New(ish) tribunal case on burden and standard in refugee exclusion cases. The official headnote: In every case involving exclusion of protection under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, the onus of proof is on the Secretary of State, a detailed and individualised examination of the facts is required, there must...
Welcome to the August 2016 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This episode I start with the issue of when an EU national can apply for naturalisation, cover several Court of Appeal then High Court cases and then move on to talk about a few Home Office policy...
In HD (Trafficked women) Nigeria CG [2016] UKUT 00454 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered the position of victims of trafficking returning to Nigeria. Under the previous country guidance case, PO (trafficked women) Nigeria [2009] UKAIT 00046, in order to demonstrate a real risk of persecution on return to Nigeria, a...
Updated Home Office policy on reviewing cases when appeals are lodged: UK Visas and Immigration guidance for how it considers the grounds for appeal and supporting documents of an application. Call me a cynic, but I have never ever seen any evidence that ECOs or the Home Office seriously reconsider...
The Upper Tribunal in this case considers its powers to set aside its own decisions. The official headnote: The decision of the Court of Appeal in Patel [2015] EWCA Civ 1175 entails the view that the Upper Tribunal’s powers to set aside its own decisions are limited to those in...
The Supreme Court has decided that the historic failure of British nationality law to confer automatic citizenship on a child born out of wedlock was discriminatory, it has continuing consequences which breached a person’s human rights in a discriminatory way and that denying such a person British citizenship now is...
New CPD rules are being introduced for solicitors and barristers in England and Wales and OISC advisers across the UK. The new rules are broadly similar in nature but start at different times, so it is important to know which rules apply when. At the end of the blog post...
The Government is raising immigration and asylum tribunal fees by an unprecedented amount, in the face of almost universal opposition. Help us ensure that not only the rich are able to challenge incorrect Government decisions, by contributing to this urgent legal action. You can donate here: Challenge to the five-fold...
The judgment is in French only, unfortunately, but an English language press release is available. The summary reads as follows: In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of B.A.C. v. Greece (application no. 11981/15) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article...
The European Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA has replaced the framework previously set out in the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, itself supplemented by the Protocol of 18 December 1997, to provide the framework within which a request may be made to another Member State for the...
Article 4(1) of the Qualification Directive does not impose a shared duty of cooperation on the Member State to substantiate an applicant’s nationality. Article 4(2) refers to documentation (including documentation regarding nationality(ies)) “at the applicant’s disposal” – which must include documentation which is not in the applicant’s present possession but...
(1) As held in Deliallisi (British citizen: deprivation appeal: scope) [2013] UKUT 439 (IAC), in an appeal under section 40A of the British Nationality Act 1981 the Tribunal is required to determine the reasonably foreseeable consequences of deprivation. (2) Whilst the Tribunal considering a section 40A appeal cannot pre-judge the...
The Upper Tribunal again finds that Dublin returns to Malta can go ahead: (i) There have been significant developments in Malta during recent years. While there may be imperfections in the Maltese asylum decision making processes, these are not sufficient to preclude returns under the Dublin Regulation and, in particular, do...
The Upper Tribunal finds that an English speaking student faked the ETS English language test using a proxy. The official headnote: (i) The question of whether a person engaged in fraud in procuring a TOEIC English language proficiency qualification will invariably be intrinsically fact sensitive. (ii) Per curiam: where the voice data generated...
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, has published five new inspection reports. The most interesting is on the “hostile environment”, specifically the powers to deny driving licences and bank accounts to migrants unlawfully resident in the UK. The report reveals that the Interventions and Sanctions Directorate (“ISD”)...
I am planning to do a Brexit themed question and answer Free Movement podcast on EU free movement law and applications next week. The idea is to offer readers (er, listeners?) what I hope is useful information in a slightly different format to usual. But I will need your help....
To acquire EU rights of residence and ultimately permanent residence, a person usually has to engage in certain activities: employment, self employment, study or being self sufficient. There are other criteria as well, but these are the four key ways that a person qualifies. The activities have to be “genuine...
UPDATE: Use of official application forms (paper or online) is mandatory from 1 February 2017. See new post: Can the Home Office force EU nationals to use the official 85 page permanent residence application form? In a useful policy document explaining internal processes within the UK Visas and Immigration department...
The Upper Tribunal has issued a new Country Guidance case on Eritrea: MST and Others (national service – risk categories) (CG) [2016] UKUT 443 (IAC). It weighs in at 459 paragraphs plus voluminous appendices. The findings are good news for Eritrean refugees seeking sanctuary; the tribunal recognises the danger they...
