Changes to guidance on requesting reconsideration of trafficking leave decisions

The Home Office has published updated guidance on “Temporary permission to stay: considerations for victims of human trafficking or slavery” that applies to reconsiderations requests of permission to stay decisions under that guidance, effective from today.

A comparison of the changes (using this process) shows that the changes are on page 33 of the new guidance. The deadline for requesting reconsideration of either a refusal to grant leave or the length of leave granted has been extended from 14 to 30 days from the date of the decision.

The specific grounds on which a reconsideration request can be made have not been changed but have been set out more clearly, as follows:

• the individual believes that Immigration rules or policies weren’t followed correctly when the decision was made
• the application for VTS was successful but the individual believes expiry date or the purpose for granting temporary permission to stay is wrong
• the individual is able to provide new evidence relevant to their application, which was not available at the point the original consideration

The previous version of the guidance told caseworkers that “When a request to reconsider a decision is received you must request more supporting evidence from the confirmed victims if this has not been provided”. This has been removed and the following section inserted:

Requesting an extension to provide new evidence

If an individual makes a reconsideration request within 30 calendar days of the VTS decision on the basis of new information but is unable to provide the new information with the request, they should contact the Competent Authority as early as possible and request a reconsideration request extension. The individual should provide their reasons for not being able to meet the 30 calendar days deadline (with evidence which supports their reasons) and a timeframe by which they expect to have obtained the relevant information.

Extensions to this timeframe will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and it will be at the discretion of the Competent Authority to determine if exceptional circumstances apply. Circumstances are only likely to be deemed exceptional if an individual is unable to obtain or provide information to the Competent Authority for reasons beyond their control.

Whether the “exceptional circumstances” test really will prove to be exceptional given how long it can take to get evidence together and the lack of legal aid lawyers remains to be seen. In the meantime, I recommend reading our recently published briefing on how to request leave to remain for survivors of trafficking which should help ensure that leave is granted and for the correct amount of time at the outset.