The Home Office has issued new guidance on the removal of asylum support from people who decline to move onto the Bibby Stockholm barge (update: as of 24 October 2023 it appears this guidance has been taken down, archived version is here. Second update: on 25 October 2023 version 2...
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision made the Home Secretary to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the basis that it was obtained by dishonest concealment of a material fact. Namely, that the appellant did not disclose what appeared to be an ongoing relationship between he...
The Home Secretary has today announced the appointment of Eleanor Lyons as Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, after leaving the role vacant for 18 months. Ms Lyons is currently the Deputy Children’s Commissioner and will start her new role on 11 December 2023. In making the announcement, the Home Secretary stated: I...
The Work Rights Centre is looking for an Immigration Adviser or Solicitor to join our ambitious and fast-growing team. We are a charity set up by migrants and for migrants, and as one of few organisations with Ukrainian and Russian speaking staff, we are at the forefront of the UK’s...
Changes made by section 43 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 will have a wide-ranging effect on UK maritime sectors and risks some vessels unintentionally incurring illegal working fines. This is because the changes alter some long established and fundamental concepts of UK immigration law concerning what it means...
Last week, we at Safe Passage published our Routes to Safety report, which makes recommendations for a new compassionate and competent approach to dangerous journeys across the channel. Implementing our proposals could disrupt the smuggler’s business model, save lives and uphold the UK’s commitment to protect refugees. Safe routes work ...
We had slightly over 1,100 responses to our 2023 Free Movement reader survey. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. We really appreciate it. Every single response has been read and considered. As we did last time, we’ve tried to summarise as well as analyse what...
Here is our August roundup and the first podcast with Sonia both leading and at the editing helm (eek!). This month we cover statistics, illegal working fines, asylum support, homeless refugees, adult dependent relatives, some EUSS updates and all things OISC. If you listen to podcasts on your mobile phone,...
Deportation proceedings pit the rights of the individual against those of the state, appointed guardian of the public interest. And as very clearly stated in primary legislation, the deportation of foreign criminals is in the public interest. The law in this area is rent through with politics, shifting relentlessly with...
SUPERVISING SOLICITOR or SENIOR CASEWORKER Supervising Senior Caseworker Accredited (LAW SOCIETY IALA) Kids in Need of Defense UK Project, based at the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU), at Islington Law Centre Salary: £24,000 to £26,483 for 3 days per week (equivalent to £40,000 – £44,138 pa full time...
The Migration Advisory Committee has recommended that the shortage occupation list is abolished and that people in the asylum system with permission to work are allowed to work in any role. These are some of the recommendations in the full review of the shortage occupation list, published yesterday. The committee...
In this article we look at how foreign eSports (competitive video gaming) competitors can use the visitor route to participate in UK competitions and what the rules say about earning prize money. We also look at options for gamers looking to apply their trade in the UK on a long-term...
Readers of this blog will have noticed that the fairness of the Home Office’s procedure for deciding who to send to Rwanda is not among the issues being argued in the Supreme Court in October. This post highlights the important findings made by the Court of Appeal on procedural fairness...
From 1 October 2023 any claim governed by the Civil Procedure Rules relating to a breach of citizens’ rights under the withdrawal agreements must be notified to the Independent Monitoring Authority. The authority was set up under the terms of the withdrawal agreements with a duty to investigate breaches of...
The impact of age assessment decisions on unaccompanied asylum seeking children coming to the UK is huge. As we explored in this earlier article, an age assessment decision will affect a young person’s entitlement to social work support and care. It will also have implications on how their asylum claim...
Back in “Small Boats Week” during the summer, the government announced the tripling of employer penalties for illegal workers to £45,000 per worker. The immigration minister said that the increase was necessary because “making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring...
Last year 1,334 people came to the UK and claimed asylum based on their sexual orientation, amounting to 2% of all asylum claims. A lot of them are probably feeling quite frightened this morning after the Home Secretary has chosen to single them out for attack, as being undeserving of...
On the face of it, refugee status and humanitarian protection seem like two sides of the same coin. Both are a form of international protection granted to a person in need. Both result in a grant of five years’ permission to remain in the UK on a pathway to settlement...
Theresa May’s unironically named book, The Abuse of Power, reveals that even now, five years later, she still does not understand what caused the Windrush scandal. She blames Clement Attlee’s government, other governments over the intervening years and issues a classic non-apology. It was anyone’s fault but hers. “At the...
