Emotions can run high in any litigation. In a case arising from unlawful detention, like Mlundira v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 189 (KB), the stakes and emotions can be heightened. This case underlines how important it is to consider and respond to correspondence from the...
The Upper Tribunal has recently dismissed a judicial review action involving a Turkish Kurdish family who were separated when attempting to cross the Channel. Before you continue reading this, I would recommend reading Colin’s excellent article on the interim order decision by the Court of Appeal, where he sets out...
Sometimes a migrant here in the UK unlawfully will want to apply for immigration status. Lawyers and the Home Office often call this “regularising” their status, because the person becomes a “regular” migrant within the rules rather than an “irregular” one outside the rules. One of the ways to do...
UNHCR has published a report following an audit of the UK’s further submissions procedures and decision-making, making recommendations for change. The further submissions process is that used where a person wants to make a fresh asylum claim, usually after a previous refusal. The audit took place in 2023 and 2024...
The Scale-up visa is a flexible immigration route designed to propel high-growth businesses by allowing them to attract top talent to the UK. It was introduced in 2022 and was presented as a visa that will fill essential skills gaps, help UK businesses grow, and boost the UK’s economy. In...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The 2nd reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will take place later today and it looks like committee stage will finish no later than 20 March 2025. Useful resources I have seen published in the last week include this briefing from Focus on Labour Exploitation and...
The High Court has dismissed an appeal by the Home Secretary against an award of damages to a refugee in the amount of £98,757.04 in respect of her unlawful detention and breach of article 8 relating to the delay in granting her status. The case is Secretary of State for...
There have been some important additions to pages 50 and 51 of the Good Character guidance (a comparison of the new and old versions is here) that have the potential to block a large number of refugees from naturalising as British citizens, effective immediately. This is described in the changes...
Sonia and Barry are back already to celebrate the end of January! There is a brief look back at 2024 and look forward to 2025 which of course now includes the new Bill (seriously what are we calling this thing for short? BSAIB just doesn’t work, as Barry ably demonstrates)....
The Court of Appeal has allowed the Home Secretary’s appeal in a deprivation case involving the use of a false identity, but the appeal will now return to the Upper Tribunal which had not considered the article 8 rights of the appellant. This is the third of the recent appeals...
We recently ran a very helpful webinar on family member applications to the EU Settlement Scheme presented by Chris Benn. Chris leads legal and policy work at Seraphus and is an expert in European citizen rights. During the Q&A portion of the webinar, we received so many great questions that...
Once the Home Secretary concludes that a refugee is a danger to national security she is entitled to revoke his refugee status. She does not have to go on to consider whether there are less intrusive measures that could be applied. The Home Secretary’s national security decision can only be...
Inviting tenancy applications in Immigration The Immigration Group at No5 Barristers Chambers has a long-standing reputation for excellence in advising, representation and developing the law, with our members appearing in the First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Our barristers are listed as leading advocates...
In two mammoth judgments, Fordham J has given detailed guidance about the duties owed to disabled people on immigration bail by the Home Office and local authorities. The two judgments, BLZ No. 1: R (BLZ) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 153 (Admin) and BLZ No.2:...
Job Title Immigration Caseworker Department Employment Reporting to Employment Partners Location GlasgowInitially, this role will be fully office based however, after 6 months, the option to work hybrid may be available. Working hours 9am-5pm Monday-Friday (35 hours per week) Job Type Permanent Closing date Please note, whilst we don’t have...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! With last week’s first reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the sector has its first Bill under this Labour government. The Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 will be repealed but the situation with the Illegal Migration Act 2023 is less straightforward....
Applications to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, for those who hold leave under Appendix Ukraine Scheme that will expire soon, are open from 9am today. It is important to note that extensions of leave are not automatic, people will need to apply before their current leave expires or else they...
The government have ramped up its effort to crack down on illegal working, resulting in a surge of enforcement activity throughout England. We are certainly seeing a rise in the number of civil penalties being issued. The Home Office can apply tough sanctions if it discovers that an employer is...
