On July 9, 2026, the Home Office published a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC259). An explanatory memorandum accompanied the statement of changes.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the principal changes include:
- Allowing a child born in the UK during a parent’s current grant of Graduate route permission to apply as a dependent, and to be granted permission in line with the parent;
- Extending the “Diplomatic Visa Arrangement” (DVA) Visitor visa to India, providing a bespoke visitor visa for eligible diplomatic passport holders;
- Aligning the rules under Part 8 of the Immigration Rules for children joining relatives in the UK with Appendix Child Relative and Appendix Children;
- Providing that a partner granted permission under Appendix FM will be granted permission in line with the remainder of the sponsor’s existing permission, matching the time the sponsor has left;
- Ensuring that, where an applicant is eligible to apply under the Exception for Overstayers, their application is not refused solely on the basis that they are on immigration bail and can instead be considered on its merits;
- Removing the requirement for an applicant for an EUSS travel permit to provide fingerprint biometrics;
- Confirming that, where pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme as a family member of a qualifying British citizen has been varied into another form of immigration permission, the person can still apply for settled status under the scheme at any point before the date of expiry of that other permission, or later where there are reasonable grounds for their delay in applying;
- Amending the Appendix FM child route to apply the care requirement in Appendix Children, which is intended to ensure a child’s living and care arrangements in the UK are safe, suitable and compliant with UK legislation;
- Allowing children of single-serving personnel, whose parent is exempt from immigration control, to be granted permission under the Rules rather than relying on a discretionary grant of Leave Outside the Rules; and clarifying that dependents of exempt international service personnel are not automatically eligible to accompany them, and must apply for entry clearance.
There are other minor changes.
These changes will come into effect on July 30 or August 3, 2026.
Erickson Insights and Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue monitoring developments and sharing updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or if you have case-specific questions.