Curtailment of your permission (leave to enter or leave to remain) means shortening the period for which your existing immigration permission remains valid.

Please note that the term ‘cancellation’ was introduced on 1 December 2020 in the changes to the Immigration Rules which took effect on 1 December 2020. The term ‘cancellation’ is now widely used in the Immigration Rules - Part Suitability and replaces the term ‘curtailment’, although ‘curtailment’ is still used in some sections of the Immigration Rules, such as the Immigration Rules - Appendix EU.

Home Office guidance and correspondence may still use the term 'curtailment' to describe the shortening of permission. In this article, 'cancellation' and 'curtailment' are therefore used in the practical sense relevant to the decision being discussed, while recognising that the current Immigration Rules generally use 'cancellation' terminology.

What is a Curtailment Notice?

A 'curtailment notice' is a notification from the Home Office that your existing immigration permission is being brought to an earlier end. Your permission may be shortened to a new future expiry date or, in some circumstances, cancelled with immediate effect. The notice will normally explain the decision and the date on which your permission ends.

For an individual, a curtailment or cancellation notice creates an important immigration deadline. For an employer of a sponsored worker, it can also create an urgent compliance and workforce issue that should be managed promptly and in line with sponsor and right-to-work duties.

If your permission is shortened to a future date, you should consider your options before that date. Depending on your circumstances and the Immigration Rules, these may include making a valid application to remain in the UK, obtaining new sponsorship where required, switching to another eligible immigration route, or leaving the UK before your permission expires.

If you do not act within the specified time period and remain in the UK after your permission expires, you may become an overstayer, which can affect your future immigration applications.

What is an Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit): in-country curtailment?

Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules does not apply to the curtailment of your limited leave that you have been granted under Appendix EU or due to having arrived in the UK with an entry clearance granted under Appendix EU (Family Permit). Where UKVI is considering curtailing your limited leave granted under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme) in Appendix EU (your limited leave is also known as pre-settled status) or leave to enter the UK granted by virtue of having arrived in the UK with an EUSS family permit, the relevant rules in Appendix EU or Appendix EU (Family Permit) apply.

Why may you be issued a curtailment letter?

UKVI may typically curtail or cancel permission where it believes you no longer meet the basis on which you were granted permission or where suitability or public interest grounds apply. Common scenarios include: your relationship has ended with your British or settled partner in the UK during your spouse visa, your employment on a Skilled Worker visa has ended due to resignation, dismissal, redundancy, business closure, your employer has withdrawn sponsorship, or suitability grounds including deception or criminality.

People who may receive a curtailment notice include those on:

• Skilled Worker visa because your employment ends, your employer withdraws sponsorship, your employer’s sponsor licence is revoked; or you no longer meet the requirements of the Skilled Worker route.

• Student visa because you permanently withdraw from your course, your university reports that you have stopped studying, your education provider loses its sponsor licence, or you no longer meet the student route requirements.

• Family visa because the relationship on which your visa was based has permanently broken down, you no longer meet the requirements of your family route, or other grounds under the Immigration Rules apply.

• Dependant partners and children whose permission depends on a main visa holder if the main applicant's permission is curtailed or they cease to qualify as dependants.

• On other sponsored work routes (where sponsorship is required) if your sponsorship ends or you otherwise cease to meet the route's requirements. 

• People who otherwise cease to meet the conditions or requirements of their immigration route.

What should you do next after receiving a curtailment notice?

If you have received a curtailment notice, it does not automatically mean you must leave the UK immediately. The options available to you depend on whether the Home Office has cancelled your permission with immediate effect or curtailed it to a future date, and on the reason for the curtailment decision.

For example, if you are a Skilled Worker, a curtailment notice does not automatically mean that the Home Office considers you to have engaged in criminality or deliberate wrongdoing. Cancellation may arise because your sponsorship has ended or changed, or because UKVI has taken action against your sponsor, for example where the sponsor's licence has been revoked.

Where you are given a future expiry date, you remain lawfully in the UK until that date, subject to the terms of your permission. You should submit any valid in-country application before your permission expires, where the Immigration Rules allow this, or make arrangements to leave the UK before the new expiry date. In sponsored work or study cases where cancellation results from circumstances outside your control, Home Office guidance may provide a period of permission - commonly up to 60 days - to allow you to make a further application or arrange your departure. This is not an automatic 60-day grace period in every case, and a shorter period or immediate cancellation may apply depending on the circumstances.

