The Divisional Court has refused applications for habeas corpus made on behalf of two British women and their children detained in a camp in northeast Syria. The case is C3 and C4 v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs [2022] EWHC 2772 (Admin). A writ is essentially...
The Home Office has made several changes that businesses sponsoring overseas workers should be aware of. Amendments have been made to the Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 2: sponsor a worker – general information (“general information guidance”) and the Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor...
We’ve published a new practical skills course for Free Movement members on professional conduct and ethics in immigration advice. The topic is particularly important for immigration lawyers, who often represent vulnerable clients and are expected to conform to a high level of professional standards. We take a look at the...
At the now infamous Manston processing centre in Kent, conditions are dire. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has known for weeks about the situation and did nothing until the media stepped in last week. But the UK is not alone in struggling to provide new arrivals access to safe and legal...
The Home Office finally receive a reasonable review in the inspection report of the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa route. The report considered standings from April to June 2022 and found that even though the route was implemented within tight timescales it “provide[d] an efficient service with most applicants...
For immigration lawyers, a First-tier Tribunal appeal hearing is a routine experience. It’s easy to forget how intimidating and stressful this moment can be for people appealing, many of whom have never set foot in a courtroom in their lives and whose continued presence in this country hinges on the...
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Welcome to the October 2022 episode of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month, Colin and Sonia talk politics, asylum, the statement of changes to the immigration rules and case law. The episode is a bit longer than usual as there was a lot going on! If you would...
On 3 November 2022, the latest quarterly release of statistics on modern slavery claims was published, covering 1 July to 30 September this year. During this period, 4,586 people were referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) or via the Duty to Notify as potential victims of modern slavery. This...
The High Court has quashed a decision to refuse entry to the children of an Afghan judge who was relocated to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. The case of R (BAL) v Secretary of State for Defence [2022] EWHC 2757 (Admin) is a rare example of...
It hasn’t been a great week to be the Home Secretary or a Home Office official. Since Suella Braverman’s statement to the House of Commons on Monday, there has been one crisis after another. The Manston facility remains egregiously overcrowded. The camp is designed to hold no more than 1000...
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The Home Office has released a new Interim Guidance: Requesting a second opinion for an external medical report/Medico-Legal Report as part of their offender management caseworker guidance. The new guidance aims to “introduce an additional, clinical input to assist decision-making for those who may be vulnerable in immigration detention”. The...
There have been lots of different numbers and statistics relating to the UK’s asylum system mentioned over the last week. One of these is the backlog of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim. Depending on whether or not people include dependents, the backlog of initial decisions...
The Home Office has finally responded to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment in the case of VI v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs C-247/20, handed down on 10 March 2022, by updating its guidance on European Economic Area (EEA) national qualified persons. The update effectively concedes...
This is the story of what might be the longest-running appeal within the UK’s immigration appeal system. The story starts in rather ordinary fashion. AA arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry in early January 2009 when he was a child. He was a young Sunni Kurd...
The Home Affairs Select Committee held an oral evidence session about Channel crossings and other key asylum issues last week. Since the evidence that was heard on Wednesday, figures and quotes have hit the headlines. Criticism of Suella Braverman has been extensive and the Manston processing centre has become the...
A new report has been published this morning by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the controversial short term holding facility for refugees at Manston in Kent. The inspection took place in late July 2022, before the current Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, is reported to have prevented hotel bookings that...
Small boat crossings attract a lot of media and political attention. The images we see of refugees arriving on our shores clearly upset some people. The Conservative Member of Parliament for Dover and Deal in successive tweets, for example, says crossings are “no refugee crisis… but simply illegal immigration” and...
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The Tribunal Procedure Committee (“TPC”) has launched a consultation on the potential changes to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber Rules and the Upper Tribunal Rules that will arise from the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the New Plan for Immigration programme. The planned changes include: Accelerated detained appeals Priority...
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Home Office provided insignificant cash payments to asylum seekers with trafficking claims during the first lockdown. The appeal was brought by the Secretary of State for the Home Department following a defeat in the High Court. The case is JB (Ghana), R...
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The Court of Appeal has granted an application made by a woman who was trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, to quash her conviction from November 2009. She was convicted for using a false identity document when attempting to travel to the Netherlands after she had fled her traffickers....
The new Statement of Changes, published on 18 October 2022, has introduced yet another appendix to the Immigration Rules: Appendix Temporary Permission to Stay for Victims of Human Trafficking or Slavery. The new appendix will be added on 30 January 2023. The provisions largely mirror those set out in primary...
The High Court handed down its judgment in the case of R (HM, MA, KH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 695 (Admin) on 25 March 2022. The court held that the Home Office’s search for and seizure of mobile phones from migrants who arrived in the...
In R (MH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1296, the Court of Appeal has given guidance on how it will consider appeals brought solely to protect a party’s position regarding costs. The issue arose in the context of a Dublin III removal challenge. This...
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The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has published a new report reviewing the Home Office’s processing of family visas, with a focus on indefinite leave to remain applications. It highlights that despite the findings of the Law Commission in its report, and the Home Office’s commitment to simplifying...
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The Home Office has set up a new independent complaint investigation service. Now, if you are unhappy with the Home Office’s final response to a complaint, you can make a further complaint to the Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC). This is an independent post looking into whether the Home Office...
An inspection report examining the use of hotels for housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children has been published this week, but the findings make for unsettling reading. The report criticises the operation of what are effectively unregistered children’s homes and confirms that this is not an area in which the Home Office...
Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit) have both received some updates in the latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. The accompanying explanatory statement gives an overview of the changes that have been made. The changes come into force on 9 November 2022. A few of the definitions...
There is no good reason to treat victims of transnational marriage abandonment differently from victims of domestic abuse in the UK. So found Lieven J in the case of R on the application of AM v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 2591 (Admin). Background Avid readers of...
The Ukraine Extension Scheme is one of the three visa schemes set up for people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (alongside the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family Schemes). All three Ukraine Visa Schemes result in a grant of three years of limited leave to remain with the...
The Home Office has published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 719). The explanatory memorandum confirms that the changes are largely focused on the government’s continued efforts to simplify the rules, and on implementing policy changes that have recently been put in place. The majority of...
It is not surprising that a tribunal that is concerned with immigration matters should receive applications that witnesses should be permitted to give evidence from abroad by video. Appellants already faced procedural obstacles to the admission of that evidence, which requires the consent of the foreign government. Refusals to grant...
One month into the job, it’s clear that Suella Braverman is good at making the headlines. However, some of her rhetoric may seem familiar. The government’s hostile environment policy is well-rehearsed and the media has played a significant and long-term role in developing the rhetoric that we see today. It...
In an unreported case, Upper Tribunal Judge Stephen Smith held that a proportionality assessment should happen in marriage of convenience cases. Secretary of State of the Home Department v Ms Dora Nketia (unreported) 11 Aug 2022 EA/04841/2019 concerns the approach to be taken under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations...
