In Ribeli v Entry Clearance Officer, Pretoria [2018] EWCA Civ 611, the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the “rigorous and demanding” nature of the adult dependent relative rules, following the judgment in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Since July 2012 the immigration rules for adult dependent relatives have been, in practice, almost impossible to meet. Applicants need to demonstrate that they require a level of long-term personal […]
An ex-soldier who struggles to walk, speak or perform basic household tasks following a stroke has been told that he must look after his children without their Philippine national mother […]
A couple can enter into a “marriage of convenience” even if they are in a genuine relationship. This was, in summary, the finding of the High Court in R (Molina) […]
On 20 July 2017 the Home Office published changes to the Immigration Rules intended to give effect to findings made by the Supreme Court in MM (Lebanon) & Others v […]
The Supreme Court has handed down its judgement in the case of Sadovska and another (Appellants) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) (Scotland) [2017] UKSC 54. In unanimously […]
In W v SSHD [2017] EWHC 1733 (Fam) (07 July 2017) a married couple resident in the UK on a Tier 2 visa attempted to bring their 2-year-old adoptive son, […]
Now that the election manifestos have been officially published we have an indication what Labour and Conservative have planned for EU nationals living in Britain. While the Labour manifesto confirmed […]
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the challenge brought by campaign group Britcits to the restrictive Immigration Rules on the admission to the UK of parents, grandparents and other adult […]
In Butt v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 184 the Court of Appeal considers the weight to be given to the relationship between parents and their adult […]
In linked judgments in the case of MM and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 10, known to many as just “the MM case,” the Supreme […]
The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has published a new report on the Home Office approach to sham marriages. The report is critical of the change in approach brought […]
The Home Office has reviewed operation of the cruel Immigration Rules for Adult Dependent Relatives such as parents or grandparents introduced in July 2012. They are considered to be meeting […]
Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC667 was laid yesterday, 3 November 2016. The document weighs in at 90 pages but many of the changes are to language rather […]
New Home Office guidance on Marriage Investigations has been published. Formally, it is Chapter 30 of the Enforcement Guidance and Instructions. The purpose of the guidance is stated on page […]
In a decision of 27 May 2016, the Inner House of the Court of Session held that excluding the spouses of refugees from the so-called ‘domestic violence concession’ (DVC) in […]
The President of the Upper Tribunal, Mr Justice McCloskey, has allowed on human rights grounds the appeal of the mother and brother of a refugee child from Eritrea. The mother […]
The challenge by organisation Britcits to the virtual prohibition on the entry of adult dependant relatives introduced in 2012 has been dismissed: R (on the application of Britcits) v Secretary of […]
A new set of Immigration Rules has been laid in Statement of Changes HC877. The changes take effect on 6 April 2016. You can access the explanatory notes or the […]
This text is based on a talk given by Sonel on 24 February 2016 at an ILPA event on family immigration law. Since 2012, family immigration in UK has taken […]
First of all, the official headnote to Muhandiramge (section S-LTR.1.7) [2015] UKUT 675 (IAC) (20 November 2015): Where an application for leave to remain in the United Kingdom is refused […]
President McCloskey certainly isn’t wrong when he says of the immigration rules on human rights introduced in 2012: These provisions of the Rules have generated much jurisprudence during the last […]
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 […]
The Supreme Court has dismissed the challenge brought against the introduction of pre-entry English language testing for spouses seeking to enter the UK as the family members of British citizens […]
Major changes to the Immigration Rules affecting refugees, Tiers 1, 2 and 5, EEA nationals sponsoring family members under the Immigration Rules, visitors, applications for Administrative Review and knowledge of […]
Last week the Children’s Commissioner for England released a study into the impact of the Coalition Government’s new family immigration rules, introduced in 2012. The report is an emotionally difficult read […]
The Court of Appeal turns its attention to the admission of family members outside the requirements of the Immigration Rules in the case of Secretary of State for the Home […]
With the Children Act 1988, the language of “access” and “custody” was abandoned in family law, and with good reason. The language was suggestive of incarceration, it encouraged confrontation between […]
Filmmaker Don McVey has put together an excellent documentary on the spouse minimum income rule and the devastating effect it is having on affected families and children. It is heartbreaking. […]
On 25 November 2014, Minister for Immigration and Security, James Brokenshire, said: The new Immigration Act enables us to take tougher action to crack down on those who try to cheat […]
The case of Sultana and Others (rules: waiver/further enquiry; discretion) [2014] UKUT 540 (IAC) (12 November 2014) involved refusals of entry clearance for a spouse and three children. The basis of […]
UPDATE: see report of Supreme Court judgment here. The judgment is now out in the long awaited case of MM v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ […]
UPDATE: Outcome now known and reported here. Last week the Court of Appeal heard the Home Office appeal in the spouse visa minimum income case. The judges heard argument over […]
Newly introduced Immigration Rules (Statement of Changes HC 803) due to take effect on 1 December 2013 will end a concession for family members of members of the armed forces, forcing many […]
Child abduction is a criminal offence. It requires covert departure from the UK to another country, and from the abductor’s point of view preferably one that is not in Europe, […]
Following the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration’s report published on 10 June 2013 – covered on Free Movement earlier last month – the ‘new’ family migration rules have been debated twice […]
