In Oluponle v Home Office [2023] EWHC 3188 (KB), the claimant was awarded £20,000 for 60 days’ false imprisonment. Several helpful comments were made on various Home Office failings during the detention process. Background The claimant was a Nigerian national who had been caught trying to fly to Ireland using...
In December 2022 the Prime Minister pledged to clear the ‘legacy’ backlog (claims made before 28 June 2022 when certain provisions of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 were brought into force) by the end of 2023. Yesterday he claimed that this goal had been achieved, despite the government’s statistics...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I was away last week so this is very much an exercise in catching myself up, as well as all of you. It seems that quite a lot happened, and so in absolutely no particular order (apart from doing Rwanda last because I just...
The Upper Tribunal has held that it is lawful for the Home Secretary to deprive a person of their British citizenship without notice, in this case because of a concern that the second nationality would be renounced. Renunciation would have meant that deprivation of British citizenship would be at risk...
The Court of Session has concluded in SOOY v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] CSOH 93 that the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 has been effective in removing the ability to bring a Cart/Eba judicial review of Upper Tribunal permission to appeal decisions, except in very...
In Dani (non-removal human rights submissions) Albania [2023] UKUT 293 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal has said that an application made under the EU settlement scheme does not in itself amount to a human rights claim. This is yet another case where people trying to access their rights under the EU...
The High Court has issued a damning interim relief decision with a laundry list of Home Office failures in a case challenging the detention of a potential victim of trafficking with mental health issues and several criminal convictions. The case is R (ER) v Secretary of State for the Home...
A new version of the Home Office caseworker guidance “Withdrawing asylum claims” has been published, halving the amount of time people are given to explain reasons for missing an interview as well as setting out some additional steps for those who miss an interview. You can see a comparison of...
Reunite Families UK, a lived experience organisation, have published a timely new report looking at the negative mental health impact of family separation caused by the immigration rules, particularly the minimum income requirement. The research looks at the current position, which is shortly to become considerably worse when the increase...
We have two exceptional opportunities to join the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit’s award winning legal team in 2024. Lead Immigration Lawyer We are looking for a dynamic and committed individual to join our legal team as Lead Immigration Lawyer, based in our London office. This is an exciting...
The two district councils and local resident who brought a judicial review challenging the use of decommissioned Ministry of Defence sites at Wethersfield and Scampton to accommodate men seeking asylum have been unsuccessful in the High Court. The case is R (Clarke-Holland) v Secretary State for the Home Department &...
The Independent Monitoring Boards have published their National Annual Report for 2022 on the immigration detention estate and concerns have been raised in relation to several areas, many of which will be familiar to anyone working in this area. People are still being detained for too long, including one person...
A compilation of top content on UK immigration law and policy, updated weekly. Immigration as contract: care visas and international students – Colin’s Substack, 15 December Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker who died in suspected suicide is named – The Guardian, 18 December One person dead after refugee boat in Channel...
The Home Office has conceded a judicial review and accepted that the ‘Detention Services Order 04/2020: Mental Vulnerability and Immigration Detention‘ was not operating effectively or as intended in ‘certain cases’, particularly in cases where there are concerns about a detained individual’s ability to make immigration related decisions. The concession...
This article provides an overview of some of the safeguards available for those who are held in immigration detention, focussing particularly on those who have been victims of torture. These safeguards are all the more important following the expansion of detention powers under section 12 of the Illegal Migration Act....
Rainbow Migration, the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system, is recruiting for a Legal Service Manager to join our management team. The Legal Service Manager will lead and develop our unique immigration advice service and work closely with colleagues to provide...
The government’s Migration Advisory Committee published its annual report this week. It’s worth a look if you’re interested in how immigration works and want to understand what has happened with social care visas and international students. And their dependents. And what might happen next. Some interesting analysis there about unintended...
The Free Movement website will be down over the weekend while it is updated. When it comes back up, hopefully on Sunday, it will look subtly different. We are updating the software behind the website for the first time since 2016. We’re not planning any major changes to the design,...
As anyone who has ever battled the Home Office over whether a client has “sole responsibility” over a child’s upbringing or whether their exclusion is otherwise undesirable will know, this requirement is antiquated, outdated and causes a lot of unnecessary stress and hassle while separating children from their parents. Paragraph...
