A care provider has successfully challenged the Home Office’s decision to revoke its sponsor licence after the High Court found the decision maker failed to properly consider explanations for apparent salary shortfalls and reached irrational conclusions about genuine vacancies. Notwithstanding the Home Office’s firm stance on compliance, the judgment in...
“They weren’t working, they were just volunteering” is rarely a persuasive defence against a civil penalty. Indeed, it’s positively unpersuasive when those in question were caught voluntarily serving customers, selling alcohol, using the lottery machine to sell tickets and scratch cards, processing parcel deliveries, stacking shelves, and cleaning the store....
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I have exceptionally gone a little longer than usual this week, for obvious reasons. Last week many people received a message from the Ministry of Defence that immediately struck them with terror. It is still difficult to contemplate the extent and implications of what...
The Bar Standards Board has dismissed a barrister’s appeal against disbarment, stating that “findings of professional misconduct, including dishonesty, and the sanction of disbarment imposed by the Tribunal were appropriate and correctly applied”. The case is Dean v The Bar Standards Board (BSB) [2025] EWHC 1860 (Admin). Background The Bar...
Each settlement route has its own unique application form on which the application must be made. Failure to apply on the correct form can in some instances lead to the application being treated as invalid, as the applicant in this recent case sadly found out. There are currently three ten...
An adult who is not a British citizen can apply to become one. This process is known as naturalisation. People will normally be eligible to apply for naturalisation under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 if they: This post focuses on the final requirement: intention to settle. British...
The Upper Tribunal has held that a Home Office interview, which took place in prison and in which the applicant provided answers demonstrating that she wanted to remain in the UK based on her private and family life, amounted to a human rights claim. The tribunal separately held that the...
The High Court is to request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union on the issue of whether and to what extent the Withdrawal Agreement applies to a parent who entered the UK as a dependant family member of her adult son after the transition...
The Upper Tribunal has set aside a decision of the First-tier Tribunal dismissing the appeal of a man deprived of his British citizenship after the Home Office alleged that it was obtained through the use of deception. In doing so, the Upper Tribunal has set out guidance in line with...
In a new reported decision the Upper Tribunal has set out when new evidence can be considered in an administrative review. The tribunal also said that the evidential flexibility guidance is now so different to that considered by the Court of Appeal in Mudiyanselage v Secretary of State for the...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! After several months of uncertainty following December’s pause, a written statement will be made today by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the processing of Syrian protection claims (h/t Jon Featonby). The big news last week was the announcement of...
Earlier today the High Court handed down a judgment discharging a super-injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence on 1 September 2023. Following on from this, five previously private judgments have also been published, four by the High Court and one from the Court of Appeal. The case is Ministry...
Employers generally, and organisations which hold a sponsor licence in particular, are told over and over again that any workers must have the correct immigration permission in order to undertake a role. Considering the messaging, and that the consequences of employing illegal workers include the revocation of a sponsor licence...
Following a statement made by the Minister for Border Security and Asylum earlier today, the Home Office is to resume processing of Syrian protection claims and has published seven new country policy and information notes on Syria to support decision making. The new country guidance notes cover: The minister said...
Under the EU Settlement Scheme, an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen or their family members, or in some cases former family members, are either granted pre-settled status for five years (as limited leave) or settled status as permanent residence (as indefinite leave). In this article we’ll refer to EU/EEA/Swiss citizens as EU citizens....
The statement of changes to the immigration rules HC 836, published on 24 June, will amend the definition of “continuous qualifying period” in Annex 1 of Appendix EU from 16 July to offer an another way for a pre-settled status holder to complete a five year continuous residence period. The...
We are seeking an experienced IAAS Level 2 accredited Asylum/Immigration Solicitor or Caseworker to join our team on a one-year maternity cover contract. The role will involve providing immigration and asylum casework to clients referred from a range of projects, including those supporting people affected by homelessness and domestic violence....