If the Home Office cancels your permission with immediate effect, your existing permission ends immediately. You should obtain immigration advice urgently before making any further application or taking other action, because the effect of a new application or legal challenge will depend on your circumstances and the applicable statutory provisions. Immediate cancellation therefore carries a particularly high risk of overstaying if no other lawful basis to remain applies.

1. Apply for a new visa from inside the UK 

In many cases, you may be able to apply for further permission from inside the UK, but you should normally do so before your curtailed permission expires and only where the Immigration Rules permit an in-country application or switching into the route concerned.

Depending on your circumstances, this may include applying in the same sponsored route with a new licensed sponsor, switching to another eligible work route, or applying under a family, private life or other route where the requirements are met.

2. Challenge the curtailment decision 

There is generally no statutory right of appeal or administrative review against an ordinary cancellation or curtailment decision, although specific exceptions apply, including certain EUSS cases. Depending on the facts, possible remedies may include making representations where there is a clear factual or administrative error, submitting a fresh immigration or human rights application where available, or seeking judicial review. The appropriate option is highly fact-sensitive and should not be treated as a substitute for taking action before any immigration deadline.

Informal representations are not a formal appeal mechanism and do not, by themselves, suspend the effect of a cancellation decision or extend the deadline for taking action. You should therefore continue to protect your immigration position while any representations are being considered.

What happens if you do not act in time? 

If you do not make a valid application within the remaining period of permission and do not leave the UK by the new expiry date, you may become an overstayer. Overstaying can have serious immigration consequences, including possible enforcement action and an adverse effect on future immigration applications, subject to the facts and the applicable Immigration Rules.

An employer that continues to employ a person who no longer has the right to work may face significant compliance consequences, including potential civil penalties for illegal working and, where applicable, sponsor licence action. Employers should therefore carry out any required follow-up right-to-work checks and take appropriate action in accordance with Home Office guidance. Whether a civil penalty arises will depend on the circumstances, including whether the employer has established and maintained a statutory excuse.

Options for Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit): in-country curtailment

Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules does not apply to your curtailment of limited leave that has been granted under Appendix EU or because you arrived in the UK with an entry clearance granted under Appendix EU (Family Permit). 

Where you have been granted pre-settled status under the EUSS and a decision is taken after 11:00 pm on 31 January 2020 to curtail your leave (to vary your leave so that you do not have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK), you have the right of appeal against that decision under specified regulation of the Immigration (Citizens’ Rights Appeals) (EU exit) Regulations 2020 (“the Citizens’ Rights Appeals Regulations”). You may exercise this appeal right in or out of the country.

If the curtailment decision is taken while you are in the UK, your pre-settled status under the EUSS will be extended while you are in-time (that is, for 14 days) to bring that appeal. If you bring an appeal under specified regulation of the Citizens’ Rights Appeals Regulations, your leave will be extended under the Citizens’ Rights Appeals Regulations until your appeal is finally determined, unless your removal is certified. Your extended leave will not lapse simply because you have left the UK, though it may lapse in accordance with the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Leave to Remain) Order 2000 if you leave the UK and Islands for more than 5 consecutive years (or more than 4 consecutive years in the case you are a Swiss national or their family members).

Where you have leave to enter granted because of having arrived in the UK with an EUSS family permit and a decision is taken after 11:00 pm on 31 January 2020 to curtail that leave, you get the right of appeal against that decision under specified regulations of the Citizens’ Rights Appeals Regulations. You may exercise this appeal in or out of the country. Your leave is not extended while such an appeal is pending, though the appeal (unless certified under specified regulation 16 or 16A of the Citizens’ Rights Appeals Regulations) will be suspensive of removal.

For EUSS and EUSS family permit cases, administrative review is no longer available for eligible decisions made on or after 5 October 2023. Historic administrative review arrangements for earlier decisions have now ended, so any current challenge should be considered under the appeal or other legal mechanisms that remain available.

How can Visa and Migration Ltd. Help?

Receiving a curtailment notice can be stressful for you, but we can guide you through every step. Our immigration advisers will review the reasons for the curtailment, assess your current immigration status, and explain your available options. 

We can help you apply for a new visa, switch to another eligible immigration route, or prepare a strong application before your permission expires. If the Home Office decision appears to be incorrect, we can advise on the appropriate legal remedies where available. 

Our team aims to help you protect your lawful status in the UK and minimise disruption to your future immigration plans.

For expert advice and queries, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write to info@visaandmigration.com