The Upper Tribunal has declined to decide a policy challenge to the ten day deadline, and “exceptional circumstances” requirement to extend it, to respond to a notification that the Home Secretary is considering excluding someone from trafficking protections under the public order disqualification. The challenge to the individual decision was...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! There are obviously a variety of reasons why the right wing press’ targeting of judges and putting them in danger of violence is problematic. One of those issues is how poor the journalists’ understanding is of their subject matter. I have written a...
The inadmissibility process is what the UK has used in recent years to exclude a person’s asylum claim from being considered and decided in the UK, so that they can then be removed to a third country (first Rwanda and now France). The current inadmissibility process in asylum claims was...
Kent Law Clinic is recruiting for a solicitor and/or barrister with extensive experience in immigration law to take up a role of practitioner and academic; the role includes conducting casework, and teaching and supervising law students. Kent Law Clinic is based within Kent Law School at the University of Kent....
The Home Office announced over the weekend that the use of “deport first, appeal later” would be expanded from eight to 23 countries. The list of countries is missing from that announcement but has been covered elsewhere. Existing countries were Finland, Nigeria, Estonia, Albania, Belize, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kosovo. New...
It is certainly possible to change employer whilst on a skilled worker visa. However, there are several factors to consider throughout the process, especially considering the monumental changes to the immigration rules on 22 July 2025. In this article we will consider the steps required to change employer on a...
In what was described by the Court of Appeal as “the fourth case to reach this court in the wake of R (Begum) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission [2021] UKSC 7” three appellants have lost their appeal against deprivation of citizenship and a fourth has lost their appeal against exclusion...
July was actually a fairly busy month! Join Sonia and Barry as they run you through what happened, including the changes to the skilled worker route, everything that happened on Afghan resettlement, recent changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and the latest instalment in a far too long running Palestinian...
Plumstead Community Law Centre is recruiting an Experienced Supervising Solicitor with at least 3 years’ PQE. This is an exciting opportunity to build on the Law Centre’s significant recent management and governance developments and to lead the strengthening of its legal practice. For more details, you can download the job pack here. To...
This post has been updated with the latest developments on Thursday including the Home Office announcement on detentions and publication of the caseworker guidance applicable to those applying to come to the UK. Applications have also opened for people to submit an expression of interest to come to the UK....
It appears that the first application window has opened for those who want to come to the UK from France under the new scheme announced this week. The expression of interest form is online along with guidance that says: “The scheme will be open for applications for a short period....
On Tuesday, the government introduced a new Appendix UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme to the immigration rules and below we consider the implication of the new scheme from the perspective of an NGO working with people in Northern France. These changes come into swift effect following the coming into force of...
Work cases. Shape policy. Expand access to justice. About Seraphus Seraphus is a fully remote, values-led UK firm specialising in immigration law and European citizens’ rights. We deliver online advice at scale (with Free Movement), legally aided and privately funded services, and sector-shaping policy work with the European Commission, the...
The Home Secretary has succeeded in a judicial review against the Special Immigration Appeals Commission challenging a decision on their jurisdiction to award costs in certain cases. The case is R (Secretary of State for the Home Department) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission [2025] EWHC 2019 (Admin). As is usually...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Because of the way that people in the asylum system are treated, the period while waiting for a decision is often an undignified and dangerous time. It is understandable that where other options are available people will choose those so as to avoid...
The High Court has dismissed a judicial review challenging the Home Secretary’s failure to implement the recommendations of the Brook House inquiry. The judgment includes a useful annex addressing an application made by the Home Secretary for an order preventing the claimants from relying on material subject to parliamentary privilege....
The Court of Appeal has refused an application to lift the anonymity order protecting the identity of a woman who lacks the capacity to litigate. The case is SA v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1065 (the Home Secretary was an interested party, the...
On 1 July 2025, the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 (Commencement) Regulations 2025 made provisions for the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 to come into force on 22 July 2025. The Act introduces a simplified route for Irish citizens who have been resident in the UK for five...
There is a UK visa for overseas domestic workers, first introduced in 2002. Although the immigration rules do not define “domestic workers”, the route is typically used by nannies, cleaners, chauffeurs, cooks, personal carers and protection staff. The domestic worker route has undergone a number of changes over the years,...
It has been a big summer for the field of climate change, migration, and international human rights. On 3 July, the Inter American Court of Human Rights released its historic advisory opinion on the legal obligations of states in light of the climate emergency, and on 23 July the International...
A Palestinian family, including children aged nine and seven, have succeeded in a judicial review challenging the UK’s failure to provide them with consular assistance to get them out of Gaza so that they can register their biometrics and come to the UK to join family. The case is R...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! This is an important read from our fellow blogger Giles Peaker over on the Nearly Legal housing blog, looking at how AI has contributed to the spread of inaccurate information about housing for people in the asylum system. A housing association in Wales...
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) has published a report following an inspection of the Home Office’s use of age assessments. The report states that “many of the concerns about policy and practice that have been raised for more than a decade remain unanswered”. Background: Home Office...
A student and her husband have successfully challenged the Home Office’s decision to cancel their leave, with the result that their detention was also held to be unlawful. The case is R (Manpreet Kaur & Anor) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1942 (Admin). Background...
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...
