UK gives relief to migrants to go home

Accra, May 21, GNA - The Ghana High Commission in London on Tuesday informed Ghanaians residing in the UK that the Home Office in a bid to re-enforce the need for migrants to the UK to go home after expiry of their visas, had issued a statement detailing measures for those who broke UK immigration laws.

The statement noted that the new immigration rules, effective April 2008, gave those who overstayed a clear incentive to go home of their own accord by granting them "shorter ban than they would receive if they waited for UK Borders Agency to remove them".

The new rules state: "Anyone who has previously used deception in an entry clearance application will have all future applications to come here refused for 10 years.

"Anyone who has previously breached our immigration laws in any other way that is, by overstaying, entering the UK illegally, telling lies in an immigration application or breaching the conditions of their leave by working illegally will be banned from returning for various periods, depending on how they left the UK following their breach. It said such persons would be banned for one year if they left voluntarily at their own expense; five years if they left voluntarily at public expense; and 10 years if they were removed or deported." The Home Office statement said the rules would not apply to anyone who was in the UK on March 17, 2008 and who went home of his or her own accord before October 1, 2008. It said: "We are giving anyone here illegally the last chance to go before the new rules kick in. If they leave before October 1, 2008 we will not automatically apply the ban to them, though they will still need to meet the other requirements of the immigration rules if they wished to obtain a visa.