In R(AH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Home Office has conceded that it wrongly excluded a Dutch man from re-entering the
This week marked ten years since the Modern Slavery Act 2015 came into force. The trafficking statistics for October to December 2024 have been published,
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report “An inspection of the Home Office’s management of fee waiver applications (August 2024 – November 2024)”
The Home Secretary has succeeded in an appeal where she argued that those with deportation orders or proceedings were lawfully excluded from a concession allowing
In the recent case of Butt v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 189, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal
This article explains how to make a successful change of conditions application where a person needs to lift the no recourse to public funds restriction
The High Court has quashed a decision by the Home Office to refuse a trafficking claim on the grounds that the person had been kidnapped,
The High Court has ruled that three Home Office decisions, each of which refused the claimant’s request for reinstated trafficking support via the Modern Slavery
Applications to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, for those who hold leave under Appendix Ukraine Scheme that will expire soon, are open from 9am today.
In January 2024 the immigration rules were changed and statelessness family reunion was brought into Appendix FM. The new rules make no special provision at
The domestic worker route is a common trafficking route and below we look at how to identify whether a domestic worker is a victim of
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg handed down judgment in two separate cases in December addressing the subject of family life between adult
This is a lengthy briefing providing practical advice on how to prepare a case to ensure your client has the best chance of being granted
This article sets out the recent changes to the policy on granting people leave to remain once they have received a positive conclusive grounds decision,
Immigration applications are extremely expensive. Most requests for permission to stay in the UK (other than under the points based immigration system) now cost £1,258.
There is now only a month left before all biometric residence permits and biometric residence cards will expire on 31 December 2024 and understanding of
The High Court has found that the Home Secretary does not have an adequate system in place for processing change of conditions application to reduce,
The quarterly trafficking statistics for July to September 2024 have been published, with a few records set including for the number of referrals and number
We have written this article to share knowledge on the importance of ensuring the confidentiality and safety of clients who make visa applications for entry
This summer, a legal challenge against the ten year route to settlement became a national media story. When Nelson Shardey spoke out about the pain
The autumn statement of changes HC 217 has been published, accompanied by a written statement from Seema Malhotra MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Anyone whose life consists of daily references to the immigration rules will tell you that the experience can feel a lot like deep ocean exploration
The Upper Tribunal has said that where family life exists, the article 8 rights of family members overseas need to be taken into account and
In response to the judicial review claim R (MS) v SSHD AC-2024-LON-000866, the Home Secretary has admitted a practice of intentionally delaying claims for temporary
The change to the immigration rules on 11 April 2024 regarding how absences would be calculated in the long residence route initially caused a lot
The High Court has said that it was not unlawful that a Kenyan refugee who had been trafficked to the UK as a domestic worker
The High Court has held that the decision to refuse to grant exceptional case funding for legal aid to a person applying to the Windrush
The latest modern slavery statistics have been published and show that the ‘immigration enforcement competent authority’ had made its lowest percentage of positive conclusive grounds
The immigration rules allow some people to apply to remain in the UK on the basis of long residence. Those who had periods of overstaying
Appendix Long Residence of the immigration rules enables a person with 10 continuous and lawful years of residence in the UK to apply for indefinite
On 18 April 2024, the Court of Appeal held in ASY & Ors v Home Office [2024] EWCA Civ 373 that damages are payable to
In AM (Belarus) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] UKSC 13, in a judgment delivered by Lord Sales, the Supreme Court has
The Home Secretary has lost a case where it was argued that a refugee who held indefinite leave to remain in the UK should not
On 10 April 2024 the Home Office introduced a fee waiver process for those applying to extend their leave in Appendix Hong Kong BN(O) however
The short answer is “yes, criminals can be denied refugee status.” There is a moral dimension to the Refugee Convention. But the criminal offence or
The question of who has the duty to provide accommodation where a person has certain needs under the Care Act 2014 has been the subject
A “returning resident” is a resident of the United Kingdom with settled status who returns to the country after a lengthy absence abroad. Ordinarily, when
The Upper Tribunal has provided further guidance on the meaning of historical injustice in the case of Ahmed v SSHD [2023] UKUT 00165 (IAC). “Historical
In its 2023 World Report, Human Rights Watch found that the recent immigration and asylum policies introduced by the UK government breach domestic human rights
Across Europe, asylum seekers and displaced people are facing growing hostility as they look to start new lives escaping war and persecution. In Greece, there
In R(AH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Home Office has conceded that it wrongly excluded a Dutch man from re-entering the UK after a family holiday because it mistook him for a different Dutch national who had been deported from the UK. After proceedings were issued...
