@CatherineFlick @NotTheLBCGuy The government changed the settlement rules for ILR from 4 years to 5 back in 2006ish, and I was affected.
A judicial review found it unlawful to apply the changes retroactively, yet because it took more than a year, and everyone affected had ILR by that point, we got zero compensation.
I see this government has learned nothing from the past. It’ll be found unlawful again, but at the expense of untold misery for current immigrants.
@fehrtrade @NotTheLBCGuy ugh! When I went through the process it was already 5 years. But I came in before the NHS surcharges, they gradually phased them (for a while Australians were exempt because of reciprocal health arrangements or something), and the prices just keeps going up and up and up. Very glad I didn't have to pay the full brunt of them, the visa fees alone were close to 10% of my salary as an early career academic!
@CatherineFlick Yeah thankfully I got my passport before the surcharges were introduced.
It’s absolutely wild to be that my first work permit in 2002 was FREE. Zero fees, even for the application.
Everything they charge now is purely profit-making.
@fehrtrade FREE! gosh. yeah, I came over in 2010, finally got citizenship last year (though I sat on ILR for a bit longer than I needed to, I was a bit worried what might happen in the election and all the BRP fuckups so I converted it). pretty sure most of that money goes to Sopra Steria though, nice little kickback for someone in there I'm sure
