The case of SD (British citizen children – entry clearance) Sri Lanka [2020] UKUT 43 (IAC) shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following developments around Appendix FM and the rules relating to the rights of family members of British citizens to move to the UK. That does not, though,...
This week we finally got to see more detail about the 2021 Points Based Immigration System. The government’s announcement confirms that every organisation in the UK — from businesses to charities, schools to local shops — will need to become an “approved sponsor” to employ EU citizens who are new...
In a mammoth new judgment the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has developed a significant exception to the general prohibition on summary removal of migrants without consideration of their individual circumstances. In recent years European countries have resorted to summarily deporting migrants who have recently crossed...
Outsourcing firm Serco is to take over two immigration removal centres run by rival G4S, the Home Office has announced. The Hampshire-headquartered company, which already runs the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre, will take over Brook House and Tinsley House from May 2020. The contract runs until 2028, with an...
In the case of Tahir Yaseen v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 157, the Court of Appeal has reiterated that refusals on the ground of character or conduct require a balancing exercise, taking into account both positive and negative considerations. The appellant, Mr Yaseen, made...
The government has released a few more details of what it calls a “points based system” for immigration to the UK after Brexit. To balance out the impending end of free movement of workers from the European Union, it would allow employers to sponsor migrant workers at lower salaries and...
The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Hussein v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 156 is another reminder of the multiple layers of protection from deportation which EU citizens enjoy. In particular, it focuses on the importance of a properly reasoned decision by the First-tier Tribunal...
The Public Law Project has a new briefing on EU citizens’ rights during the transition period. It says: The main takeaway is that throughout the transition period, until 31 December 2020, almost all EU rules will continue to apply in the UK. The jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of...
In (B)ordering Britain: Law, Race and Empire, published last week by Manchester University Press, Nadine El-Enany argues that British nationality and immigration laws are acts of colonial theft. Having expropriated untold wealth from the countries comprising her empire, Britain used this seed capital to construct infrastructure, health, wealth, security, opportunity...
The AIRE Centre has launched a free Settlement Guide to help EU children and young people better understand their legal rights after Brexit. It is aimed in particular at the estimated 5,000 EU citizen children in care, and those who have recently left the care system. The online service explains...
The Court of Appeal in ZA (Pakistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 146 has made a plea to lawyers to transfer their wrongful detention claims to the Queen’s Bench Division or County Court once the detention issue has been resolved. ZA’s case started life...
In O3 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] SN/147/2018, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission has confirmed that, just like regular immigration detainees, those facing deportation on national security grounds are entitled to a presumption of bail. In deciding whether to grant bail to such detainees, the Commission...
Suella Braverman was appointed Attorney General today, replacing Geoffrey Cox QC. She is only the second woman to become the government’s chief legal adviser. The role also involves oversight of the Crown Prosecution Service and Government Legal Department. Braverman’s appointment is being seen as a sign of the government’s intent...
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that in order to benefit from the Surinder Singh principle, the family involved must have genuinely resided in another EU country and have created or fortified their family life there. In Kaur & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA...
Welcome to episode 73 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we start with asylum, in particular the new Iraq country guidance decision, before turning to the rebranded Global Talent visa and the latest on Brexit. There are a couple of disappointing cases on immigration detention to cover,...
The Home Office incorrectly put long-term UK residents on a removal list for the best part of a year, the immigration inspector has found. In a report published yesterday, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reveals that for most of 2017, people refused the “right of abode” were...
In a pointed reminder, perhaps, to those in government threatening to “update” the Human Rights Act, Lady Hale began her Supreme Court judgment in the case of R (Jalloh) v SSHD [2020] UKSC 4 thus: The right to physical liberty was highly prized and protected by the common law long...
For those forced to make successive, increasingly-expensive applications just to remain in the country that they have made their home, naturalising as a British citizen is often the final rung of a very tall ladder. Like all ladders, the key to successfully climbing beyond the clutches of the Home Office...
