During March and April, HM Inspectorate of Prisons visited eight prisons and interviewed 45 immigration detainees and 33 staff, including Home Office staff. The subsequent report finds that immigration detainees held in prisons are substantially disadvantaged in several ways compared to individuals held in immigration removal centres. Disparities are particularly...
The outcome of an asylum case can sometimes depend not on what the individual person says happened to them but on the general situation in a particular country. The general situation for asylum seekers from several countries is determined by the Upper Tribunal in what are called Country Guidance (CG)...
The Home Office has agreed to review its policy Fee waiver: Human Rights-based and other specified applications, which provides guidance on the time limits for making human rights based immigration applications where an application is made after a fee waiver has been granted. This comes after confusion over deadlines threatened...
Imagine a scene. Prime Minister Liz Truss finds herself reading Free Movement blog tomorrow, sees the terrible harm her and her predecessors have been causing to documented and undocumented non-British citizens and decides to get rid of Britain’s borders. All of them. Those at port as well as those operating...
Welcome to the September 2022 episode of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I am joined again by “immigration lawyer about town”, as she put it, Sonia Lenegan. She is in danger of becoming a co-presenter if she carries on like this… Amongst other things, we talk about...
There are a number of general and individual judicial review challenges to the government’s policy of removing asylum seekers to Rwanda. To recap, in April 2022 the government announced a Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda for the provision of “an asylum partnership arrangement”. Under this arrangement, asylum seekers...
It has been six months since the UK announced its initial response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, allowing those affected by the outbreak of conflict to arrive or remain in the UK under visa-based immigration routes. Three routes were made available: These visas grant three years limited leave to...
The High Court has confirmed that the Home Office is obligated to consider exercising discretion to waive or delay the requirement to enrol biometrics before considering an application in R (KA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 2473 (Admin). Ordinarily, individuals applying for entry...
As we reported last week, a recent letter from government lawyers clarified the Home Office’s position that “[s]ince July 2022… migrants who cross the Channel in small boats who are either rescued or directed to land at designated locations by the authorities are no longer deemed to be illegal entrants,...
In an unusual development, the Secretary of State for the Home Department has conceded that the Court of Appeal erred in Hussein v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 156. The mistake was in the consideration of the impact of imprisonment on whether someone has achieved...
Suella Braverman’s speech to the Conservative Party conference yesterday evening confirmed two things. She really doesn’t like the Human Rights Act, the Modern Slavery Act or the European Court of Human Rights. And that the problems with the UK immigration system are complex and intense. One of these problems is...
The Home Office recently withdrew all of its Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs) on Albania for review. On 20 September 2022 the CPINs reappeared on the Home Office website, with two CPINs – on blood feuds and trafficking – having been updated. Having previously reviewed and critiqued the October...
In a bizarrely unhinged interview with the Sun on Sunday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has laid into modern slavery victims and the family members of postgraduate students. These two unlikely groups are apparently the latest bogeymen to be stopping Britain from being great again. Promising “dramatic action” to stop small...
It is now twenty two years since I first started work as an asylum lawyer at the Oakington detention centre, a converted former barracks near Cambridge. I have seen a lot of change to the asylum system in that time. But many of the changes have ultimately been superficial. The...
Location: Bloomsbury, LondonSalary: £27,000 – £48,000 per annumExpires: 19/10/2022 23:59 Job Title: Solicitor / Senior Caseworker (Immigration and Asylum Law) Contract: Permanent Hours: Full-Time (However, part-time will be considered and flexible working arrangements will be considered in line with operational need and pay prorated accordingly) Salary: £27,000-£48,000 per annum dependent...
With the government’s controversial mini-budget causing economic turmoil, Liz Truss has been steadfast that her aim is to boost economic growth in the United Kingdom. Central to achieving this will be a series of key reforms to the work-based immigration system. The government logic may be that the international talent...
The European Court of Human Rights has handed down a significant judgment concerning the age-assessment process and rights of child asylum seekers. In Darboe and Camara v Italy (Application no. 5797/17), the court found that the Italian government had breached Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human...
On 25 August 2022, the Home Office announced plans to fast-track the removal of Albanian nationals “with no right to be in the UK” under plans agreed with the Albanian government (it was said) “to tackle the scourge of small boat crossings”. The fast-track removal scheme appeared to be explicitly...
OH v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] UKAITUR JR2021LON001003 concerns the rights of a dependant of an asylum seeker to work in the United Kingdom. OH challenged a decision to refuse his request to work whilst he was a dependant of his wife’s asylum claim. OH and...