Job title: Legal Officer Organisation: Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) Duration: Funding secured for five years Location: Hybrid / London Reports to: Legal and Parliamentary Officer and Senior Legal Projects Manager Annual leave: 25 days per annum, plus bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year off Salary:...
In this article we look at what registration as an Immigration Advice Authority (or IAA, formerly the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner or “OISC”) Level 2 adviser really means and how to go about it. We talk you through the Immigration Advice Authority requirements for advancing from Level 1...
Job Title: Immigration and Asylum Senior Caseworker x 3 (IAAS Level 2) Immigration and Asylum Senior Supervisor x 2 (IAAS Level 2) Organisation: The Cotton Tree Trust Department: Legal Department (Immigration & Asylum) Location: 6-9 Manor Gardens, London N7 6LA Role: Full-time Salary: Competitive, subject to experience About The Cotton...
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has landed, along with a written statement from the Home Secretary. The Bill weighs in at 57 clauses (“sections” once it is an Act), two schedules and 74 pages. Let’s take a look. You can also read the Explanatory Notes for yourself if...
International students are worth billions to the UK economy in higher education fees and indirect expenditure, benefitting local communities financially as well as enriching them in non-economic terms. Being able to attract overseas students is crucial to the economic viability of many education providers, but only those with a sponsor...
Rainbow Migration, the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system, is recruiting a Legal Officer to advise and help improve the representation of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum and help change the asylum and immigration system to one that treats everyone with compassion,...
Following on from last year’s award of £203,995 made to a victim of abuse at Brook House, it seems the Home Secretary has missed the deadline of 29 September 2024 to make payment to the claimant, meaning that thousands more in interest is now payable. The conduct of pretty much...
A care home operator has successfully challenged the Home Office’s decision to refuse a defined certificate of sponsorship request on the grounds that the care home could not provide official contracts for guaranteed hours of work to show that the jobs were genuine. The High Court’s decision in Hartford Care...
Practice Manager The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC) is seeking to recruit a self-motivating and committed Practice Manager to manage and hold responsibility for PRCBC’s ongoing office management, legal administration, and financial administration operations. The post holder is expected to be at the core of...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Home Secretary has named her preferred candidate as the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration – John Tuckett, who is currently the Immigration Services Commissioner. It’s over to the Home Affairs Select Committee now, who will carry out a pre-appointment hearing before...
Once a charitable organisation has been granted a licence under the Charity Worker route, it will be able to begin sponsoring workers under this route. The work needs to be an eligible type of work and the applicant needs to meet various requirements in order to be eligible for sponsorship...
Following on from the Review of Civil Legal Aid and concession of a judicial review last year, the Lord Chancellor announced in November 2024 that “subject to consultation” legal aid fees would finally be increased. That consultation was published on Friday and will run until 21 March 2025. The consultation...
The Home Secretary’s appeal in a deprivation case has seemingly backfired as the Court of Appeal has held that the deprivation process being operated, where the affected person is not given an opportunity to make representations against the decision, is procedurally unfair. The case is Secretary of State for the...
The Home Office has recently updated its guidance on the streamlined process for children’s asylum applications. This policy was initially introduced to help with the asylum backlog in 2023, the streamlined process has now been in place for almost two years and is no longer restricted to applications lodged prior...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal in a case involving a refusal based on an allegedly fraudulently obtained English language test certificate. The case is Chowdhury v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 36. The appellant entered the UK as a Tier 4 (General)...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal where it was argued that there had been procedural unfairness in a refusal of further leave to remain because the appellant had not been expressly told that his employer’s sponsor licence had been revoked. The appeal actually stemmed from refusal of a...
Appendix Statelessness replaced Part 14 of the immigration rules in January 2024. It provides a pathway for stateless people to obtain leave to remain in the UK. The application is free of charge and leads to settlement after five years. The Home Office guidance on statelessness “Permission to stay as...
