The bill amends Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 by removing the reservation that currently covers “immigration, including asylum and the status and capacity of persons in the United Kingdom who are not British citizens.” In short: immigration law would cease to be a specifically reserved matter and become within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
This is a constitutional and operational shift. It gives Scotland formal power to design its own visa, settlement and asylum rules, but it also raises immediate questions about enforcement, recognition of status across the UK, compliance with UK international obligations, and the practical machinery needed to operate divergent immigration regimes within a single sovereign state.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill deletes the words that reserve immigration (including asylum and the status of non‑British nationals) from Schedule 5, Part 2, of the Scotland Act 1998. Removing that specific reservation brings immigration within the scope of matters the Scottish Parliament may legislate on under the Act.
Who It Affects
The Scottish Government and Parliament gain new lawmaking authority; the UK Government (particularly the Home Office), border and enforcement agencies, employers and migrants living in or entering Scotland are directly affected. Legal advisers, public services and intergovernmental bodies will also face new operational requirements.
Why It Matters
This creates the potential for Scotland to enact migration and asylum rules that diverge from the rest of the UK, altering settlement pathways, labour routes and asylum processing. The change forces hard choices about cross‑border recognition of status, enforcement responsibilities, and how UK international obligations are met.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill is narrowly drafted and achieves its legal effect through one targeted change to the Scotland Act 1998: it removes immigration from the list of specifically reserved matters in Schedule 5. That single textual deletion converts immigration into a matter on which the Scottish Parliament may pass laws, subject to the usual limits on devolved competence under the Scotland Act.
Practically, devolving immigration power means the Scottish Parliament could create its own visa categories, decide who may work or settle in Scotland, and legislate on asylum procedures within Scottish territory. The bill does not itself spell out any specific policy changes — it only permits Scotland to make those choices.
It also leaves intact other reservations in the Scotland Act; for example, issues explicitly reserved elsewhere (defence, nationality law) remain outside Holyrood's reach unless changed separately.Operationally, the new competence would require new architecture: mechanisms for issuing immigration permissions, systems for biometric and identity checks, data‑sharing protocols with the Home Office, and coordination on enforcement with UK border agencies and police. The presence of divergent immigration rules within the UK raises questions about how a person’s right to live and work in Scotland would be treated in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and whether permissions granted by Scotland would be portable across the UK.Finally, although the bill enables Scottish lawmaking on immigration, Scottish legislation would still be subject to compatibility limits — for example, compliance with international treaty obligations and the rule of law.
Disputes about the scope of devolved competence would be resolved through intergovernmental negotiation or, ultimately, by the courts, which creates a likely path for litigation over any substantive Scottish immigration scheme the Parliament adopts.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Section 1 removes the words “immigration, including asylum and the status and capacity of persons in the United Kingdom who are not British citizens” from Schedule 5, Part 2, of the Scotland Act 1998.
The bill does not alter reserved areas outside that specific text: other reservations in the Scotland Act (for example, those relating to nationality or defence) remain unless separately amended.
Section 2 provides that the Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, comes into force on passage, and may be cited as the Devolution (Immigration) (Scotland) Act 2025.
Once in force, the Scottish Parliament will be able to create distinct visa, settlement and asylum rules that apply in Scotland but which may not be recognised elsewhere in the UK without separate agreement.
Practical implementation will require new administrative systems (permissions, ID checks, casework) and intergovernmental arrangements for enforcement, data sharing and international treaty compliance.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Remove immigration from Schedule 5 reservations
This section directs a textual omission in Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998: it deletes the specific reservation that currently places immigration (including asylum and the status of non‑British nationals) outside devolved competence. Legally, that omission is decisive: matters not reserved by Schedule 5 are prima facie within the Scottish Parliament’s competence, subject to other limits in the Scotland Act. Practitioners should note that the change is to statutory wording only — it does not itself create new institutions or processes, but it clears the constitutional obstacle to Holyrood legislating on migration.
Territorial extent
This subsection clarifies that the Act’s text amends UK domestic law across the whole United Kingdom — England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. That territorial formality matters because it changes the Scotland Act 1998 (a UK statute) and thus alters the legal division of competence that applies across the whole UK constitutional settlement.
Commencement and short title
These subsections set the Act’s commencement (the day it is passed) and citation. While mechanically simple, immediate commencement means there is no statutory delay between passage and the Scottish Parliament’s ability to legislate on immigration: once the amendment is law, Holyrood may begin to exercise the newly conferred competence, subject to procedural and practical constraints.
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Explore Immigration in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government — gains formal authority to design immigration and asylum policy tailored to Scotland’s labour market, demographic and social priorities.
- Employers and sectors facing localized shortages (e.g., health, agriculture, hospitality) — can push for targeted Scottish routes or sponsorship schemes focused on Scottish needs.
- Migrants and prospective migrants to Scotland — could benefit if Scotland adopts more generous or accessible routes for work, study, family reunion or protection than the rest of the UK.
- Scottish public services and local authorities — gain the ability to press for immigration policies aligned with local planning, workforce and housing strategies.
- Immigration advisers and Scottish legal practices — increased demand for advice on separate Scottish permissions, litigation over competence, and guidance on cross‑UK recognition.
Who Bears the Cost
- UK Government (Home Office) — faces increased administrative and operational complexity, potential duplication of systems, and costs linked to negotiating and managing diverging regimes.
- Border and enforcement agencies (including Border Force and police) — must negotiate how to enforce different permissions inside the UK and adapt operational practices and frontline guidance.
- Individuals with UK‑wide interests (migrants, employers operating across UK borders) — face legal uncertainty and possible loss of portability of Scottish permissions outside Scotland.
- Intergovernmental mechanisms and courts — will bear the burden of resolving disputes over competence, compatibility with international obligations, and cross‑jurisdictional recognition.
- Businesses recruiting across the UK — must manage differing right‑to‑work checks, visa sponsorship rules and compliance obligations if Scotland diverges materially.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The core tension is between democratic control and administrative coherence: devolving immigration lets Scotland tailor policy to its needs, but a single sovereign state still requires coherent border control, unified international representation and consistent recognition of legal status — objectives that pull in the opposite direction and have no simple technical fix.
The bill’s brevity masks complex implementation challenges. Removing a statutory reservation grants competence in principle but does not provide the operational framework to exercise it.
Holyrood would need new administrative infrastructure (permissions databases, visa issuance, biometric systems), staffing, and likely primary and secondary legislation that spells out eligibility, enforcement and appeal routes. Those practical necessities create budgetary and logistical demands absent from the bill itself.
A second difficulty is legal and constitutional friction. Scottish‑issued permissions might not be treated as valid outside Scotland unless the UK Government agrees to recognition rules.
That creates the possibility of a patchwork where a person lawfully resident under Scottish law lacks rights in England or Northern Ireland. The interplay with reserved matters (notably nationality) and the UK’s international obligations (treaties on refugees and human rights commitments) could spark litigation.
Courts and intergovernmental forums will be the arbiters of competence and compatibility, which risks protracted legal uncertainty during any transition to divergent regimes.
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