Today’s decision in Anwar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 2134 confirms that if the Home Office wishes to impose visa conditions, it must give people written notice of those conditions. If the Home Office fails to do this, or is unable to produce evidence...
In an Upper Tribunal determination that will come as a surprise to no-one other than the judge whose decision was under appeal, President Lane has held that it is not possible for the tribunal to allow an appeal on a conditional basis. The case is HH (‘conditional’ appeal decisions) Somalia...
Welcome to the October 2017 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we look at a load of cases from Strasbourg, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and of course the Upper Tribunal. These cases range from the sublime, including private religious worship, trafficking and torture,...
From the project description: Hundreds of thousands of decisions are made annually under the Immigration Rules. Decisions which can be life changing for those seeking entry or leave to remain in the UK and their families. But the Rules are widely criticised for being long, complex, and difficult to use....
The High Court decided today that the Home Office’s policy of detaining and deporting rough sleepers from EU countries is unlawful. The case is R (Gureckis) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 3298 (Admin), a judicial review challenge by three EEA nationals to their removal under...
In May this year, referring to the case of C-133/15 Chavez-Vilchez and Others v Netherlands, Colin wrote that the Court of Justice of the European Union has significantly extended Zambrano rights beyond those so far recognised by the Home Office and UK courts. The case undoubtedly represented a positive move...
In R (Decker) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2017] EWCA Civ 1752, the Court of Appeal found that the Secretary of State must show her workings. She, and the immigration tribunals, must explicitly apply relevant tests set out in the EEA Regulations when making decisions....
The High Court has issued a helpful reminder to the Secretary of State that basic rules of procedural fairness continue to apply, even in the thorny context of removal windows and detention. In R (AT & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2714 (Admin), HHJ Walden-Smith...
Some EU citizens now living in the UK will find themselves committing criminal offences after Brexit. That much is certain. How many people exactly will become unlawfully resident is probably impossible to calculate, and here at Free Movement we do not have the resources to do so, but the number...
Welcome to the September 2017 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month covers several cases, one from the Court of Appeal and the others from the Upper Tribunal. I’m also going to give a mention to some of our new explainers on different aspects of immigration law...
Most domestic workers would prefer to be recognised as workers than labelled as trafficked, and ask to be empowered rather than rescued. But it is often necessary to plead their cases under the rubric of trafficking to secure their protection from exploitation. Cases involving domestic workers are often of considerable...
Free Movement’s pick of the past week’s media reporting on immigration and asylum. Theresa May’s government reached agreement with the European Commission on a first stage Brexit deal, which covers citizens’ rights (charmingly painted by the Telegraph as “the price of freedom”). Brexiteers are already offering interpretations of the deal that are odds...
In the early hours of this morning the British government and European Commission agreed, to much media fanfare, a joint report on Brexit negotiations. The Commission will now recommend to the European Council – the 27 national leaders – that it should sign off on the deal. A conclusion at...
Just catching up on the Australian High Court (their Supreme Court) case on the ban on dual citizenship for holders of public office. If you have not been following it, the Australian constitution bans dual citizens from holding public office. The nationality laws of many countries, including the UK, automatically...
A Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC309 was laid yesterday, 7 December 2017. This note does not aim at detailing all the changes, instead just highlighting the most significant ones. Except where otherwise indicated, these changes will come into force on 11 January 2018, although applications made before 11...
New research helps practitioners identify best practice in representing female asylum seekers writes Debora Singer MBE, Senior Policy Adviser at Asylum Aid. What do women who have been through the asylum appeals process think of their legal representative? I liked the last experience … everyone was so positive … we’re...
Legislation meant to make life tougher for immigrant families accessing services may instead have brought some small relief. R (U and U) v Milton Keynes Council [2017] EWHC 3050 (Admin) was an application to judicially review Milton Keynes’ decision not to accommodate two Nigerian children, aged seven and eight. under...