The High Court has ordered the Defence Secretary to publish caseworker guidance on the Triples review, which is reassessing eligibility decisions of certain applications made under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy after several issues were identified with the initial decision making process. The case is R (TPL1) v Secretary...
The Home Secretary has successfully appealed a tribunal decision that when calculating the ten year period of continuity of residence for the purposes of deportation of an EEA national, time spent as the non-EEA national family member can be included. The case is Secretary of State for the Home Department...
The Home Office’s processes for investigating complaints of alleged incidents of staff and contractor misconduct towards immigration detainees has been held to be unlawful by the High Court, because of a failure to disclose the evidence relied on. The case is R (AK) v Secretary of State for the Home...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I am writing this a little early so the usual caveat applies if I have missed out something big that happened Monday morning. On Wednesday morning I recorded the podcast with Barry (yes he’s back!) and asked where was the legal aid increase...
Following last week’s letter from the Home Secretary commissioning two reviews from the Migration Advisory Committee, one on salary requirements including discounts, and the second on the temporary shortage list, we now have the response from Professor Brian Bell giving more details of how the committee intends to proceed. The...
The immigration skills charge is an additional fee payable by a sponsoring employer when a certificate of sponsorship is issued prior to a worker beginning their employment. The sponsor is required to pay the immigration skills charge and cannot pass liability onto the sponsored worker. Doing so could risk revocation...
Time for your June round up of all things Free Movement – and Barry is back! In this month’s episode both Sonia and Barry divulge some rather niche interests, while discussing the second latest (!!) statement of changes, the Migration Advisory Committee’s review into the minimum income requirement, the legal...
The Public Accounts Committee has published its report on skilled worker visas, finding that changes such as the expansion of the route to social care were made without a full assessment of potential impacts and risks, including the exploitation of workers. The committee says that it will be important for...
Fordham J has given some guidance on handling issues relating to the e-filing of judicial review applications in the Administrative Court, stating that this may be something the Administrative Court User Group wishes to consider, or further online guidance provided. The case is R (BLV) v Secretary of State for...
The Court of Appeal has said that where an application for an EEA family permit as a Zambrano carer under the Immigration (European Economic Area Regulations) 2016 was made before the end of the transitional period (31 December 2020), then the Home Office should still consider and decide that application...
Yesterday the Ministry of Justice announced that immigration legal aid rates will be increased “as soon as operationally possible”. Overall spending on immigration legal aid will increase by 30%. There doesn’t seem to be much more detail at this stage, apart from the following: The Government ran a consultation on...
The English language requirement can be generously viewed as the Home Office’s response to the biblical Tower of Babel story: society is undermined by its people’s inability to speak the same language. But as anyone who has ever had the misfortune to read Home Office guidance can attest, it is...
The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has dismissed an appeal against the refusal of the Immigration Advice Authority to register the appellant as a level 1 adviser in the immigration category. The case is Ajay Omnath Kapoor v Immigration Advice Authority [2025] UKFTT 809 (GRC). The appellant had previously been...
Climate change, disasters and corporate driven-environmental harms are forcing communities to move – both within countries and across borders. Displacement linked to the impacts of climate change is no longer a speculative concern – it is a legal, social, and humanitarian reality that is increasingly shaping patterns of mobility –...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Another week, another newly surfaced problem with eVisas. Today it was reported that the Security Industry Authority (“an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office”) is not accepting eVisas as official ID for its licence application process. To state the obvious,...
As trailed in the immigration white paper but mysteriously absent from last week’s statement of changes, the skilled worker route is being overhauled with a view to far fewer people being able to use it. Yes that’s right, a mere week after the last lot, we have yet another statement...
The Crime and Policing Bill is currently awaiting second reading in the House of Lords and it introduces a number of new measures which expand police powers. BID is concerned that these new powers risk unfair deportation of people with limited leave to remain for minor offences. One part of...
Immigration and asylum law in particular is a complex and fast moving area, and it is crucial that lawyers stay up to date to best serve their clients. It is also a regulatory requirement that must be met annually. There is no longer a minimum hours requirement for continuous professional...
