Campaigners have lost a High Court case challenging the “immigration exemption” to personal data rights. The judgment is R (Open Rights Group & the3million) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2562 (Admin). Paragraph 4, Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 says that certain rights...
Earlier this week, the Guardian published the story of Amber Murrey, a US academic who got a job at Oxford as an associate geography professor, but whose two daughters, aged 4 and 9, were refused visas to join her in the UK. The story explains that Ms Murrey’s husband lives...
Amelia Gentleman will be familiar to Free Movement readers as the Guardian journalist who exposed what has become known as the Windrush scandal. Her account of what happened, how the scandal developed and why the Windrush generation experienced the problems they did should be compulsory reading for all Home Office...
We recently received the following enquiry about the EU Settlement Scheme: Hello, did you know that, when it comes to determining settled status eligibility of non-EU spouses of EU citizens, the Home Office considers the beginning of the marriage as the beginning of the residency, completely disregarding time previously spent...
The Court of Justice of the European Union has found that a child is self-sufficient in EU law even if supported only by the earnings of a parent who is working without permission to do so. The case is C‑93/18 Bajratari. The case involved an Albanian family living in Northern...
The President of the Family Division has decided that the family courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with immigration control, even if they think it is necessary to protect a girl from female genital mutilation (FGM). The most they can do is to ask the Home Office to refrain from...
The Immigration Rules are due to change on 6 October 2019, as heralded by statement of changes HC 2631. One particularly notable change will be the amendment of the Shortage Occupation List, with many roles being added to the list and some removed. One advantage of a role being on...
Do you want to help child refugees access safe, legal routes to sanctuary? Do you want to join a ground-breaking, determined and compassionate charity that is leading the fight for child refugees caught in limbo in Europe and elsewhere? Safe Passage is recruiting two Lawyers. 1 permanent position and 1...
Welcome to episode 67 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. As you may have noticed, we’ve been on a rather extended holiday, so we’re going to use this and the next episode to catch you up on what’s gone on in immigration law over the summer. There are a...
That is, if the appellant can get back in. The case is Isufaj (PTA decisions/reasons; EEA reg. 37 appeals) [2019] UKUT 283 (IAC). There is no right of admission but if admitted the appeal can be pursued from within the UK. Why the case gets reported for that when it...
Owing to continued and steady growth we are seeking to recruit an experienced immigration law solicitor. Whilst we will give due consideration to applicants from all levels of experience, we would particularly be interested to hear from practitioners with extensive experience and varied background. The successful candidate must possess or...
Yes, the Court of Justice of the European Union has had to find that self-employed EU citizens retain rights of residence during their maternity period. Why on earth the government of the United Kingdom tried to argue they did not is one of those mysteries to which we’ll probably never...
This morning the Supreme Court handed down its judgment on whether the Prime Minister suspending Parliament for five weeks at a crucial time in the Brexit saga was legal. As Colin put it, the government “could not have lost more comprehensively”. I’ve covered some of the highlights elsewhere and the...
A solicitor with 43 years’ experience has been struck off after allowing a group of supposed immigration lawyers to take over his firm and run off with all the client files. Michael Smith was prosecuted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for allowing himself to be “used as a front” for...
The Immigration Act 2016 authorises immigration officers to temporarily close down businesses persistently employing illegal workers. The provision is one of several that make up the hostile environment policy, which has been rebranded the “compliant environment”. The objective of the policy is to encourage those without permission to live and...
The Upper Tribunal in AAR & AA (Non-Arab Darfuris – return) Sudan [2019] UKUT 282 (IAC) has rejected a Home Office attempt to resume returns of non-Arab Darfuris to Sudan. The tribunal upheld its previous guidance, reaffirming the position that all non-Arab Darfuris are at risk of persecution in Sudan,...
The Upper Tribunal has finally, some six years after the test was introduced into domestic regulations, taken a good, hard look at the “centre of life” test applied by the Home Office to Surinder Singh cases. For background on the Surinder Singh route see our explainer post here: The Surinder...
Whether you read Twitter, the Times or the Law Society Gazette, you might have heard of the happy-ending case of Nasrullah Mursalin. Mr Mursalin was a paralegal at Gull Law Chambers Limited. In July, he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for breaching family court rules after he sent papers...
In the case of C‑94/18 Chenchooliah the Court of Justice of the European Union returns to the contentious issue of the rights of family members of EU citizens. Family members like to have rights, governments like to be able to remove family members and the judges are called on time...
As I was reviewing John Vassiliou’s excellent piece on Hong Kongers with British National Overseas status last week, I realised that we’ve never put together an explainer on the right of abode. A quick Google search showed up no great explanations either, so I thought it was time to try...
