Priti Patel has resigned as Home Secretary. She jumped before she was pushed, with incoming new Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to replace the failed Patel with former Attorney General Suella Braverman. Patel was appointed Home Secretary by Boris Johnson in July 2019. Here we take a look at her...
The government’s new rules on inadmissibility in asylum claims have come into force and now apply to asylum claims made on or after 28 June 2022. These rules set out the circumstances where an asylum claim will be put on hold while the Home Office tries to remove the asylum...
Descartes Solicitors is a specialist immigration practice based in Chiswick, West London. We are looking to expand our growing team and intend to hire 2 or 3 competent and experienced caseworkers or solicitors who have experience in immigration law (experience in family law is a bonus). Company Benefits: 28 days...
Our anonymous contributor considers the non-availability of legal aid in the context of a recent Afghan case, and what the future holds for legally aided immigration advice. Sara was in Kabul when the Taliban entered the city. Her husband, Hassan, a British national, was in the UK, working towards the...
The Scale-up visa is a new immigration route for workers from abroad that opened on 22 August 2022. The Home Office bills this as a visa route for high-growth businesses to attract top talent to the UK. Supposedly, the route offers sponsors the flexibility that fast-growing organisations need, and that...
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit’s award winning legal team in a maternity cover role. The successful candidate will join ATLEU’s team of lawyers who provide specialist representation to survivors of trafficking and work on emerging issues affecting survivors, often involving strategic...
Too often, we all see clients who are at the mercy of the local authority housing system and who are shifted about from accommodation to accommodation with no real stability in their lives. This treatment only compounds the problems they already face following the reasons they fled their own country,...
About us Edgewater Legal is an OISC-regulated organisation which provides advice to clients in all aspects of the UK immigration system. Whilst we maintain an office in Victoria, the vast majority of our clients now prefer to engage us remotely, and this is therefore how we provide most of our...
In Celik (EU exit; marriage; human rights) [2022] UKUT 00220 (IAC) and Batool and others (other family members: EU exit) [2022] UKUT 00219 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered to what extent human rights arguments can be considered in EU Settled Status appeal. In short: they can be considered where the...
This post is a wrap up of recent Afghan evacuation litigation in the High Court and Court of Appeal covering the cases of: A lot of the issues cross-over so rather than give you a detailed breakdown of each case, I’ll explore the Court of Appeal’s decision in S & AZ first...
On 5 September, the next in a long line of insufferable prime ministers will be announced. As the Conservative Party enters the final weeks of its leadership race, we ask, what bright ideas do our two hopeful candidates have in store when it comes to Britain’s borders? The last few...
In Joseph (permission to appeal requirements) [2022] UKUT 00218 (IAC), the appellant was a national of Trinidad and Tobago who had resided in the UK since 2007. She had a costs order of £400 made against her in 2014, following an unsuccessful judicial review. In September 2019 she made an...
Earlier this month, the Home Office announced the abolition of the Police Registration Scheme. The scheme required certain foreign nationals to register with the police and keep them updated about important changes to their personal details. The abolition of this outdated scheme is very much to be welcomed. It will...
Many predicted that the heady mix of Brexit and COVID-19 would result in litigation, and so it has come to pass. Ending EU free movement law in the middle of a global pandemic – when people faced difficulty travelling, marrying, and getting advice from an immigration lawyer – was bound...
Extended family members who have made an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, without having first obtained a residence document under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 are not entitled to settled or pre-settled status. This is the conclusion of the Upper Tribunal in Batool and others (other family members: EU...
When the footballer Mario Balotelli’s house was on fire, the first person he called was his agent. Who, quite predictably, told him to phone the fire brigade. As an immigration lawyer I have received less dramatic phone calls. Yet the story resonates with me. For those we help to enter...
Rodman Pearce Solicitors Ltd are seeking to recruit an experienced Level 2 Accredited Senior Immigration Caseworker/Solicitor. The position is based in the Luton office. The applicant must have prior experience in providing Immigration and Asylum advice and able to work with a team. He/she must be LAA accredited at Level...
Welcome to episode 103 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month — the first in something like five years flying solo — I’m starting with some material on asylum and trafficking then quickly going over a bit of immigration and nationality history and why it matters today, before...
The pandemic threw into sharp focus the overlooked and marginalised needs of the frail and bereaved elderly parents applying to be regarded as part of their settled families in the UK. The 2012 version of the Adult Dependent Rules for adult parents, siblings and others marked a tightening of UK...
