Discretionary leave: caseworker guidance

UK Visas and Immigration staff guidance on the circumstances in which it may be appropriate to grant discretionary leave.
We have temporarily paused consideration of settlement applications for applicants who were first granted Discretionary Leave (DL) under the Transitional Arrangements, who committed a criminal offence prior to their first grant of DL for which they were sentenced for 12 months imprisonments or longer.
This pause is due to ongoing litigation proceedings relating to the policy for that cohort (see judgment of Jimoh v SSHD [2026] EWCA Civ 643).