The High Court has referred an immigration law firm to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, citing “serious concerns” over its conduct of several cases. The case is R (Al Mahfuz & Anor) v Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) & Anor [2019] EWHC 2318 (Admin) and the firm concerned is Heans...
An EU citizen, or their spouse or civil partner, is entitled to have his or her dependent parent continue to live with them or join them in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme. This has always been the case since the scheme began. But one particularly confusing aspect, even...
A few weeks ago I analysed EU Settlement Scheme stats released in August. I argued that the Scheme is not working as well as the Government claims it is. While it might be performing well from the point of view of its administrators at the Home Office, it surely seems to...
In DM (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2351 (Admin), the High Court ruled that the lack of accommodation for foreign national offenders cannot be a defence in a claim for unlawful detention. The case involved DM’s deportation for a sexual offence for which he...
The government published a new statement of changes on 9 September. We covered changes related to work and study routes in this post, and changes related to the EU Settlement Scheme in this post. There are two more changes which are worth noting. Section 67 leave Section 67 of the...
The two-year post study work visa has returned from the dead, apparently. Multiple statements, from the Prime Minister, the Business Secretary, the Department for Education and, last and least, the Home Office have been released announcing the resurrection of a visa originally introduced in 2004 and killed off by Theresa...
We are seeking a bright and motivated person to manage immigration casework at Fernandes Vaz, a specialist immigration and nationality law firm based in Wembley. You must have at least proven experience in casework and be able to manage your own workload. Accuracy and attention to detail are important factors....
A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published yesterday, 9 September 2019. This post will cover changes to work and student visa routes, while a separate post deals with changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and other changes brought about by Brexit. Except where indicated otherwise, these changes...
Yesterday afternoon the government dropped statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 2631. This is a formal change to the Immigration Rules and there is a lot to it: the full version weighs in at 102 pages. We’ll deal with other changes in another post (or posts) but here...
The Johnson ‘government’ has reaffirmed that free movement rules will continue if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October. A new voluntary (Ed. – !?!) immigration scheme will be introduced called the European Temporary Leave to Remain Scheme, or “Euro TLR” to its (few) friends. From...
This is an update on UK citizens’ and residents’ access to healthcare in the EEA and Switzerland if a no-deal Brexit happens on 31 October 2019. The people who will be affected are those for whom the UK is currently paying for their healthcare in another EEA state or Switzerland...
When the word ‘chaotic’ no longer seems to adequately describe a situation you know things are getting bad. The government’s announcement and subsequent hasty retraction of its intention to end free movement on 1 November 2019 has served only to amplify levels of anxiety amongst EU nationals and the wider...
Here follows a shameless plug for a book to which I have contributed a chapter on deprivation and nullification of British citizenship. It is edited by the excellent Devyani Prabhat at the University of Bristol (do follow her on Twitter) and the various chapters consider the evolution of the contemporary...
The long suffering Migration Advisory Committee, or ‘MAC’ to its friends, has been commissioned to carry out yet another review. Back in June 2019 the MAC were asked by one Home Secretary to think again about salary thresholds for skilled workers. This time they are being asked by a different...
Migrants’ Law ProjectSolicitor/Caseworker/Barrister Salary Band £34,986 – £38,404A salary of £44,373 may be considered for those at Supervisor level with high levels of experience and expertise Annual leave: 25 days per annum plus bank holidays The Migrants’ Law Project are looking for a solicitor, caseworker, or barrister to join our...
A new revised guidance note for judges has been published by some other judges: Joint Presidential Guidance 2019 No 1: Permission to appeal to UTIAC. Paragraph 31 seems wrong to me, or at least inexactly phrased: If a FtT judge considering an application for permission to appeal is in doubt...
The cost of making an immigration or nationality application has risen extremely steeply in recent years. Annual increases of 20% or 25% per year became standard, bringing the current cost of an application for indefinite leave to remain (aka settlement) to £2,389. The actual cost of processing such an application...
The Government yesterday rowed back on the bonkers idea floated by Home Secretary Priti Patel two weeks ago to end free movement of EU citizens into the UK on 31 October 2019. Apart from the obvious problem of having to invent and implement a new immigration system in a matter...
People in immigration detention can make an application for Secretary of State bail directly to the Home Office. The Home Office has the same powers as the immigration tribunal to grant bail and manage its conditions. Is it worth applying? An application to the Secretary of State for immigration bail...
You walk into court, lever arch folders tucked safely under each arm. You’ve tried to be organised and posted copies of your bundles weeks in advance. You’re part way through your submissions, furiously referring to this, that and the other whilst the judge is looking at you with a raised...