The current immigration rules on when a refugee may be joined by family members — often referred to as refugee family reunion — are woefully outdated and simply do not reflect the nature of modern families. Reform is long overdue. But in the meantime, it is feasible to make successful...
Formal warnings have recently been issued by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office to two sitting immigration judges. One was to Tribunal Judge Ali Sarwar for ”failing to issue timely decisions in several cases.” The other was to Tribunal Judge Yasreeb Zahed for “failing to uphold the basic judicial principle of...
What’s better than a plan for immigration? A new plan for immigration. July saw the publication of the Government’s New Plan for Immigration: Legal Migration and Border Control policy paper. Not much of the content can really be described as new. Unlike last March’s asylum-focused New Plan for Immigration however, this...
There is no right of appeal against a refusal by the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) to set aside a decision disposing of proceedings. So held the Court of Appeal in DJ (Pakistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1057, another case dealing with...
Raising misconduct by or within your employer is a brave and difficult step. You put your financial security, your career and your well-being at risk for the greater good. Often the rewards are nil, if not negative. For migrants there is the additional burden of legal precarity, which is often...
Conservative Party leadership contender Liz Truss has pledged to expand the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme if she becomes Prime Minister. I have been avoiding commenting on some of the ludicrous and appalling immigration policies we’ve seen aired during the leadership campaign but this one caught my eye as an example of...
Hubert Howard arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960, aged four. He was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies back then and was fully entitled to enter the country of his nationality. The law changed around him over the years but he carried on with his life, ending...
Mr Justice Ian Dove has been appointed President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal with effect from 2 October 2022. Whether this turns out to be a case of nominative determinism remains to be seen, but he is certainly considered to be an experienced public law...
The current/outgoing government on 22 June 2022 introduced to Parliament the Bill of Rights Bill. For those (like me) who have been struggling to keep up with the news of late, the legislation will, if it becomes law, scrap and entirely replace the Human Rights Act. The Bill of Rights...
How do you persuade a Home Office caseworker to grant your client’s asylum or immigration application? Or persuade a judge to allow your client’s appeal? The answer is: advocacy. Advocacy – whether written or oral – is the art of persuasion. I am by no means an expert. However, having...
Afghan citizens trying to escape the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan have become caught up in the UK government’s latest attempt to revise refugee policy. They face significant obstacles in obtaining adequate protection. Those who have no choice but to flee for their lives and travel without documents have their applications placed...
Scaling a citizenship and nationality practice profitably comes with significant challenges due to the knowledge-intensive nature of the work, which can’t be delegated. Consequently, business owners spend hours researching the law for individual cases, and at times needing to refuse more complex/profitable work. This leaves little to no time to...
A raft of changes to nationality law came into force a few weeks ago. I covered the changes at a high level on my own firm’s website (shameless plug), but wanted to write in more depth about the new section 4L, which opens up tantalising possibilities for securing British citizenship...
We are looking for several full time advisors but we are willing to employ on a part time basis for the right candidate We will only consider applications with relevant legal experience. Qualifications needed are OISC level 2/3 or Solicitor with IAAS accreditation. We particularly welcome and encourage applications from...
“Theresa May exercised her free movement rights with a trip to Florence on Friday…” So began CJ’s first blog post for Free Movement, published on 26 September 2017. Nearly five full years later — a period sufficient to see off three Home Secretaries — CJ is moving on to a...
The immigration system has been through a lot since I started covering it for Free Movement five years ago. In September 2017, the UK was still in the two-year countdown to leaving the European Union, and there were even doubts about whether it would happen at all. The EU Settlement...
The Home Office response to small boat crossings is “both ineffective and inefficient”, the borders watchdog says. In an excoriating report published this morning, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration found that the system for processing people arriving by boat is often overwhelmed and suffers from a “lack...
In what I calculate to be the fifth Supreme Court case addressing the meaning of the words used in Theresa May’s 2014 reforms of deportation law, the justices have rejected three linked Home Office appeals seeking to reinstate deportation orders. The previous cases were, in reverse order, SC (Jamaica), Sanambar,...
Yesterday the Home Office published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 511). It allows unaccompanied children to come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they have notarised parental consent. This comes into force on 10 August 2022. Appendix Ukraine Scheme to the...
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in 2018 and had issued almost 6.5 million decisions by the end of June 2022. The sheer scale of the scheme is a remarkable achievement for the Home Office. The department took on a momentous task when the UK government decided that everyone who...
A Syrian refugee who paid £440 to secure settlement appointments despite being heavily in debt has lost a High Court bid to get his money back. The case is R (MS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 1413 (Admin). Home Office policy says that applying for...