This week marked ten years since the Modern Slavery Act 2015 came into force. The trafficking statistics for October to December 2024 have been published, meaning we now have a full year of data for 2024. In the statistics before these, for July to September 2024, I noted that positive...
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report “An inspection of the Home Office’s management of fee waiver applications (August 2024 – November 2024)” has been published, and as always there are various interesting bits such as what on earth was going on with those tokens last year and...
The Home Secretary has succeeded in an appeal where she argued that those with deportation orders or proceedings were lawfully excluded from a concession allowing certain victims of trafficking to be considered for discretionary leave under the more favourable provisions in place before 30 January 2023. The case is Secretary...
This article explains how to make a successful change of conditions application where a person needs to lift the no recourse to public funds restriction (NRPF) from their grant of leave. This article is written for applicants as well as for the lawyers and advisors who may be assisting in...
The High Court has quashed a decision by the Home Office to refuse a trafficking claim on the grounds that the person had been kidnapped, which the decision maker said could not meet the trafficking definition. The case is R (AAM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025]...
The High Court has ruled that three Home Office decisions, each of which refused the claimant’s request for reinstated trafficking support via the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract, were unlawful. Judgment was handed down in R (ETX) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 294 (Admin) on...
Applications to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, for those who hold leave under Appendix Ukraine Scheme that will expire soon, are open from 9am today. It is important to note that extensions of leave are not automatic, people will need to apply before their current leave expires or else they...
In January 2024 the immigration rules were changed and statelessness family reunion was brought into Appendix FM. The new rules make no special provision at all for the families of stateless people and treat them in the same way as any family member of any other sponsor applying under Appendix...
The domestic worker route is a common trafficking route and below we look at how to identify whether a domestic worker is a victim of modern slavery. Domestic workers who live overseas can apply for a visa to visit the UK for up to six months with their employer as...
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg handed down judgment in two separate cases in December addressing the subject of family life between adult family members outside the “core” nuclear family of spouses, partners, parents and minor children. The court confirms that “additional elements of dependence, involving more than...
This is a lengthy briefing providing practical advice on how to prepare a case to ensure your client has the best chance of being granted temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery (referred to as “VTS leave”). In this briefing I focus on grants based on...
This article sets out the recent changes to the policy on granting people leave to remain once they have received a positive conclusive grounds decision, which is the second and final stage of the trafficking identification process. As discussed previously, the position in relation to grants of leave made to...
Immigration applications are extremely expensive. Most requests for permission to stay in the UK (other than under the points based immigration system) now cost £1,258. In addition, applicants may need to pay an immigration health surcharge (£1,035 a year for adults and £776 for children). On average, therefore, migrants will...
There is now only a month left before all biometric residence permits and biometric residence cards will expire on 31 December 2024 and understanding of the changes among those responsible for enforcing the hostile environment remains dangerously low. From 1 January 2025 onwards, individuals will be expected to show their...
The High Court has found that the Home Secretary does not have an adequate system in place for processing change of conditions application to reduce, to a reasonable and proportionate minimum, the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment caused by the “no recourse to public funds” (“NRPF”) condition. The case...
The quarterly trafficking statistics for July to September 2024 have been published, with a few records set including for the number of referrals and number of conclusive grounds decisions. The impact of the latter on delays is still difficult to tell because of the reorganisation of cases within the decision...
We have written this article to share knowledge on the importance of ensuring the confidentiality and safety of clients who make visa applications for entry clearance based on same sex relationships, and our experience of the steps that can be taken to achieve this. Being in a same sex relationship...
This summer, a legal challenge against the ten year route to settlement became a national media story. When Nelson Shardey spoke out about the pain of being told he didn’t have any lawful status after 45 years in the UK, his story touched the nation. In this post, solicitor Nicola...
