The government has today laid its major new Immigration Bill before Parliament.
Subject to its Parliamentary progress, the bill is expected to receive royal assent in spring 2014.
The Bill is available here. See here for the explanatory notes.
For further information on the Bill, see this page on gov.uk.
In the words of a Home Office statement, the Bill will:
• cut the number of decisions that can be appealed from 17 to four — preserving appeals for those asserting fundamental rights
• extend the number of non-suspensive appeals. Where there is no risk of serious irreversible harm, we should deport foreign criminals first and hear their appeal later
• ensure the courts have regard to Parliament's view of what the public interest requires when considering Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in immigration cases
• restrict the ability of immigration detainees to apply repeatedly for bail if they have previously been refused it
• require private landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants, to prevent those with no right to live in the UK from accessing private rented housing
• make it easier for the Home Office to recover unpaid civil penalties
• introduce a new requirement for temporary migrants, for example overseas students, who have only a time-limited immigration status to make a contribution to the National Health Service
• require banks to check against a database of known immigration offenders before opening bank accounts
• introduce new powers to check driving licence applicants' immigration status before issuing a licence and revoking licences where immigrants are found to have overstayed in the UK
• clamp down on people who try to gain an immigration advantage by entering into a sham marriage or civil partnership
We'll have more on reaction to the Bill as it comes in.