As of today, 10 October 2016, it now costs £800 to lodge an appeal against an immigration decision where a proper oral hearing is requested. The change was announced on 15 September 2016 and the necessary legal change, the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Fees (Amendment) Order 2016, was...
Online versions of the FLR(M) and FLR(FP) application forms are now available for use. The form needs to be printed at the end and sent off to the Home Office with the required supporting documents. Use this online application as an alternative to the FLR(M) and FLR(FP) paper forms. Apply...
The British Nationality Act 1981 requires a successful applicant for British citizenship to show, amongst other things, that he or she is free from immigration restrictions. Technically, the requirement is set out in paragraph 2(c) of Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981, which requires an applicant to show:...
Welcome to the July 2016 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This episode I cover some important EU law issues then move through a considerable number of cases and appeal issues and then end with some updates on new and changed Home Office policies. The material is all...
On 16 June 2016, during a referendum campaign dominated by the issue of whether there are too many foreigners in the UK, Member of Parliament Jo Cox was shot and stabbed multiple times outside a surgery in her constituency. She later died from her injuries, leaving two young sons and...
The Home Office has quietly and with no fanfare launched online residence certificate and permanent residence certificate application processes and accompanying European passport return service. I have put together a 20 minute video walk through of what the permanent residence application service looks like with some commentary which I hope...
In two linked cases, CS v UK C-304/14 and Marin v Spain C-165/14, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Zambrano-like derived rights of residence under EU law are not automatically lost if a crime is committed. Instead, each case must be assessed on its merits...
Access to the Court of Appeal is being restricted with effect from 3 October 2016 by means of important changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). The headline changes are: Removal of the automatic right to an oral hearing when renewing an unsuccessful application for permission to appeal. Renewed applications...
The New York Declaration Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants starts well: Since earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Some people move in search of new economic opportunities and horizons. Others move to escape armed conflict, poverty, food insecurity, persecution, terrorism, or human rights violations and abuses....
Welcome to the June 2016 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. June 2016 is a month I would rather had not occurred. Inevitably perhaps, I start by discussing next steps for EU nationals following Brexit. I move on to discuss a number of asylum and refugee issues and...
A new Country Guidance case on Libya has been issued. It is a short one and simply states that the previous Country Guidance case should be disregarded for now, pending a more up to date and authoratitive treatment. In the meantime, Libyan cases need to be decided on the evidence...
The Upper Tribunal has ruled that there is no right of appeal to the Court of Appeal against decisions of the Upper Tribunal until Upper Tribunal appeal is finally concluded. This means there is no right of appeal to the Court of Appeal against an Upper Tribunal decision that there...
Two further cases have added to the jurisprudence on whether it is possible under the Immigration Act 2014 to appeal against a refusal of a fresh protection claim. The cases are R (on the application of Sharif Hussein) v First-Tier Tribunal (para 353: present scope and effect) IJR [2016] UKUT...
Two recent cases in the Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal have clarified when a worker might in EU law retain his or her status as a worker during a period of unemployment. The cases are KS v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] UKUT 269 AAC...
The Home Office has issued a series of new policy positions on safe return to Iraq. In summary: The Home Office now seeks to depart from AA and to argue that there is no longer a 15(c) risk in Diyala, Salah al-Din, or Kirkuk (except for Hawija and surrounding areas),...
The Home Office has confirmed that where it holds the passport of a migrant who wishes to sit the Secure English Language Test (SELT) it will either return the passport to enable the migrant to sit the SELT or will confirm directly with the SELT centre that the passport is...
Upper Tribunal Judge Goldstein (72) was admitted as a Solicitor in 1987. He was appointed a part-time Immigration Adjudicator in 1996, full-time Immigration Adjudicator in 1999 and Legal Member of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in 2000. He was appointed Vice President of the Immigration Appeals Chamber in 2003 (now know...
UPDATE: Beta version of online service now available here. A series of pages have appeared on the Governments official gov.uk website suggesting that the Home Office will be launching a new online application process for EEA nationals on 1 October 2016: The European passport return service is available for EEA...
In the case of Sala (EFMs: Right of Appeal : Albania) [2016] UKUT 411 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal has ruled that there is no right of appeal against a decision by the Home Office to refuse a residence card to a person claiming to be an extended family member. The official headnote:...
