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...
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 and...
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:...
The Home Office is reported to be testing a new online fast track application process for EU migrants in the UK. The Financial Times first carried the story but it was also picked up and confirmed by The Guardian. In summary, the new fast track application process is said to...
Conveniently, David Davis MP, our new Minister for Brexit, made a detailed speech and wrote a detailed article on the subject of free movement and negotiations with the EU. From these we can see quite quickly that he does not like free movement. Of people, anyway. Towards the UK, anyway. He...
On 24 June 2016 the right to live in the United Kingdom for over 3 million people of its people was suddenly cast into doubt. If generous provision is not made for them we are looking at the biggest mass expulsion of population since 1290, when Edward I infamously ordered...
Last week the Court of Justice of the European Union gave judgment in the case of NA C-115/15 on the vexed issue of retained rights of residence for victims of domestic violence. It is hard to care given the result of the Brexit referendum but it is a very important case...
Some worrying news from The Guardian: UK citizenship has been given to the children of eastern Europeans living in Britain without the proper paperwork, the Guardian has learned. The affected families come from countries including Poland and the Czech Republic that joined the EU in 2004 and so far around...
First of all, as I have written previously, it seems highly likely that those EU nationals and their families currently resident in the UK will be allowed to remain. We do not know on what basis but it nevertheless seems highly likely. There are very many concerned readers of this...
The people of what is currently the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union. What happens now? Here I am going to take a quick look at the immediate consequences for EU nationals living in the UK. In short, there are no immediate legal consequences that flow directly...
Page contentsThe relationship between the ECHR and the EUIntroductionAccession of the EU to the ECHRThe EU from the perspective of the European Court of Human Rights: the protection gapThe impact of the relationship between the EU and the ECHR on a post-Brexit UK The relationship between the ECHR and the...
Page contentsThe implications for Scotland of a vote in the EU referendum for the UK to leave the EUIntroductionThe current legal positionThe referendum and withdrawal: legal arrangementsUK devolution arrangementsThe messier realityScotland and the EU—a distinctive relationship?More devolved powers for Scotland, more intertwined responsibilities, more constitutional unease?Scotland and migration—divergence and tension...
Page contentsThe EU’s Borders: Schengen, Frontex and the UKIntroductionThe Schengen zoneTreaty foundationsInternal border controlsSupporting measuresExternal bordersExternal border rulesFrontexThe EU border regime and the 2015-2016 crisisRe-introduction of internal border controlsDevelopments with FrontexThe UK and the EU Border RegimeConclusion: What are the implications for the referendum?References The EU’s Borders: Schengen, Frontex and...
Page contentsThe UK Referendum on the EU and the Common European Asylum SystemIntroductionWhat is the Common European Asylum System?Outcomes of the CEAS and the possible consequences of UK withdrawalAfghanistanIranIraq The UK Referendum on the EU and the Common European Asylum System By Elspeth Guild, Partner, Kingsley Napley, 29 April 2016...
Page contentsThe Impact of BrexitIntroductionThe UK’s main optionsProcess of withdrawalImpact on UK citizens in the remaining EU and EU citizens in the UK The Impact of Brexit By Steve Peers, University of Essex, 17 May 2016 Introduction What would happen if the UK left the EU? In each case, that...
Page contentsThe implications of UK withdrawal for immigration policy and nationality law: Irish aspectsIntroductionThe common travel areaOverviewCurrent arrangementsImplications of withdrawalThe status of Irish citizens in the UK OverviewCurrent arrangementsImplications of withdrawalConclusionsReferences The implications of UK withdrawal for immigration policy and nationality law: Irish aspects By Bernard Ryan, Professor of Law, University...
Page contentsFree Movement and Criminal LawIntroductionDeporting EU citizens: criminal law as a limit to protection against expulsion and exclusionChecking EU citizens’ criminal records: the EU criminal record exchange systemBringing to justice individuals fleeing prosecution or custody: the European Arrest Warrant systemPreventing the entry of individuals deemed to pose security threats:...
Page contentsEU Citizens’ Access to Welfare Benefits: Past, Present and FutureIntroductionThe eligibility rules for EU citizensHow the rules developed over timeChanges since 2014Universal CreditFuture changes to in-work benefitsThe main types of benefitsWhen can EU citizens claim benefits? – a summaryEU citizens excluded from benefitsHousing AssistanceConclusionsFurther Reading EU Citizens’ Access to...
Page contentsEU free movement in practice at home and abroadIntroduction Treaty provisions on free movement for EU citizensWho determines who is a citizen of the Union?What rights does EU citizenship bring to individuals?What about the wider and economic benefits of EU citizenship?Setting up a businessEducation and researchSharing of personal dataMobile phone...
