A law centre solicitor who took money from clients seeking help with immigration and asylum problems has accepted his striking off the role of solicitors. Andrew John Puddicombe was employed by Gloucester Law Centre until November 2015, when management discovered that for three years he had been “charging clients on...
A group of charities and NGOs have launched a new guide on immigrants’ rights. It places with particular emphasis on coping with hostile environment measures designing to make life intolerable for undocumented migrants. Know Your Rights: A Guide for Migrants promises to help migrants “understand your rights in a situation where immigration rules...
Every few years another “good character” nationality case makes it to court. Usually they arise in the context of adults applying for naturalisation as British citizens at the Home Secretary’s discretion under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981, and invariably they concern criminal convictions (except for one, which...
The first round of immigration checks on migrants’ current accounts took place in January, with banks being required to check the immigration status of their customers against a Home Office database. Those flagged up as being in the UK unlawfully face having their account frozen or closed. Naturally enough, there...
The independent prison inspector has raised the alarm over the continued detention of migrants who the Home Office accepts have been tortured. A scathing inspection report also found “considerable failings” in safety and respect for detainees at the “prison-like” Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons,...
On 1 March the Court of Appeal looked at Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the context of a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) appeal. Although the appeal was dismissed, the court confirmed that running a business may amount to private life for the purposes of Article 8....
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. Transgender asylum seekers Leila Zadeh of the UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group and Paul Dillane of rights group Kaleidescope Trust are quoted in a Guardian piece covering attacks on LGBTI people in asylum accommodation....
The case of AB, R (On the Application Of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 383 has unusual facts, but an unsurprising conclusion: the Home Office cannot grant asylum to someone who is not in the UK. The background is not really important but...
An adult who is not a British citizen can apply to become one. This process is known as naturalisation. People will normally be eligible to apply for naturalisation under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 if they: are 18 or over are of “good character” meet the knowledge...
Campaign groups are fighting for better protection of migrants’ personal data on multiple fronts this month. Last week came news that permission had been granted in a judicial review of data sharing arrangements between the Home Office and the NHS. As we reported before Christmas, the Migrants’ Rights Network argues...
The Court of Appeal in Tanvir Babar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 329 dealt with the application of Immigration Rule 276B. The court highlighted the tensions between the Home Office policy, the application of the Immigration Rule and the weight that needs to be...
We recently covered the case taken by British migrants living in the Netherlands that had, it appeared, succeeded in its aim of getting the Court of Justice of the European Union to decide whether their EU citizenship survives Brexit. The headline was British migrants trying to keep EU citizenship get...
A Home Office letter handed to hunger strikers at Yarl’s Wood detention centre casts doubt on the department’s simultaneous insistence that the refusal of food may be for non-political reasons. Last week, Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford suggested that the 120 women refusing food and fluid at the notorious facility might...
At a time when immigration practitioners are facing a wave of referrals and allegations of misconduct, the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Shah (‘Cart’ judicial review: nature and consequences) [2018] UKUT 51 (IAC) comes as another timely reminder that judges are in no mood to deal with haphazard or slapdash appeals...
Barrister Adam Wagner founded the widely acclaimed UK Human Rights Blog at 1 Crown Office Row in 2010. He went on to found RightsInfo, an online platform that aims to build knowledge and support for human rights, and now practises out of Doughty Street Chambers. Both initiatives speak to his...
In JM (Zimbabwe), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 188 the Court of Appeal grappled with an interesting point on the proper interpretation of paragraph 403(c) of the Immigration Rules. Paragraph 403 deals with the grant of leave to stateless...
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. There weren’t as many as usual, although it was another big week in Brexit. Yarl’s Wood Last Friday, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott visited Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, scene of a hunger strike by...
My sincere thanks to the hundreds of readers who filled in the Free Movement reader survey this year. The feedback was more positive than I dared hope for, and the suggestions for improvements wonderful. Those interested can peruse the results for themselves. This post, running a severe risk of bragging,...
