Spencer West LLP

News and Insights

Welcome to our News and Insights section. Here we’ll talk about the latest legal developments with our articles and videos. You can browse or search by practice area or sector. We’ll also let you know about changes at our firm including the expansion into new practice areas, sectors and locations.

Update on Coronavirus and UK immigration

This update highlights the available policy information, the problems posed for visa holders and their employers and what they can do...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 27 Apr 2021

Sponsorship Forever – An update on the new Skilled Worker and Intra-Company Transfer routes

The new rules for Skilled Workers and Intra Company Transfer Workers have been in place since 1 December 2020. Join us as we...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 Jan 2021

Brexit - What are the Consequences

On 1st of January 2021, we entered the post-Brexit period and the consequences for business have started to be implemented or...

Article | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 Jan 2021

Brexit and Private Client

Describing the relationship between EU countries as Byzantine is an understatement. Leaving the EU is no less complicated, as...

Article | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 Jan 2021

Frontier workers: Qu’est ce que c’est?

Free Movement may have ended but there are lots of different UK immigration options for EU nationals. This blog post for HR...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 13 Jan 2021

Data Protection – Do you need a representative?

EU Representative The European General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) has a wide territorial scope. It doesn’t only...

Article | Post-Brexit | Data Protection
Posted: 12 Jan 2021

Data Protection – where are we now?

The UK and EU finalized the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the Agreement) setting out the post-Brexit relationship on...

Article | Post-Brexit | Data Protection
Posted: 3 Jan 2021

Businesses to check EEA nationals’ right to work or risk a fall from grace

This article was written by Immigration and Global Mobility Partner Samar Shams on 30 November 2020. Employers should have...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 30 Nov 2020

Sponsoring Skilled Workers and Intra-Company Workers

This article was written by Immigration and Global Mobility Partner Samar Shams on 25 November 2020. This article focusses on...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 25 Nov 2020

Business trips to the UK from January 2021

Francophiles will be interested in this video in which Samar Shams, Immigration and Global Mobility Partner, explains how...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 13 Nov 2020

Brexit: The UK Government’s consultation on extending the right to depart from Retained EU law beyond the Supreme Court

From 1 January 2021, the meaning of EU-derived law will be determined in the UK courts by reference to CJEU case law as it...

Article | Employment Law | Post-Brexit
Posted: 6 Nov 2020

The future has arrived: post-Brexit immigration rules published

This article was written by Immigration and Global Mobility Partner Samar Shams with support from Associate Partner Talitha...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 23 Oct 2020

What businesses need to do to prepare for the end of the post-Brexit transition period and the future immigration system

You may be concerned about your European staff or bewildered about planning for recruitment in line with the changes to...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 20 Oct 2020

Employment law – 5 tips for October Redundancy focus

This month we are focusing on some redundancy issues that have come up with particular reference to furlough but also to throw...

Article | Employment Law | Post-Brexit
Posted: 15 Oct 2020

Brexit EUIPO Update

EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) becomes an office of second filing for WIPO Digital Access Service for...

Article | Post-Brexit
Posted: 5 Oct 2020

Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa and exceptional entry options

A special UK visa for those with British National Overseas (BN(O)) status in Hong Kong will be available from January 2021. The...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 5 Oct 2020

EEA family permits vs EU family permits

What is the difference between an EEA family permit and an EU family permit? Immigration and Global Mobility team members Samar...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 29 Sep 2020

The new Student route which replaces the current Tier 4 route

The government have announced that the current Tier 4 route will be replaced with the new Student and Child Student categories,...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 Sep 2020

Update - Home Office covid concession in relation to exceptional assurance.

Talitha's latest video takes a look at visa holders who intend to leave the UK but have not been able to do so and have a visa...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 10 Sep 2020

Updated Home Office Covid Concession

Take a look at our latest video from Talitha Degwa, Associate Partner - Immigration talking about the updated Home Office Covid...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 4 Sep 2020

The latest update on the Identity Verification App

Take a look at the latest update on the Identity Verification (IDV) App which the Home Office introduced to allow eligible...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 2 Sep 2020

Representative of Overseas Business

This video is for those interested in the Representative of Overseas Business visa. It covers the June 2020 changes to this...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 30 Aug 2020

The Innovator visa

The Innovator visa, for entrepreneurs wishing to set up and run a business in the UK, requires endorsement of a business plan,...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 29 Aug 2020

Global Talent

The Global Talent visa is more attractive than ever. Watch this short video for an overview with a focus on digital tech. Get...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 28 Aug 2020

Sponsoring skilled workers

The Government’s planned changes to sponsorship and the Tier 2 General visa, in particular, are summarised here by Samar...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 27 Aug 2020

Immigration updates

Had enough of trying to keep up to date with the fast-paced changes in the world of UK immigration? We highlight below the main...

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 17 Aug 2020

Details published on the UK’s future immigration system

‘The UK’s future immigration system’ is not a new immigration system. Rather, the government proposes further changes to...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 Jul 2020

Remote control: Checking right to work documents for employees working from home

The Spencer West immigration team has been fielding a lot of queries about checking right to work documents whilst employees...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 23 Jun 2020

Back to the Future of Work

A stellar panel of experts guided us through the trickiest return to work issues, including discrimination and staff refusals....

Article | Employment Law | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 12 Jun 2020

Sense and screenability: an analysis of the UK’s quarantine plan

In this article, Immigration and Global Mobility Partner Samar Shams summarises the UK’s quarantine plan. She considers the...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 5 Jun 2020

UK recovery depends on skilled migrants

If you think that increased unemployment in the UK means that there is less need for work visas for overseas nationals, think...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 18 May 2020

Immigration issues arising in the context of the return to work

Immigration status is not a protected characteristic, but employers of overseas nationals must navigate part-time work, right...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 14 May 2020

The UK's Future Immigration System

With only months to go before the UK’s future immigration system takes effect on 1 January 2021, you should understand the...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 31 Mar 2020

Coronavirus and UK immigration

There is relatively little information available to date on the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for visa holders and...

Article | Immigration | COVID-19 | Post-Brexit
Posted: 16 Mar 2020

How the UK’s immigration system will change when free movement ends

Samar Shams considers the government’s plans for a points-based immigration system once the UK fully withdraws from the EU....

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 6 Mar 2020

Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) publishes recommendations on a points-based visa route and salary thresholds for sponsored workers

This article first appeared as a Thomson Reuters Practical Law Legal Update on 30 January 2020. The Migration Advisory...

Article | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 31 Jan 2020

Immigration update: The Migration Advisory Committee Report

Take a look at Immigration Partner, Samar Shams's summary of the Migration Advisory Committee's recommendations for a points-based visa route and a lower salary threshold for sponsored workers.

Video | Immigration | Post-Brexit
Posted: 28 Jan 2020