What are the Immigration Rules?

The Immigration Rules are the rules, laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971, that set how people may enter and stay in the UK. They state the requirements for each visa route and the period and conditions of leave, and they change through published statements of changes.

How the Immigration Rules work

Section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 requires the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament, from time to time and as soon as may be, statements of the rules, or of changes in the rules, about the practice to follow in regulating entry into and stay in the UK. These include rules on the period for which leave is given and the conditions attached in different circumstances.^{[1]UK Parliament, Immigration Act 1971, section 3: General provisions for regulation and control}

If either House of Parliament disapproves a statement by a resolution within 40 days of it being laid, the Secretary of State must make such changes as appear to be required.^{[1]UK Parliament, Immigration Act 1971, section 3: General provisions for regulation and control} The 40 days do not count any period when Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, or both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.^{[1]UK Parliament, Immigration Act 1971, section 3: General provisions for regulation and control}

The Rules themselves say that they are made under section 3(2). They are HC 395, as amended.^{[2]Home Office, Immigration Rules: introduction} They came into effect on 1 October 1994 and apply to decisions taken on or after that date. An application made before that date is decided under the earlier rules, HC 251.^{[2]Home Office, Immigration Rules: introduction}

The Rules also say that Immigration Officers, Entry Clearance Officers and all Home Office staff will carry out their duties without regard to the race, colour or religion of people seeking to enter or remain in the UK.^{[2]Home Office, Immigration Rules: introduction}

GOV.UK describes the Immigration Rules as some of the most important pieces of legislation that make up the UK’s immigration law.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules}

How the Rules are laid out

The Rules are divided into different documents. The index page helps you find the part you need.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules}

The part and appendix names come from the Rules index and collection page.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules[5]Home Office, Immigration Rules: Index} Our guides to leave to enter, entry clearance and leave to remain explain parts of Part 1. The family rules are in Appendix FM.

The introduction also holds the definitions. For example it says that “permission to stay” has the same meaning as leave to remain, and that “settlement” means indefinite leave to enter or remain.^{[2]Home Office, Immigration Rules: introduction}

How the Rules change

The Rules are updated on a regular basis. All changes can be found in the Immigration Rules: statement of changes.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules} The statement of changes collection lists them by House of Commons number and date. For 2026 it shows three: HC 1691 of 5 March 2026, HC 259 of 9 July 2026 and HC 584 of 3 September 2026.^{[4]Home Office, Immigration Rules: statement of changes} The collection was last updated on 3 September 2026.^{[4]Home Office, Immigration Rules: statement of changes}

GOV.UK keeps archived copies of the consolidated Immigration Rules as they were on the date before each statement of changes came into effect.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules} If you need to know which version of a rule applied on a given date, you can use these.

Example

Sunita reads that a rule changed in 2026 and wants to know what the earlier wording was. She opens the statement of changes collection on GOV.UK and finds the statement that matches the date. She then opens the archived copy of the consolidated Rules from the day before that statement took effect. She compares the two. She also notes the House of Commons number, such as HC 584, so that she can quote the statement correctly in anything she writes.

What people get wrong

A saved or printed copy of the Rules can go out of date. GOV.UK says the Rules are updated on a regular basis and that all changes are in the statements of changes.

That is stated on the GOV.UK Immigration Rules page.^{[3]Home Office, Immigration Rules}

The second mistake is to assume the Rules are all there is. They sit beside the Immigration Act 1971, which is where the power to make them comes from.^{[1]UK Parliament, Immigration Act 1971, section 3: General provisions for regulation and control} The Rules also use terms that are defined in the introduction, such as “permission to stay”, so read the definitions before relying on a paragraph.^{[2]Home Office, Immigration Rules: introduction}

The bottom line

The Immigration Rules are the rules the Home Secretary lays before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971. They are split into parts and appendices, one for each kind of route. They change through statements of changes, and GOV.UK publishes both the current Rules and archived versions. Always check the current text and the date it applies from.