A new requirement is being introduced to the family migration route – partners and parents applying for an extension of their visas after the first two and a half years in the UK will now need to have passed a speaking and listening test at level A2 before submitting their application.
This new requirement will come into effect for all applications from October 2016. The exact date in October has not yet been announced.
20 November 2015
The requirement for a partner to pass an English test before applying for a visa came into effect in 2010, and has caused much grief since. The rule was challenged in the courts, and has gone all the way to the Supreme Court, but unfortunately all five judges hearing the case have held that the requirement is not unlawful.
The only glimmer of hope is that the judges held that the way that the Home Office operate any exceptions to the requirement to pass an English test before applying for a visa may be unlawful. They seemed to suggest that in places such as remote rural areas, where it is impractical and unaffordable for someone to take the test, they should be excused doing so, though no such concession was suggested for an applicant who is illiterate.
It remains to be seen if the Home Office will change the way they operate this requirement.
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