The Home Office has published a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 584[1]. The changes include amendments relevant to applicants who request fee waivers and to those who vary an application before a decision has been made.
The relevant amendments are due to take effect on 08 October 2026.
Fee waiver applications and the date of application
Paragraph 34G of the Immigration Rules governs the date on which an application is treated as having been made.
Under the amendments, where an applicant has made a fee waiver request and subsequently submits an application for permission to stay, the later application is treated as having been made on the date of the fee waiver request. This will, however, only apply where the subsequent application is made via the same Immigration route identified in the fee waiver request.
The substantive application must also be made within 10 working days of the applicant’s receipt of the decision on the fee waiver request.
The amendment therefore places an express restriction on an applicant’s ability to rely on the fee waiver request when the subsequent immigration application is made under a different route.
New paragraph 34G(5) provides that where the subsequent application is made under a different route, the application will be treated as having been made on the date it is actually submitted, rather than on the earlier date of the fee waiver request.
This is of particular importance where an applicant’s existing leave is due to expire, or has expired, and the date of application is relevant to the continuation of leave under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.
The Explanatory Memorandum makes clear that the amendment is intended to permit the fee waiver process being used to preserve section 3C leave through an application on human rights grounds, where the applicant subsequently seeks to vary that application to a route which does not engage the same fee waiver process.
Variation of an application and biometric enrolment
The statement of changes introduces a new paragraph 34BB(2A) regarding biometric enrolment when an application is varied.
Where an applicant varies an existing application before a decision has been made, the applicant will remain subject to the biometric enrolment period specified for the original application. A variation will therefore not give rise to a fresh period within which biometrics may be enrolled.
The effect of the amendment is that an applicant cannot extend the existing biometric deadline by varying the basis of a pending application.
The Explanatory Memorandum states that this amendment reflects the position under the Immigration (Biometric Registration) Regulations 2008 and confirms that there is to be a single period for biometric enrolment notwithstanding any subsequent variation of the application.
This is a significant procedural point. Where an application is varied close to the expiry of the original biometric deadline, the applicant must continue to comply with the deadline already imposed. Failure to do so may have consequences for the validity of the application.