In recent years the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) has displayed a willingness to allow late appeals and quash historic convictions to address injustice against victims of human trafficking. This includes using the common law to protect the rights of trafficking victims convicted of immigration offences before the statutory defence...
Shamima Begum is a citizen of Bangladesh and so would not be made stateless by being stripped of her British citizenship, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission has held. The main SIAC judgment is Shamima Begum (Preliminary Issue : Substansive) [2020] UKSIAC SC_163_2019, while there is also a brief High Court...
The Home Office should release more details about a “cryptic” computer programme that scores visa applicants as high, medium and low risk, the immigration inspector has recommended. David Bolt says that while applicants labelled high risk are not being automatically refused visas, officials should “demystify” the tool to allay concerns...
An explosion in the number of firms given detention centre legal aid contracts has seriously diluted the quality of advice, according to the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID). BID says that that handing out contracts to dozens of often inexperienced solicitors’ firms instead of a few specialists has “led...
Reaction to the Migration Advisory Committee’s latest report, released on 28 January, has largely focused on the MAC’s lukewarm response to the government’s desire for an Australia-style points based immigration system. Very little attention has so far been paid to the MAC’s conclusions on the salary thresholds that underpin the...
The case of MM v NA (Declaration as to Marital Status) [2020] EWHC 93 (Fam) is very (very!) niche, but may be of interest to practitioners with clients who got married in Somaliland and wish to rely on that marriage for immigration purposes. Spoiler: that marriage is likely to be...
An experienced immigration lawyer has been struck off for failing to check whether a client qualified for legal aid and charging him without telling the firm she was working for. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that Keisha Hackett, 43, had dishonestly hidden the fact that she took the client’s money,...
AB v Kent County Council [2020] EWHC 109 (Admin) is about whether an asylum seeker is entitled to the benefit of the doubt even where a local authority decides they are clearly over 18 and therefore does not carry out a full Merton age assessment. AB was not given a...
See this article on applying for settled status after the deadline, which was on 30 June 2021. On 31 January 2020 at 11pm, the United Kingdom left the European Union and entered a transition period, due to end on 31 December 2020. During this transition period, Europeans can continue to...
Following the Conservative Party’s victory in the December 2019 general election, and the passing of the Withdrawal Agreement Act on 23 January 2020, the UK has now left the European Union with a divorce deal. Under the deal, formally called the Withdrawal Agreement, there is a transitional period running from...
The first of no doubt countless statements of changes of 2020 was published yesterday, 30 January 2020. The main purpose of this set of changes to the Immigration Rules is to introduce the new Global Talent category, announced by the government earlier this week. The changes will take effect on 20...
MSU (S.104(4b) notices) Bangladesh [2019] UKUT 412 (IAC) considers section 104 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (as heavily amended), which says that an appeal shall be treated as abandoned if the appellant is granted leave to enter or remain. For many appellants section 104 won’t be a...
From 11pm today, the United Kingdom will no longer be a member of the European Union. This momentous event has both geopolitical and psychological ramifications, but for now some narrow legal points on what it means in practice. Free movement continues until at least 31 December 2020. Articles 126 and...
Monday’s announcement of a new ‘Global Talent’ visa, a rebranded and expanded version of Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent), will come as particularly welcome news for universities and the research sector. But the detail may leave some people scratching their heads. The specifics have now landed via today’s statement of changes...
The Immigration (Citizens’ Rights Appeals) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020 No. 61) come into force on Brexit day — tomorrow, 31 January. They create a right of appeal to the immigration tribunal for people refused pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. As the accompanying explanatory note...
In Case C-32/19 AT v Pensionsversicherungsanstalt the Court of Justice of the European Union was asked to review Article 17(1)(a) of the Citizens’ Rights Directive. This provides an exception to the usual requirement of five years’ continuous residence before EU migrants are entitled to permanent residence in the country they...
The Court of Appeal has given judgment in R (AC (Algeria)) v SSHD [2020] EWCA Civ 36. The case is about “grace periods” in unlawful detention claims. A grace period, as described by Lord Justice Irwin in his judgment, is that period of time allowed to the Secretary of State,...