The autumn statement of changes HC 217 has been published, accompanied by a written statement from Seema Malhotra MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship. The errors we covered last week in relation to skilled worker going rates are being corrected from 8 October 2024 and we...
Anyone whose life consists of daily references to the immigration rules will tell you that the experience can feel a lot like deep ocean exploration in the Mariana Trench: despite constant research, you will still make new discoveries, even when you think there are no further depths to which you...
The Upper Tribunal has said that where family life exists, the article 8 rights of family members overseas need to be taken into account and it is wrong to focus only on the rights of the UK based sponsor. Following on from that, the refusal to grant entry clearance to...
In response to the judicial review claim R (MS) v SSHD AC-2024-LON-000866, the Home Secretary has admitted a practice of intentionally delaying claims for temporary permission to stay made by asylum seeking trafficking victims who were at the time earmarked for possible removal to Rwanda. The pause, which was not...
The change to the immigration rules on 11 April 2024 regarding how absences would be calculated in the long residence route initially caused a lot of confusion because the drafting of the new rules was ambiguous, yet the updated guidance seemed to suggest that the 548 day limit no longer...
The High Court has held that the decision to refuse to grant exceptional case funding for legal aid to a person applying to the Windrush compensation scheme was lawful. The case is R (Oji) v The Director of Legal Aid Casework [2024] EWHC 1281 (Admin). Background to the compensation scheme...
The latest modern slavery statistics have been published and show that the ‘immigration enforcement competent authority’ had made its lowest percentage of positive conclusive grounds decisions confirming that a person is recognised as a victim of trafficking since it was set up, with a recognition rate of 20.68% for the...
The immigration rules allow some people to apply to remain in the UK on the basis of long residence. Those who had periods of overstaying can apply for limited leave to remain following 20 years’ continuous residence. We have a separate briefing on applying for indefinite leave to remain for...
Appendix Long Residence of the immigration rules enables a person with 10 continuous and lawful years of residence in the UK to apply for indefinite leave to remain. It is also possible to apply for limited leave to remain in this route. But there are complications and qualifications. What kind...
On 18 April 2024, the Court of Appeal held in ASY & Ors v Home Office [2024] EWCA Civ 373 that damages are payable to those subjected to destitution that amounts to an imminent risk of inhuman or degrading treatment. The Court of Appeal judgment recognised the existence of a...
In AM (Belarus) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] UKSC 13, in a judgment delivered by Lord Sales, the Supreme Court has held that a man living in the United Kingdom for twenty six years with no immigration status was not entitled to status on human rights...
On 10 April 2024 the Home Office introduced a fee waiver process for those applying to extend their leave in Appendix Hong Kong BN(O) however the new process introduces barriers that do not exist for other routes and will be insurmountable for some applicants, through no fault of their own....
The short answer is “yes, criminals can be denied refugee status.” There is a moral dimension to the Refugee Convention. But the criminal offence or offending must be particularly serious in nature. The offending or behaviour must be serious in nature because denying refugee status to a person and sending...
The question of who has the duty to provide accommodation where a person has certain needs under the Care Act 2014 has been the subject of recent litigation and appears to have been resolved in the Home Secretary’s favour. In R (TMX) v London Borough of Croydon & Anor [2024]...
A “returning resident” is a resident of the United Kingdom with settled status who returns to the country after a lengthy absence abroad. Ordinarily, when a person refers to “returning residents” they might be talking about a temporary resident who leaves for a short time, for example on holiday or...
The Upper Tribunal has provided further guidance on the meaning of historical injustice in the case of Ahmed v SSHD [2023] UKUT 00165 (IAC). “Historical injustice” is the term used to describe the circumstances where an individual has suffered as a result of the wrongful operation (or non-operation) by the...
In its 2023 World Report, Human Rights Watch found that the recent immigration and asylum policies introduced by the UK government breach domestic human rights obligations and undermine international human rights standards. The report focuses on the Rwanda agreement and the Nationality and Border Act. But it does not forget...
Across Europe, asylum seekers and displaced people are facing growing hostility as they look to start new lives escaping war and persecution. In Greece, there is continually mounting evidence of “pushbacks” to which Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, have been shown to be turning a blind eye....
