This last weekend saw Sarah Teather reveal the mindset of Government towards migration, explaining her frustration at the lack of alternative voices on migration. I have previously written about the need for responsible journalism, but in hindsight this was probably unfair on the media.
...In the case of Kapri v The Lord Advocate (representing The Government of the Republic of Albania) [2013] UKSC 48 the Supreme Court has given guidance on the application of the ‘flagrant breach’ test for determining whether a court process abroad is so dysfunctional that removal to face that process...
Last Friday evening Renaissance Chambers’ immigration group hosted a seminar about the new Sri Lanka Country Guidance: GJ and Others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC). I had the pleasure of speaking together with Shivani Jegarajah, Nishan Paramjorthy, Jan Janayagam from Tamils Against Genocide and Dr...
Morning! Unusually, there were several interesting snippets on immigration over the weekend. Here’s a reasonably random small selection via Twitter for your Monday morning delectation: http://t.co/XqVXj3xFBx Prenga is back up… going to be listed for expeditious hearing. Will keep people posted. — Waleed Hassan (@whassanuk) July 12, 2013 Facebook campaigns...
F (Para 320(8); type of leave) USA [2013] UKUT 00309 (IAC) New reported immigration tribunal case on paragraph 320(18) of the immigration rules, one of the discretionary general grounds for refusal. The Entry Clearance Officer had failed to exercise discretion one way or t’other. In this case there was only...
Shabani (EEA – jobseekers; nursery education) [2013] UKUT 00315 (IAC) New reported tribunal decision on whether a person who leaves the labour market to look after children retains the status of a worker in EU law (‘no’, apparently). Includes useful concessions from Home Office on second time job seekers and...
A long awaited and much needed new Country Guidance cases has finally been issued by the Upper Tribunal: GJ and Others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC). One of the three appellants succeeded on refugee grounds – congratulations to the legal team behind that result, my...
There will be some changes coming to the blog in the near future. No-one seems to like change, so I thought I would run these past everyone first. Some ideas are pretty minor cosmetic tweaks, others much more fundamental. I’ll start with what is definitely going to happen and move...
Unreported immigration tribunal decisions BAILII now seems to host 37,453 unreported determinations of the immigration tribunal, dating back to 2003. May mean we can finally track down the decisions The Telegraph uses in its ongoing campaign to stop humans having rights. I’ll add these into the case law feed box...
Following the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration’s report published on 10 June 2013 – covered on Free Movement earlier last month – the ‘new’ family migration rules have been debated twice in Parliament. First, within a Westminster Hall debate on 19 June 2013 (Hansard & video footage) and more...
Almost exactly a year after they were first introduced, Mr Justice Blake sitting in the High Court has in a lengthy, complex and very carefully considered judgment found that the controversial immigration rules requiring a minimum income of at least £18,600 for spouse visa applications are ‘unjustified and disproportionate’ where...
Why are asylum seekers so often disbelieved? How is it that clinical evidence of torture is oftentimes rejected on the grounds of ‘credibility’? Why has the UK judged so many Tamil asylum seekers not to be at risk, forcibly returning them to Sri Lanka where they have gone on to...
Edward Snowden, the private contractor who exposed the industrial scale intelligence gathering methods of the United States’ National Security Agency and our own GCHQ, is seeking asylum in Russia and a host of other countries. He fears that his ‘freedom and safety’ are under threat. The US government asserts that...
Edward Snowden is coming across as pretty desperate and is reported to have made asylum applications to a host of different countries, all from his reported current location of Russia. The Guardian is keeping tabs on which countries have so far responded and what they have said. It is doubtful...
I can keep this fairly short: ‘no’. In his Wikileaks statement Edward Snowden says that the US government “has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person” This is a common misconception. A passport is evidence of nationality, but it does not confer nationality. All states have laws that...
Today the closed material procedure for evidence in civil trials comes into effect. This excludes one of the parties from the proceedings, meaning that they do not get to see the evidence relied on by the other party. It violates one of the basic tenets of fair trial and it...
Permanent residence for bereaved spouse The Court of Appeal has held that a third country national is entitled to permanent residence where she was married to an EU citizen with permanent residence who died after experiencing permanent incapacity to work. This does not apply where the EU citizen acquired permanent...
I was recently reviewing the long residence policy for an informal advice and noticed that since I last looked at it (admittedly a little while now) it has been substantially liberalised in respect of those who have gaps in their lawful residence. This might not be news to everyone else,...
Rumours as to the death of the ‘evidential flexibility’ policy prove to have been exaggerated. A new version was recently published. Hat tip to Adam Pipe of No 8 Chambers in Birmingham. The policy covers the circumstances in which a Points Based System application will not be refused because of...
As of today the full right of appeal against refusal of a visit visa sponsored by a family member in the UK has been abolished. Combined with the recently announced pilot of £3,000 ‘bonds’ payable for visitors to the UK, it is clear the Government is making it increasingly difficult...
Finally, there has been a breakthrough in cases where victims of trafficking find themselves prosecuted and convicted here in the UK for engaging in the very activity into which the victim was forced. It may seem strange that it is the victims of trafficking that have ended up with criminal...
“There are now more than 45 million refugees and internally displaced people – the highest level in nearly 20 years. Figures give only a glimpse of this enormous human tragedy. Every day, conflict tears apart the lives of thousands of families. They may be forced to leave loved ones behind...
Last week, Free Movement posted the fruits of a FoI request disclosing the statistics in relation to partner applications from pre- and post-July 2012. These figures were then analysed and fair conclusions were drawn in relation to gender discrimination on the basis that female sponsors generally earn less than male...
In the reported case of Green (Article 8 – new rules) [2013] UKUT 254 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal again reaffirmed that despite the Immigration Rules pertaining to incorporate Article 8, tribunals should continue to consider the substantive Article 8 claim even if the Immigration Rules cannot be met. The official...
The Administrative Court declared that a policy which does not give effect to section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 is not lawful. The excellent Amanda Weston of Tooks Chambers for the Claimants and Joanne Rothwell of No 5 Chambers for the intervener, Coram Children’s Legal Centre...
In the case of MJ (Singh v Belgium : Tanveer Ahmed (unaffected) Afghanistan [2013] UKUT 253 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal found: The conclusions of the European Court of Human Rights in Singh v Belgium (Application No. 33210/2011) neither justify nor require any departure from the guidance set out in Tanveer...
The Met Police website tells us that: Operation Nexus, designed and delivered by the MPS and UKBA, aims to maximise intelligence, information and world wide links to improve how we deal with and respond to foreign nationals breaking the law. AC Rowley, in charge of Specialist Crime and Operations at...
A new Freedom of Information request has revealed that British women have been affected disproportionately compared against men by new minimum income rules for spouse and partner applications. There has been a 20% drop in the female-sponsored proportion of applications made, which suggests that women have been disproportionately put off...
The Court of Appeal (CA) has in the case of B2 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 616 (24 May 2013) allowed the Home Secretary (SSHD) to deprive a British-Vietnamese dual national of British citizenship following his alleged involvement in terrorism related activities. The case,...
Confirming the earlier Opinion in the same case the Court of Justice of the European Union has today held in MA and Others v UK (Case C‑648/11), in effect, that the Dublin II regulation does not apply to separated children who have claimed asylum. The key conclusion is as follows:...
If the cuts to the scope of legal aid brought by LASPO 2012 have been significant, the cuts proposed by the Ministry of Justice in the recent consultation “Transforming legal aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system” would be severe. It is of particular concern that the Government has...