The Court of Appeal has lit a distress beacon on damages for wrongful detention, with Lady Justice Arden signalling that the Supreme Court should look again at case law that denies a remedy to people detained on the basis of Home Office decisions that turned out to be unlawful. The...
Following on from Basnet (validity of application – respondent) [2012] UKUT 113 (IAC) (President Blake) and Mitchell (Basnet revisited) [2015] UKUT 562 (IAC) (Deputy President Ockleton) we now have Ahmed & Ors (valid application – burden of proof) [2018] UKUT 53 (IAC) (President Lane). All three cases concern the effect...
The European Commission has published a draft legal text for a Brexit “Withdrawal Agreement”. It includes the all-important issue of citizens’ rights for EU nationals already living in the UK or arriving here before Brexit is finalised. This draft is not a final treaty or necessarily the version that EU...
Navi Ahluwalia died peacefully after an illness on Saturday night. The announcement and a short tribute can be seen on the Garden Court Chambers website. The AIRE Centre, with which Navi was closely associated throughout his legal career, have also posted a tribute. Navi and I were colleagues at Garden...
Part 4 of the Immigration Act 2014 introduced a referral and investigation scheme for proposed marriages and civil partnerships involving a non-EEA national who could gain an immigration advantage from their nuptials. Under this scheme, register offices must refer all proposed marriages and civil partnerships to the Home Office if...
Last week the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of fairness and discretion in the context of the Points Based System. Specifically, it decided that such values take a firm second place to predictability. The case is R (Dharmeshkumar Bhupendrabhai Patel & Anor) v Secretary of State for the...
The recent decision in R (SB (Afghanistan)) v SSHD [2018] EWCA Civ 215 concerned the removal of an Afghan asylum seeker last year. As the judgment records, the case generated a significant amount of media attention amid reports that it had taken place in breach of a High Court order,...
Welcome to the January 2018 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I start with a follow-up to the Immigration Rules changes covered last month and discuss the commencement of the immigration bail provisions of the Immigration Act 2016. I go on to look at the application...
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. Visa quota Last Sunday’s Guardian carried news “Britain has hit its cap on visas for skilled non-European workers for an unprecedented third month in a row”, referring to restricted certificates of sponsorship under Tier 2. This was originally...
Making an immigration application for clients is all in a day’s work, but working on your own wife’s visa is enough to reduce even an expert to tears, writes an anonymous Free Movement contributor. While courting my wife during a sabbatical abroad, I would worry about things like whether I...
In one of his first decisions as the new President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal, Mr Justice Lane has urged caution in making awards of costs on the basis of unreasonable behaviour. The case is Thapa & Ors (costs: general principles; s 9 review) [2018]...
EU citizens already living in the UK are opting for British citizenship at record levels even as more depart and fewer arrive, this morning’s quarterly immigration statistics from the Home Office and Office for National Statistics confirm. The big picture The number of EU citizens coming to live in the...
Thousands of staff at more than 60 universities around the country have gone on strike, starting today. Some members of the University College Union (UCU), which has called the strike, will be non-EU nationals sponsored under the relevant university’s sponsor licence. Here, I consider the Home Office’s position on whether...
Seasoned Brexit watchers will be familiar by now with the trope that there is a “need for a level playing field”. Coined by the EU out of concern that the UK may turn itself into a tax haven, the phrase has now been appropriated by Brexiteers in the government. Cabinet...
The headnote for OO (Burma -TS remains appropriate CG) Burma [2018] UKUT 52 (IAC) is a short one: TS (Political opponents-risk) Burma CG [2013] UKUT 281 (IAC) remains appropriate country guidance on the risk to political opponents in Burma. The Home Office was arguing in this case that there was...
On 1 February 2018, the High Court decided that the Home Secretary had discriminated against two Muslim men as a result of conditions at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre. For the immediate reaction to this case, this news piece by the BBC is worth reading, but we have only just...
