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Things You Are Not Allowed To Do In UK As An Immigrant

Published

4 months ago

April 23, 2025

The UK has made immigration into the country a little less pleasant, with the new sets of rules for immigrants looking to come to the UK.

Depending on your Visa status, as an immigrant there are certain restrictions and rules you must follow in the UK.

To be able to engage in any of these activities you must have proper authorization from the right authorities.

Here are 10 things you are restricted from doing as an immigrant in the UK

1. Work without authorization
Immigrants who move to the UK with visitor’s visas generally are not allowed to work in the UK. You are not allowed to work for a UK owned enterprise, or even start a personal business. Engaging in any form of work without the proper visa can lead to legal penalties or deportation. What activities are considered as work? Taking employment in the UK;
• Doing work for an organisation or business in the UK;
• Establishing or running a business as a self-employed person;
• Doing a work placement or internship;
• Direct selling to the public;
• Providing goods and services.

2. Claim Public Funds (Welfare Benefits)
As an immigrant in the UK claiming of public funds is prohibited, unless you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or specific benefits entitlement, you are generally not allowed to claim welfare benefits (such as Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or Jobseeker’s Allowance) in the UK.

3. Vote in General Elections
Voting in general elections is a no go for non-citizens of the UK. Voting in general elections is only restricted to citizens of the UK and some commonwealth citizens.

4. Overstay your Visa
Overstaying your visa is staying longer than your visa permits, and this is one of the restrictions immigrants in the UK have. People who got their visa through fraudulent means are also treated as overstayers when caught by the authorities.

5. Bringing family members without approval
Inviting family members into the UK without proper clearance is considered illegal in the UK for immigrants. If your visa does not permit dependents, you cannot bring family members to the UK without prior approval.

6. Education
Without a visa supporting education and study in the UK, enrolling for education is prohibited for immigrants. Though there are a few grey areas, like children from the age of 5 – 16 are allowed to access state funded education despite their immigration status, as this is the legal age for education in the UK.

7. Forming legal partnerships or marriage
Forming a legal partnership or marriage in the UK is prohibited for immigrants. If as an immigrant you want to get married in the UK you have to go through the right authorities.

8. Professional sports or coaching
You can’t work in the UK in a skilled capacity unless you have the proper work visa. This includes coaching in any sports activity.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP