UK IMMIGRATION NEWS

Certificate of Approval Update

Wednesday, 14 March 2007

Following a High Court ruling, the Home Office has now relaxed the criteria for obtaining a Certificate of Approval (COA) for couples who wish to get married or enter into civil partnership in the UK.

The previous requirement in obtaining a COA was that the applicant should have more than six months original leave and three months currently remaining. This appeared to have discriminated against many couples.

The Home Office has now announced that they will not refuse a COA to applicants who have a valid leave to enter or remain at the time of the application. The Home Office has also started processing COA applications that would not have met the criteria under the previous guidance. It has further reported that those applications who had been previously refused under the previous criteria may reapply.