Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law

Free Movement eighth anniversary

THANKS FOR READING

Older content is locked

A great deal of time and effort goes into producing the information on Free Movement, become a member of Free Movement to get unlimited access to all articles, and much, much more

TAKE FREE MOVEMENT FURTHER

By becoming a member of Free Movement, you not only support the hard-work that goes into maintaining the website, but get access to premium features;

  • Single login for personal use
  • FREE downloads of Free Movement ebooks
  • Access to all Free Movement blog content
  • Access to all our online training materials
  • Access to our busy forums
  • Downloadable CPD certificates

It has been eight years since I first set up and began writing Free Movement. As usual, I only realised that the anniversary had passed some time after the event: the first Free Movement blog post was on 7 March 2007. I hope you will forgive me a moment of introspection. But first, as an anniversary gift for those firms who have not yet signed up for membership, I’m offering a 50% discount on group membership for the first year. See here for details.

A great deal has happened in those eight years. On a personal level I’ve gotten married, had two children and moved to Garden Court Chambers. In immigration law, we have seen three Acts of Parliament, I think, and a deluge of changes to regulations, rules and policies. In that time, the complexity of the UK’s immigration system has become a massive problem in itself.

Here on Free Movement, you can see the growth in readership for yourself in the screenshot of the blog’s stats page below and accompanying chart. The figures are for page views, with each visitor viewing on average about 2 pages; half the numbers to work out visitors, basically. The top month was December 2014 with 192,173 page views.

Site_Stats_‹_Free_Movement_—_WordPress

Stats_2007_to_2015

What I take away from these numbers, which seem bizarrely huge for a blog about a niche area of law, is that the need for clear communication and guidance on immigration law has grown massively. This is true for UK immigration lawyers and judges but is, tragically, increasingly true of the growing number of ordinary members of the public who find that immigration law interferes with their lives.

In the era of globalisation some are attempting to hold back history. Such attempts cannot succeed, ultimately, but in the short term they can have a devastating impact on the real human beings behind abstracts like the net migration target.

The major changes wrought by the Immigration Act 2014 are only just taking effect: the year ahead will be an interesting one. Families will not accept their oblivion; they will fight if they have the means and otherwise they will go underground. The work of immigration lawyers like myself will change, as it always has, but the demand for that work will only continue to increase if the politicians continue to break up families, hurt education and business and indefinitely detain those who dare to migrate.

Relevant articles chosen for you
Picture of Colin Yeo

Colin Yeo

Immigration and asylum barrister, blogger, writer and consultant at Garden Court Chambers in London and founder of the Free Movement immigration law website.

Comments

One Response

  1. Happy 8th Anniversary FM! Here’s to your growing contributors and followers. Well done Colin!