Page contentsRights of Entry and ResidenceIntroductionRights of entry and residenceExclusion and expulsionCitizenshipFuture enlargement Rights of Entry and Residence By Steve Peers, University of Essex, 17 May 2016 Introduction The free movement of EU citizens to the UK (and vice versa) is a key feature of the UK’s EU membership. However,...
Page contentsFree movement of persons and the single marketIntroductionContext of free movementTable 1 – Top 6 recent countries of origin for EU migrants, 2011-2015The four freedomsRules on free movementThe relevant Treaty provisionsCitizenship of the UnionUK’s ‘New Settlement’ dealThe key rightsThe right to leave, to enter and to resideThe right to...
Sovereignty and legitimacy: the UK and the EU By Adrian Berry, barrister, Garden Court Chambers and Rowena Moffatt, barrister, Doughty Street Chambers, 29 April 2016 Introduction The relationship between the UK and the EU raises issues about the UK as a sovereign power, and as to the legitimacy of the...
As if Michael Gove MP needed further reminding, in wake of Colin Yeo’s appearance on World at One on Wednesday where he pointed out the fundamental error of the Justice Secretary’s assertion that Britain cannot deport EEA nationals with a criminal record, the Supreme Court in R (on the application...
A High Court judge has awarded the family member of an EU national a total of £136,048 in damages. The award consists of £76,578 for false imprisonment and £59,470 for breach of EU law. The Home Office is also criticised for having made “inaccurate and misleading” submissions to previous judges...
I recently made a partially successful Freedom of Information request on waiting times for different types of EEA residence documents. The information for the whole of 2015 taken as an average was released but not more recent information on current waiting times in 2016. The waiting times were as follows:...
In an interesting but almost impenetrable judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union gives some guidance on procedural protections available to those bringing challenges to EU law decisions which adversely affect them. The case is Benalla v Belgium C‑161/15. The point that arose was a fairly obscure one. Mr Benalla,...
Abdul (section 55 – Article 24(3) Charter : Nigeria) [2016] UKUT 106 (IAC) is a case involving a Nigerian national aged 41 who had resided in the UK for 25 years and who had two British daughters aged 11 and 13. He had acquired a permanent right of residence under EU law. He was a serial […]
...This post is reblogged from Professor Steve Peer’s excellent and comprehensive post on the immigration aspects of UK’s renegotiation proposals. What follows is the section of that blog post on family members. Head over to the original for more information on benefits, the “emergency brake” and criminality and free movement...
Following the judgment last year in R (on the application of Zewdu) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2148 (Admin) (09 June 2015) solicitors Duncan Lewis have revealed that the Home Office agreed to pay a record £40,000 in damages for the 19 month delay in...
In 2014 the Home Office amended the UK’s rules on EU law deportation cases to allow a deportation to go ahead before an EEA national completes any appeal process against that decision to deport. This has become known as “deport first, appeal later”. Similar rules were also introduced for non...
In Secretary of State for the Home Department v Straszewski [2015] EWCA Civ 1245 (03 December 2015) Moore-Bick LJ, giving the leading judgment, finds that public revulsion is not generally relevant to decisions to deport under EU law. The facts Two cases were linked for the purposes of this judgment. The first...
As was reported on Free Movement last month, the British Nationality (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2015, have made it harder for persons with an EU law-based right of permanent residence to naturalise as British citizens. That is the consequence of a new requirement that such persons first obtain a...
The Court of Appeal has reiterated that the burden of proof for proving whether a marriage is a sham for immigration law purposes rests with the Home Office. The case is Agho v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 1198 and it confirms the obiter remarks of...
Desmond Rutledge considers the Advocate General’s Opinion (C-308/14) on the EU Commission’s action against the United Kingdom’s use of the right to reside test. This post was originally published on the Garden Court Chambers Blog. The origins of the Commission’s action against the UK In European Commission v United Kingdom...
Desmond Rutledge examines the recent decision in Alimanovic (C-67/14) which holds that it is lawful for a Member State to restrict the period a former worker from another Member State can access benefits upon becoming involuntarily unemployed based on Dano (C-333/12). This post was originally published on the Garden Court Chambers...
Women who leave work for maternity reasons and return to work afterwards are not to be considered “workers” under European Union free movement law, the UK government argued in the case of Saint Prix v UK (Case C‑507/12). As I said at the time, it is astonishing that the UK government took...
The Upper Tribunal has issued the much awaited case addressing whether human rights grounds can be argued in an EU rights of residence appeal. The determination is Amirteymour and others (EEA appeals; human rights) [2015] UKUT 466 (IAC) and the official headnote reads: Where no notice under section 120 of...
UPDATE: Permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal seems to have been granted: Sales LJ grants permission to appeal from UT's recent decision in Bilal Ahmed) (EEA/s 10 appeal rights: effect) IJR: http://t.co/fbQLhZpxZq — Zane Malik QC (@ZaneMalikQC) October 9, 2015 On 24 July 2015 the Upper Tribunal handed...
