Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law' Senior Associate Alex Piletska was asked by The Times newspaper whether any UK Immigration Rules stop newly elected Green Party Member of Scottish Parliament Q Mannivanan from serving in the Scottish Parliament. Alex Piletska explained that despite other media reports and calls for a Home Office inquiry by the Conservative Party, there is an exception in the UK Immigration Rules which mean public office does not count as employment for immigration purposes. This means the newly elected MSP could be a Member of the Scottish Parliament while coming to the end of their Student visa. Student visas have rules on the hours of work that students can do during term time.
Q Manivannan, who was elected as an Edinburgh and Lothians East regional MSP, intends to apply for a Graduate visa when their Student visa is set to expire. Alex Piletska explained that they would be likely to qualify if their course was successfully completed.
From an electoral perspective, the Green Party MSP can serve in Holyrood as MSPs of all parties unanimously voted a change in law which extended candidacy rights to foreign nationals with limited leave to remain.
Alex Piletska explained why this would also be within the Immigration Rules to The Times: “Public office is explicitly excluded from the definition of ‘employment’ in the immigration rules, so there is no bar to any visa holder taking up the role of MSP.”
Asked whether Q Manivannan would later be able to apply for a Global Talent visa when their Graduate visa runs out, Alex added: “Global Talent visa applications are extremely fact-sensitive so anyone commenting on Q’s chances of being successful in this route without seeing their detailed CV and having a clear idea of what kind of evidence they can submit in support of it would just be speculating.”
You can read the full article (paywalled) in The Times below.
Read the news story in The Times
Alex Piletska has a wealth of experience in immigration and is able to advise on a wide range of cases, including family and human rights applications, as well as Skilled Worker immigration. She has a particular interest in complex nationality cases, Adult Dependent Relative applications, Judicial Review and technical procedural issues like validity and variations.