Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

This amendment would ensure that the new provisions in the Bill could not be applied to applicants whose applications were pending when Part 2 commenced. The amendment also provides an opportunity to probe what will happen to those with limited leave to remain, or those yet to qualify for limited leave to remain, when the new provisions come into force. The trouble is that the Government have a bit of form on this. In 2006, they changed the highly skilled migrant programme and then applied it retrospectively, catching quite a number of people within those provisions, for some of them extending the time that they had to wait from four to five years and causing quite a lot of hardship as a result. It is important that this is made clear now. I go back to my comment at Second Reading that, if we are not clear about this and this is not done, many people who are in this country and are progressing on their way forward to citizenship, following all the rules that have been put before them, will be in that position of snakes and ladders. They will think that they are progressing at a good rate and doing the right things but will suddenly find themselves down at the bottom of the pile again and having to start all over. This just needs a simple agreement from the Government that the provisions will be applied only as and when Royal Assent is achieved. That would make it very clear to anybody else in the process at the moment that they will proceed under the rules that pertain at the moment. I beg to move.