under Tier 1 (Investor) are being removed, as the deadline for such applications passed on 17 February 2026. Related point-scoring provisions for entry clearance and extension applications under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) are also being removed, as they are no longer relevant.

Start-up route

References to main applicants are being removed from Appendix Start-up, since main applications under this route have not been possible since April 2023. Dependants remain eligible to apply.

Long Residence

A gap in the Rules is being closed: where a settlement application is varied and the applicant fails to pay a required Immigration Health Charge, the application can be rejected as invalid — but until now, no equivalent provision existed where a permission-to-stay application was varied. The Rules are being amended so both types of varied application are treated consistently.

Child Relative (Sponsor with Protection)

Appendix Child Relative (Sponsor with Protection) allows a child under 18 to join, or apply to stay with, a close relative who has protection status in the UK. Previously, there was a rule allowing refusal of applicants over 18, but for technical reasons it could not be applied to entry clearance applications. A new eligibility requirement is being introduced so decision-makers can refuse entry clearance applications from applicants who are over 18 at the date of application, closing this gap.

Visitor route: minor clarifications

To keep the Visitor route aligned with the UK’s mobility commitments under its free trade agreements, visitors will no longer have to prove that equivalent training is unavailable back home before undertaking training in the UK. The route is also being widened to let artists, entertainers and musicians attend rehearsals, not just performances, and a new definition of “entertainment staff” clarifies who is permitted to support them while they do. A spelling error (“renumerated”) in the Permitted Activities rules has also been corrected to “remunerated”.

Other technical corrections

The Rules also correct a reference to the specific name of a qualification and language assessment service provider (“Ecctis”) in Appendix Skilled Worker, missed in an earlier update; remove the “Ofgem International Staff Exchange Scheme” from the list of Government Authorised Exchange schemes, as it is no longer operating; replace the definition “BN(O) Household Member” with “BN(O) Adult Child” for consistency with earlier changes; and make a number of purely drafting corrections to paragraph references elsewhere in the Rules.

When Do These Changes Take Effect?

Most of the changes described above take effect on 8 October 2026. There are three exceptions:

• the changes to Appendix T2 Minister of Religion and Appendix Temporary Work – Religious Worker take effect on 29 October 2026;

• the annual increase to the Student route maintenance funds requirement takes effect on 30 November 2026; and

• the removal of the biometric residence permit as proof of identity and nationality under the EU Settlement Scheme takes effect on 9 December 2026.

Does this affect applications already submitted?

This is an important practical point, and it varies depending on which change is involved.

For some changes, the Statement of Changes includes a transitional (or “saving”) provision: if an application, claim, or administrative review request was made before the relevant commencement date, it will still be decided under the Rules as they stood the day before that date — not the new Rules. This protection applies to:

• the new Suitability ground concerning frustrating immigration controls;

• the two Part 1 changes (fee waiver date of application, and biometric enrolment on variation);

• the Family Returns Process changes to Appendix FM and Appendix Private Life;

• all of the Erasmus+-related changes to the Visitor route, Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities, Appendix Student and Appendix Child Student, and the addition (and removal) of Government Authorised Exchange schemes;

• the changes to Appendix T2 Minister of Religion and Appendix Temporary Work – Religious Worker (relative to 29 October 2026); and

• the Student route maintenance funds uplift (relative to 30 November 2026).

By contrast, the following changes do not carry this transitional protection, meaning the new Rules will apply to any decision made on or after the relevant commencement date, even if the application was submitted earlier:

• the BN(O) Adult Child terminology change;

• the removal of outdated Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Investor) provisions;

• the removal of the EUSS Administrative Review route, and the related Administrative Review change;

• the EU Settlement Scheme changes other than the biometric residence permit change (i.e. the changes to Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit));

• the Skilled Worker changes (the Ecctis correction and the modern slavery flexibility);

• the Start-up route cleanup;

• the Hong Kong BN(O) continuous residence exemption for children;

• the new age requirement under Appendix Child Relative (Sponsor with Protection);

• the Long Residence changes; and

• the extension of the Victim of Domestic Abuse route to adult dependent children.

The removal of the biometric residence permit as proof of identity under the EU Settlement Scheme, taking effect on 9 December 2026, is also not accompanied by a transitional provision.

In practice, this means that if you have a pending EU Settlement Scheme application, a pending Victim of Domestic Abuse application, or a case affected by any of the other changes in the second list above, the new Rules are likely to apply to your case once they come into force — even though you applied earlier. If your case is affected by the Family Returns Process changes, or by the Erasmus+-related Visitor, Student or Child Student changes, the position you applied under should continue to apply.

Final Thoughts

This Statement of Changes covers a genuinely wide range of ground. Some of it formalises practices that are already happening administratively, such as the fee-free human rights claims for families in the Family Returns Process. Some of it responds directly to litigation, such as the extension of the Victim of Domestic Abuse route and the EU Settlement Scheme changes following the Ayoola judgment. And a substantial portion of it is genuinely new policy, laying the groundwork in the Immigration Rules for the UK’s return to the Erasmus+ programme from 2027.

If any of the changes above may affect you, your family, or workers or students you sponsor, it is worth taking advice on how they apply to your specific circumstances well before the relevant commencement date, particularly given how the transitional arrangements differ from one change to the next.

This article provides a general overview of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 584) and its accompanying Explanatory Memorandum, both laid before Parliament on 3 September 2026. It is intended as general information only and does not constitute immigration advice on any individual case.