A student whose leave was cancelled on arrival was wrongly denied the opportunity to comment on an allegation of falsified English language qualifications. So held the High Court in R (on the application of Tazeem) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1828 (Admin), a case addressing...
Absences from the United Kingdom — time spent outside the UK, basically — can have an impact on whether a person qualifies for full settled status under the EU settlement scheme. If you spend too long outside the country, you may lose your eligibility for settled status. This rule has...
The Home Office is increasingly treating asylum claims as being withdrawn. This seems to be a new policy intended to reduce the asylum backlog. The number of asylum decisions made by the Home Office at first glance appears to be increasing. When we look at the detail of the figures,...
In a highly technical decision, Osunneye (Zambrano, transitional appeal rights) Nigeria [2023] UKUT 162 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal has concluded that Zambrano appeals may proceed notwithstanding the various Brexit regulations. The official headnote: A decision to the contrary would have come as something of a surprise as it was surely...
The Upper Tribunal has provided further guidance on the meaning of historical injustice in the case of Ahmed v SSHD [2023] UKUT 00165 (IAC). “Historical injustice” is the term used to describe the circumstances where an individual has suffered as a result of the wrongful operation (or non-operation) by the...
Heads up for those interested in policy questions that I’ve started a series on family immigration, trying to think about some of the fundamentals rather than just the details. Limits can be ‘hard’ and obvious, as with the imposition of a cap or quota. Or limits can be ‘soft’ and...
Two new Upper Tribunal cases emphasise the importance of the parties to an immigration appeal identifying and addressing all the issues in dispute. Both the cases were decided by a panel that included Mr Justice Dove, the President of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). In Lata (principal controversial...
Field Marshal Solicitors is a leading law firm specialising in Immigration, asylum, and Human Rights law, with an outstanding reputation for our work in this field. The role: We are looking for two ambitious lawyers to join our team of Immigration Lawyers with a fee-share arrangement. You will be responsible...
An asylum-seeking mother and her four children were placed in inadequate hotel accommodation for over a year, the High Court has found. The case is R (on the application of SA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1787 (Admin). It is a striking example of a...
The second Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules this week landed today: HC 1715. It adds Dominica, Honduras, Namibia, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu to the list of countries whose nationals require a visa to travel to the UK as a visitor. The change has been introduced with immediate effect, from...
The Home Office has, following a judicial review challenge for two claimants of Duncan Lewis, published new modern slavery statutory guidance which no longer requires a potential victim of trafficking and modern slavery to produce ‘objective’ evidence corroborating a credible account of their experiences in order to receive a positive...
This month Sonia and I discuss the Rwanda judgment (we’re saving that to the end as our good news story), a couple of fairly lengthy immigration and asylum history blog posts I’ve been working on for a while, several asylum developments and also our Refugee Week content, some procedural updates,...
On 17 July 2023, a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published. As usual, it is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum. Also as usual, it is largely concerned with cracking down on those perceived as abusing immigration law. There are, though, one or two positive changes. Asylum...
A ‘dependent parent’ already admitted under the EU Settlement Scheme can get leave to remain without having to show dependency, the Upper Tribunal has held in Rexhaj (extended family members: assumed dependency) [2023] UKUT 00161 (IAC). If applying before 30 June 2021, the parent of an EU national or of...
The Global Business Mobility: Secondment Worker visa route is for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary assignments in the UK. The worker must be seconded to the UK as part of a high value contract or investment by their employer overseas. The Global Business Mobility umbrella was launched on 11...
JOB TITLE: Billing Coordinator and Casework Assistant LOCATION: Asylum Aid Office (London) RESPONSIBLE TO: Immigration Supervisor CONTRACT: Full time (37.5 hours per week) SALARY: £27,000 p.a. BENEFITS: 27 days holiday (pro rata) plus 4% matched pension contribution START DATE: September 2023, subject to references BACKGROUND This is an exciting opportunity...
A would-be student stopped on arrival in the UK was wrongly denied a solicitor in interview, the High Court has found in R (on the application of Kumar) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1741 (Admin). The facts Mr Kumar arrived at Manchester Airport with a...
The government has announced massive increases in immigration fees and the immigration health surcharge. Abolition of some fees has also been announced. The normal rate for the immigration health surcharge will increase from £624 to £1,035 per year. This will be paid by workers entering for a period of six...
