A March 2026 drafting error removed the Visitor: Transit Without Visa Scheme from the immigration rules; the Home Office reinstated it as a published concession but did not tell Parliament, prompting a critical report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee.
The Home Office reinstated the scheme as a published concession under section 3(1)(b) of the Immigration Act 1971 and updated transit guidance and the gov.uk visa tool, but did not notify Parliament or record the concession use.
The House of Lords committee found the deletion exceeded a mere drafting error, criticised the lack of explanation in the explanatory memorandum, and recommended routine formal notification and record-keeping for similar changes.
The Home Office has opened an internal review and is introducing formal error tracking, a post-publication check, and a planned shift to four rules change rounds per year.
In the March 2026 statement of changes (HC 1691) the Home Office's drafting process deleted the whole of Appendix Visitor: Transit Without Visa Scheme. That appendix governs which nationals can transit the UK without applying for a transit visa in advance. The deletion took effect and, as a result, the scheme now sits outside the statutory immigration rules.
March, but it did not have time to correct the rules before the commencement date. Rather than reissuing a statement of changes, the department relied on section 3(1)(b) of the Immigration Act 1971 to reinstate the scheme as a published concession. The concession was reflected in updated transit guidance and in the gov.uk visa tool.
Committee published a report that scrutinised this course of action. The committee's criticisms fall into three concrete areas:
The committee advised that where concessions are relied on to restore or change how rules operate, the Home Office should: (a) formally notify Parliament, (b) keep a record of each use of section 3(1)(b) in such cases, and (c) later formalise the change in a subsequent statement of changes with an explanatory memorandum that sets out the background.
The Home Office has carried out an internal review and has committed to a set of measures to reduce the risk of similar errors recurring. Those steps include:
The department maintains that the transit policy did not change in substance: the published concession mirrors the original appendix.
For migrants and practitioners, the immediate operational effect was limited: transit guidance and the visa tool continued to reflect the scheme. The governance implications are broader. The committee's concerns focus on transparency, Parliamentary oversight, and auditability when the Home Office relies on concessions to effect changes that are effectively rule-level.
If the committee's recommendations are adopted, expect clearer records of concession use, more prompt notification to Parliament when concessions substitute for rules, and fewer ad hoc post-publication fixes.
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