We first heard of the Windrush scandal in early 2018, as a result of powerful investigative journalism. It stands for decades of injustice experienced by thousands, whose lawful existence in this country was denied by the state. Individuals faced constant questioning about their rights and entitlements and were told that...
The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC) is seeking to recruit a self- motivating and committed junior solicitor to assist Solange Valdez-Symonds, PRCBC’s supervising solicitor and CEO, who is currently PRCBC’s sole employee. The post will be based at our offices in Hammersmith, London. PRCBC is...
The European Court of Human Rights gave judgment in the case of Otite v the United Kingdom (application no. 18339/19) today. The court found that there was no violation of Mr Otite’s Article 8 right to respect for private and family life, despite his family ties and previous granting of...
The High Court has quashed a decision to refuse entry clearance under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (“ARAP”) on national security grounds. Unfortunately, like all national security cases it is difficult to work out exactly why the Court decided the decision was unlawful. R (ALO) v Secretary of State...
It has been reported that thousands of Russian men are fleeing their country in order to avoid being conscripted into the army. Miles long queues of cars have built up at the border into Georgia. This comes on top of the tens of thousands of young Russians and intellectuals who...
When the pandemic first hit in March 2020 the Home Office was quick off the mark in allowing employers to conduct right to work checks remotely. Rather than having to meet job applicants and employees needing to renew their status in person, they were able to do so via a...
The Sunday Times reports that the Truss government intends to follow through on Truss’s pledge during the leadership race to raise the cap on seasonal agricultural workers. “Reform” of the visa system is also planned to “attract the best talent from across the world”. So far, so 2002. Adjustments to...
In its ongoing drive to reduce Channel crossings, the government has set its sights on arrivals from a “safe and prosperous” Albania. A marked increase in Albanian arrivals via the Channel have been reported over the past year, prompting the former Home Secretary to seek further agreement with the Albanian...
MiCLU are looking to expand their specialist Direct Advice and Representation capacity. MiCLU is a specialist legal and policy hub which provides direct representation, strategic litigation, policy advocacy and legal education in relation to the rights of children and young people in the UK asylum and immigration systems. We are...
The Home Office nationality guidance on the good character requirement has now been updated in line with the provisions on lawful residence that came into force on 28 June 2022. The provisions were introduced into the British Nationality Act 1981 by section 9 and Schedule 1 of the Nationality and...
What is a creative worker visa and why is this route useful? A Creative Worker is someone who can make a unique contribution to the country’s rich cultural life, for example, as an artist, dancer, musician or entertainer, or as a model contributing to the fashion industry. The Creative Worker...
In the recent case of Singh v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1054; [2022] 7 WLUK 328, the Court of Appeal turned its attention back to the EU law concept of “dependency”. The appeal was brought by an extended family member of an EEA national...
A new concession has been added to the Ukraine Extension Scheme. The rules require prospective applicants to have held permission to be in the United Kingdom that expired on or after 1 January 2022, or to have held permission to be in the country on 18 March 2022. Children born...
Are you applying to stay in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey? This is one of the final questions asked at the submission stage for all UK residence visa applications. Immigration professionals will invariably select “no” and progress with submission. But for those independently making an application to enter...
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has held that France breached Article 3.2 of Protocol 4 due to the lack of explanation for and independent scrutiny of decisions not to repatriate two French nationals living in camps controlled in north east Syria. The case is HF...
There is a lot going on in immigration law at the moment and we are looking to recruit more specialist contributors to Free Movement. If you can write fluently, you are interested in being read by a wide audience and you are fascinated by immigration law and practice then have a think about joining...
Welcome to episode 104 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I am joined by “immigration lawyer about town”, as she put it, Sonia Lenegan. Taking pity on me after my solo effort last month, Sonia is the legal and policy director at Rainbow Migration, a consultant solicitor...
The newly appointed Suella Braverman has told Home Office officials that a top priority of hers is to ban all small boats crossing the Channel to “stop people dying and being at the mercy of people smugglers. We need to take a firm stance.” It seems unlikely that she means...
The appellant in ASA (Bajuni: correct approach, Sprakab reports) CG [2022] UKUT 00222 (IAC) argued that he was born and raised on the Island of Chula until he was 17. He was a citizen of Somalia and of Bajuni origin and therefore he was at risk of persecution on return...
Suella Braverman is the new Home Secretary, replacing the outgoing and failed Priti Patel. It is Braverman’s first cabinet position. She previously served as a controversial Attorney General. In July 2022 Braverman launched her own bid to become Prime Minister when Boris Johnson was forced to resign. Knocked out of...
A ticked off Court of Appeal has refused another long residence appeal based on gaps in lawful residence, in a judgment full of digs at the Home Office in Iyieke v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1147. The court made no bones about the fact...