JOB TITLE: Statelessness Project Caseworker LOCATION: Asylum Aid Office (London) RESPONSIBLE TO: Statelessness Project Supervisor CONTRACT: Permanent, part-time (22.5 hours per week) (possibility of up to full time – 37.5 hours per week) SALARY: £34,000 p.a. (pro rata) BENEFITS: 27 days holiday (pro rata) plus 4% matched pension contribution START...
Immigration detainees don’t have a right to face-to-face legal advice, the Court of Appeal has held in R (on the application of SPM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 764. SPM was held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre in early 2022. At the time, there...
About us: The Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL) is one of the largest immigration and asylum advice charities in the UK, supporting refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants to access justice. An OISC level 3 accredited organisation, we represent clients at all stages of the immigration...
Can a judge ignore part of a Home Office decision if their representative doesn’t mention it in court? No, said the Court of Appeal in Shyti v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 770. The case The appellant, Mr Shyti, was challenging a decision to deprive...
A good, interesting episode of BBC Radio 4’s More or Less programme about immigration statistics and net migration. I helped with a short bit on the background to the net migration target and then there are proper expert contributions from Georgina Sturge, Madeleine Sumption, Peter Walsh, Alan Manning, Rob Ford,...
The Home Secretary was entitled to refuse entry clearance to an Afghan interpreter accused of releasing sensitive information and threatening to kill coalition forces. That was the conclusion of the High Court in FMA and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1579 (Admin), the latest...
The British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Act 2023 came into force on 29 June 2023. It inserts a new section 50B into the British Nationality Act 1981. Section 50B definitively and retrospectively confirms the British nationality status of all children born in the UK between 1 January 1983 and...
The government published its Child’s Rights impact assessment for the Illegal Migration Bill yesterday, on 4 July 2023. The document covers detention, accommodation, age assessments, removals, modern slavery, safe and legal routes, bans on grants of leave and citizenship (with exceptions), and the confiscation of electronic devices. Ominously, the assessment...
This post reflects on last week’s extraordinary Court of Appeal judgment on the Rwanda policy. You can read our initial take on this here. Appeal to the Supreme Court The government has already announced its intention to seek leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court. The key issues that...
The majority of unaccompanied children who enter the UK to seek asylum do not bring with them evidence of their age. Because of this, the Home Office has a duty to carry out an initial assessment of their age to establish whether they are, or could be, children. The Home...
The OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) has again amended its guidance note on advisers conducting litigation in judicial review cases. The amendment appears to be with immediate effect, although the online version of the practice note had not actually been updated at the time I was writing this....
The Supreme Court has held that there was no legal obligation to consider the equality impact of excluding Palestinians from the UK’s resettlement scheme for refugees from Syria. The design of the scheme was therefore lawful. The case is R (on the application of Marouf) v Secretary of State for...
I don’t really know Sunder Katwala personally but I’ve been following him since his long-ago days at the Fabian Society, of which I’ve been a member all my adult life. On Twitter, Katwala is measured, patient and wise. Which makes him stand out like a sore thumb, frankly. His handle,...
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, has published an inspection report on the Home Office’s handling of foreign national offender cases. It is a highly critical report and, as the government was no doubt aware, had it been published on any other day that that of the...
The Court of Appeal has found, by a majority, that the Rwanda plan is unlawful as Rwanda is not a sufficiently safe country. In short, the Rwandan authorities are not yet reliably able to sort genuine from non-genuine refugees, and therefore there is too great a risk that genuine refugees...
Kids in Need of Defense UK: Part time Supervising Senior Caseworker IAAS at MiCLU (part of Islington Law Centre. Salary: £26,483 for 3 days per week (equivalent to £44,138 full time) Start date: as soon as possible This is an opportunity to be involved in the Kids in Need of...
Potential victims of trafficking awaiting asylum support decisions during the first lockdown were wrongly denied the full payments to which they were entitled. So held the High Court in R (on the application of PM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1551. The Claimant, PM, is...
The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation on the level at which legal aid fees for advising and representing refugees falling within the scope of the Illegal Migration Bill. Alex Chalk, the Lord Chancellor, writes in the foreword: Given the high volume of cases anticipated as a result of...
The government yesterday published its economic impact assessment for the Illegal Migration Bill and its Rwanda plan. The assessment reveals that Rwanda will be paid approximately £105,000 per refugee received on top of the £120 million already paid and any other undisclosed payments. At least, this is the figure used in...
I hadn’t realised they’d ever gone away, I confess, but Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick wrote on 5 June 2023 to the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee to say that appeal first, deport later cases are back: I am writing to advise you that from today the Home Office...