R (Mudibo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1949 is yet another decision of the Court of Appeal grappling with the provisions of those familiar nemeses, section 117B and the “insurmountable obstacles” test in EX.1 of Appendix FM. Much of the judgment is unremarkable with...
Being able to demonstrate “a genuine and subsisting parental relationship” with a qualifying child is an essential requirement to succeed in a human rights appeal involving children. In Secretary of State for the Home Department v VC (Sri Lanka) [2017] EWCA Civ 1967 the Court of Appeal grappled with what...
The Court of Appeal has held in Ahsan v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rev 1) [2017] EWCA Civ 2009 that people accused of cheating on the TOEIC English language test and threatened with removal from the UK have the right to challenge that decision in this country...
Like (I suspect) many other practitioners, I often find myself speaking to a client’s employer to explain to them why my client has the right to work. The most typical example is where a client has submitted an application by post before the expiry of their leave. The document showing...
LO v SSWP (IS) [2017] UKUT 440 (AAC) involved the overlap between EU law, family law and welfare benefits, focusing particularly on the role of proportionality. All this is academic to LO, who just wanted her income support. Despite compelling personal circumstances, there was no basis on which the tribunal could...
Free Movement’s pick of the past week’s media reporting on immigration and asylum. You are unlikely to have missed many of this week’s crop of immigration stories. Take Brexit and the Court of Justice. The government has, supposedly, tabled proposals for the Supreme Court to be able to refer high-level...
In HK, HH, SK and FK v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1871 the Court of Appeal found that asylum seekers could be returned to Bulgaria under the Dublin III Regulation. Removal would not violate the appellants’ Article 3 rights, despite medical reports on their...
The numbers of people in immigration detention have increased in the last decade. The UK has one of the largest immigration detention systems in Europe. There is no time limit. So opens a Bar Council report on Injustice in Immigration Detention, published today. As a Twitter-length summary of the issue,...
A solicitor who is suspended from practice can nevertheless advise clients on immigration law. This simple but perhaps surprising fact was highlighted by a recent case before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in which an East London solicitor unsuccessfully challenged an indefinite suspension given to him in 2009. Since that time,...
Further submissions are notoriously difficult to prepare. In PR (Sri Lanka), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1946 the Court of Appeal has highlighted the need for focussed representations that make specific reference to all evidence and country information being...
Last week the Home Office updated its guidance on EEA decisions on grounds of public policy and security. The amended policy seeks to clarify some of the previous text and highlights further implications of the EEA Regulations 2016. Extended family members The Home Office now requires extended family members who...
First-tier Tribunal appeals against asylum decisions are twice as likely to succeed at some hearing centres compared to others, a BBC investigation has found. 47% of appeals succeeded at Taylor House, whereas the success rate was as low as 21% at Yarl’s Wood and 24% in Belfast. The data comes...
Where there is a “difference in views” between two European Union member states about which is required to pay a benefit to a claimant, EU law requires the state in which the claimant resides to make interim payments until the dispute is resolved. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v...
The case of R (Miah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2925 (Admin) concerns a British citizen who made an application for a passport, was refused, and ordered to leave the country. He had no in-country right of appeal against the decision. This case highlights serious...
In FY (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1853, the Court of Appeal refused the deportation of a Somali national on the basis that he would face a real risk of living in circumstances falling below the Article 3 threshold if deported. In doing...
Over a quarter of the officials who take decisions on asylum applications quit the Home Office in a single six-month period, an inspector’s report has revealed. The number of “active” asylum decision-makers fell from 319 in January 2016 to 228 in July 2016, or 29%, according to the Independent Chief...
Hearty congratulations from all of us at Free Movement to the former army officer and UN charity worker who are due to marry next year. But given that Meghan Markle is an American citizen, what hoops will the happy couple need to jump through in order to complete their nuptials?...
The current Prime Minister coined the term “hostile environment” when she was in charge at the Home Office. It is easy to forget that these measures, aimed at making life intolerable for immigrants without status, began during the last Labour government. Tabloid hysteria about hospitals and GP surgeries clogged up...