Quarterly tribunal statistics released today show that the overall immigration tribunal caseload is up 20% on last year to 31,000 outstanding appeals. Waiting times are high but stable, at an overall average of 43 weeks. The average for asylum appeals is a tad longer at 48 weeks. It was running...
Our November roundup is here, where Colin and I cover the latest asylum and trafficking statistics, changes to the way late applications to the EU settlement scheme are treated, questions the Solicitors Regulation Authority still hasn’t answered, a couple of articles on the situation for Palestinians as well as quite...
It is well established that the requirements of procedural fairness will very often require that a person who may be adversely affected by a decision is given an opportunity to make representations before the decision is taken with a view to producing a favourable result. There is a duty to...
The Court of Appeal has declared the government’s second attempt at an immigration exception for normal data protection law to be unlawful. The judgment in R (On the Application Of The 3Million) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 1474 upholds that of the High Court...
The Home Secretary must set out a lawful plan to completely end its use of hotels for accommodating lone refugee children. This is the conclusion of Judge Chamberlain in R (on the application of Kent County Council) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 3030 (Admin). The...
Our new OISC Level 2 course: immigration and asylum online training is now live and available to all Free Movement members. It covers the whole of the OISC immigration and asylum syllabuses and is perfect for anyone relatively new to the immigration sector who wants to take their knowledge of...
The Home Secretary has conceded the claims of two former immigration detainees relating to a power outage at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre (IRC), a detention centre next to Heathrow airport. The Home Secretary not only paid both claimants substantial amounts in damages for unlawfully detaining them, but also declared that...
An Albanian national was mistakenly allowed to enter the UK by an immigration officer who used a stamp described by the Home Office Presenting Officer as “a stamp which is regularly encountered, but the use of which is shrouded in mystery”. As a result, he did not meet the requirements...
A new statement of changes has been laid today. Most of the changes relate to the EU Settlement Scheme and travel document requirements for school groups visiting the UK from France. There are also three new appendices (taking us up to 81 separate appendices to the immigration rules), Appendix Bereaved...
On Monday the new Home Secretary presented a “five-point plan” to reduce UK immigration after a feverish fortnight of the right of the Conservative party, most of the opposition, plus every news outlet badgering him about the Office for National Statistics revising its estimate of 2022’s net migration up to...
The “no recourse to public funds” condition is imposed on grants of limited leave to enter or remain with the effect of prohibiting the person holding that leave from accessing certain defined public funds, set out at paragraph 6 of the immigration rules. A person who deliberately claims public funds despite such...
The Safety of Rwanda (Immigration and Asylum) Bill has been published. There is no explanatory memorandum that I have seen, so I have done my best without that to explain what is in the Bill. As was the case with the Illegal Migration Bill, it begins with a declaration by...
The text of the UK’s new treaty with Rwanda to relocate people seeking asylum here to Rwanda instead has been published. For reference, the previous memorandum of understanding is here. Much of the treaty is just an expanded version of the memorandum, for example Article 11 in both deals with...
The Court of Appeal has emphasised that consideration of whether there are very significant obstacles to a person’s reintegration is a practical test which must take into account objective evidence. The case is NC v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 1379. Background The appellant is...
Two minor but welcome changes to the immigration tribunal procedure rules. Firstly, the Upper Tribunal: Rule 3 amends the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 (S.I. 2008/2698) (“Upper Tribunal Rules”) to omit rule 22A (special procedure for providing notice of a refusal of permission to appeal in an asylum case)...
This week, the Supreme Court brought us the (hopefully) final instalment of the long residence cases, R (Afzal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 46. Immigration lawyers have followed the long series in this line of cases the way we followed Game of Thrones: they both...
The Home Secretary made a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon about the government’s plans to reduce net migration, mainly by separating families. It’s yet another five point plan and is due to come into force in Spring 2024: The government expects these changes to result in a...
Changes have been made to the evidence refugees need to apply for Universal Credit and they should now be able to access this with their grant letter and Asylum Registration Card (ARC). We have previously covered the issue of Home Office changes to the notice period for stopping asylum support...
The Home Office has recently updated its guidance to clarify that leave under the Hong Kong BN(O) route cannot be cancelled because of relationship breakdown. Background Like most other immigration routes, a dependent spouse/ partner under the Hong Kong BN(O) route needs to show the Home Office that they are...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim for damages against the Home Secretary for a five month delay in granting refugee status, following a successful appeal, to a person with severe mental health issues. The case is FXJ v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2023]...