In BSG v R [2023] EWCA Crim 1041, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of a young Somali citizen, who suffered ‘a clear injustice’ after being ‘groomed, exploited and threatened’ [para 57] by a human trafficking gang in the UK. Background The applicant, “BSG”, had been convicted of possession...
Staff working at Brook House immigration removal centre were verbally and physically abusive towards the people who were detained, including the use of extremely racist language. There were 19 incidents of inhuman and degrading treatment of people at a single removal centre over a period of just five months. That...
The Home Office annual report for 2022 has belatedly been published. It shows an additional £3 billion had to be allocated to pay for unexpected asylum system expenditure. An extra £1.6 billion had to be allocated because of “pressures within the asylum system” — the asylum backlog, basically — and...
In AB and NB v Secretary of State for the Home Department (PA/07865/20119), the First-tier Tribunal found that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was unable to provide “protection and assistance” to a severely disabled Palestinian child living in Lebanon. As a direct consequence of that he was...
The government has published the new application fees previously announced earlier this year. The statement describes the increase as being made “to pay for vital services and allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises”. The explanatory memorandum provides a bit more detail: “an increase of 15-20%...
The most recent Border Force People Survey reveals “a dissatisfied workforce which is a breeding ground for insider risk to grow and become insider acts, enabled by privileged access”. That is according to a new report from the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration that looks at how internal...
Criminal convictions and other signs of poor character can, unsurprisingly, negatively affect applications for leave to enter or remain in the UK. Those caught out by these rules over the years include former boxer Mike Tyson, Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman, Tyler, the Creator and perhaps OJ Simpson. By...
In what seems to be a prelude to the introduction of the use of ionising radiation (x-rays) for non-medical reasons on children, the government has published the Justification Decision (Scientific Age Imaging) Regulations 2023. There is also a draft explanatory memorandum containing a statement by the Secretary of State for...
Rishi Sunak’s visit to Delhi for the G20 has prompted more reporting on the UK India free trade agreement, where negotiations have apparently been slowed down by Indian requests for more visas. I worked for the Home Office between 2003 and 2011 and as an Assistant Director covered policy relating...
The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) has written to practitioners to advise of new standard directions for represented parties. These apply to appeals and will be issued from 25 September 2023 where the parties are represented. The main change is that the new directions require the appellant to the...
The Secretary of State will reduce judicial oversight of detention and increase her detention powers when more of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 comes into force on 28 September 2023. Those and other changes set out in the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2023, published last night,...
The government was granted permission to appeal in the Rwanda litigation in July. This post provides an update on the current state of play ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. You can read Free Movement’s coverage of the Court of Appeal’s judgment here and here. In essence, the Court of...
Who are you? What do you want? To find out, we are running another reader survey. Long-time followers of Free Movement may remember that we’ve done this several times in the past. More specifically, in 2013, 2016 (online and email), 2018 and 2020. We’ve taken action on the back of...
Immigration Case Worker Edinburgh Full Time Welcome to a very different kind of law firm. One that recognises its success is down to its people. Where you can relax and be yourself. Be inspired by your talented work colleagues. Where you’ll feel part of a dynamic team. Where, right from...
We are a bit behind the times this month, catching up from the summer. This time Sonia and I cover not one but two statements of changes, the Illegal Migration Act, asylum withdrawals, the massive increase in fees, several legal updates on the rights of EU citizens and a load...
If you are involved in undertaking judicial review litigation, you’ll want to know that the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide 2023 as been published. Miraculously, it is dated October 2023, so you really can get ahead of the curve on this one. Why should you read it? It covers all...
A new statement of changes has been published along with the explanatory memorandum and a written statement from the immigration minister. The biggest change is the removal of administrative review from decisions made under the EU Settlement Scheme. Many of the changes are minor technical or drafting changes. It is...
This post is intended for refugees (including those with humanitarian protection), their families and their friends trying to understand the rules on refugee family reunion. The requirements to be met are fairly straightforward and simple for children and partners who existed at the time the refugee fled their country of origin. These...
With the number of asylum claims on the rise across Europe and around the world, the discussion on safe routes for people seeking asylum is not unique to the UK. I thought it would useful to look at what processes other countries have in place for receiving refugees aside from...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), which regulates immigration advisers who are not practicing solicitors, barristers or Chartered Legal Executives, is consulting on a new code of standards. The OISC was brought into being by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the same time that a new criminal...
