Author Archive

The Home Office has launched a new Assisted Digital service to help those who need it with online immigration applications. It is aimed at applicants who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to complete an online immigration appli ...

Not much to say about this one, but clearly it is important in those cases where the Home Office does withdraw a decision once the appeal has been lodged. Official headnote: (i)            The public law character of appeals to the FtT is re ...

The facts of R (on the application of MMK) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (consent orders – legal effect – enforcement) [2017] UKUT 198 (IAC) involved the not uncommon scenario of the Home Office withdrawing its decision in ...

In Sleiman (deprivation of citizenship; conduct) [2017] UKUT 367 (IAC) the tribunal considered the question of how directly causative past deception must be of a subsequent grant of British citizenship in order for a person to be deprived of that citi ...

Pretty obscure looking at first glance, this one: TM (EEA nationals – meaning; NI practitioners : Zimbabwe) [2017] UKUT 165 (IAC). So much so I confess I overlooked it. Firstly, some dual national British-EEA nationals were protected from the U ...

The Home Office has been in the news for what one judge described as a “prima facie case of contempt of court.” Officials are reported to have breached multiple orders for the return of asylum seeker Samim Bigzad from Afghanistan to the U ...

With the approach of Brexit, managers at the Home Office are re-asserting traditional English facial grooming standards, it seems: Britain’s immigration officers have been told they are not allowed to sport stubble at work. Dress code guidance p ...

Yes, “residence” is the same as “presence”, at least in paragraph 245AAA(a) of the Immigration Rules, says Upper Tribunal Judge Allen. Official headnote: (i) On a proper construction of paragraph 245AAA(a)(i) of HC 395, an abse ...

Last week was Glasgow Brexitcon (don’t worry, no-one but me is calling it that), a whole day conference in Glasgow dedicated to the immigration aspects of Brexit. The idea and organisation was all the work of the wonderful Bilaal Shabbir of MBS ...

Forget “hard Brexit” and “soft Brexit”. The leaked proposals for a post-Brexit immigration system suggest the pedal is already to the metal for full Thelma & Louise Brexit. The Brexit to-do list is the length of a constantl ...

A trainee solicitor has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years after being convicted of providing illegal immigration advice and services: Mr Babar Khan, of Mylis Close, Sydenham, London was convicted on 24 August 2017 at Sou ...

The UK now removes EU citizens and family members before their deportation appeal takes place. Obviously, this interferes with the life that the person has established in the UK (job and home may be lost, for example), in effect prejudges the outcome ...

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Tribunal Judge Peter Richard Lane to be a Justice of the High Court with effect from 2 October 2017 consequential to the retirement of Sir Michael Burton. The Lord Chief Justice will assign Trib ...

Really interesting study, which should be carefully considered in the Immigration and Asylum Chambers. …There are clearly dangers to an overly rule-bound judicial approach, as conveyed by Conley and O’Barr’s (1988) description of ‘the proc ...

To make sure we reduce inconvenience and cost to our users and provide greater flexibility and access to our services, we must deal with cases in the most efficient and proportionate way. One of the ways in which we are doing this is the expansion of ...

Particularly relevant to Syrians who were not granted formal refugee status and instead got the lesser status of Humanitarian Protection: This form is for people resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme or the Vulnerable Children’s ...

Britain’s Home Office has issued a £91m ($118m) tender for immigration services using biometrics and the digitisation of supporting evidence. The tender covers how up to 780,000 people either extend their stay in the UK, settle or pursue Brit ...

Following a great deal of interest on the Free Movement Forum about a members meet up, Bilaal Shabbir of MBS Solicitors in Scotland has taken the initiative to arrange this in the form of an event in Scotland. An EU themed immigration law conference h ...

Detailed legal guidance on bringing a judicial review case in the Administrative Court.The July 2017 edition reflects legislative and practice changes relevant to the Administrative Court over the last year. Includes guidance on: starting a claim appl ...

Welcome to the May 2017 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I’m starting with the current waiting times for immigration appeals, moving on to give some quick mentions to some big blog posts we put out in May and t ...

Just a short reminder that the deadline for applying for the deputy editor role at Free Movement is fast approaching: 31 July 2017. See here for further details and how to apply. ...

Welcome to the April 2017 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we cover the increase in immigration fees, several nationality law issues, run though the most important cases we saw in April and end with some mentions for ...

We’re running a summer sale until 11 August 2017 on all new group memberships of up to 50 members: half price for the first year. The codes to use are when making your purchase to apply the discount are: Small groups of 10 or less use code SUMME ...

In the case of ZEI & Ors (Decision withdrawn – FtT Rule 17 – considerations : Palestine) [2017] UKUT 292 (IAC)  the Upper Tribunal, chaired by Mr Ockelton, has considered the application of rule 17 of the procedure rules. This rule provid ...

In the case of Awuah and Others (Wasted Costs Orders – HOPOs – Tribunal Powers) [2017] UKFTT 555 (IAC) the tribunal has decided that a wasted costs order — an order that a representative personally pay the costs incurred by the other ...

The Legal Aid Agency has been told to directly apologise and pay £10,000 to an expert witness in immigration cases for causing him distress, inconvenience and financial loss by excessively auditing his bills. In a report seen by the Gazette, the Par ...

For some reason the Home Office has just released a swathe of inspection reports into a wide range of Home Office operations. In practical terms, this makes it impossible for the press to pick out more than one or two stories from the reports and it t ...

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published two new guidance documents on immigration and asylum issues. The guidance was developed in collaboration with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Office of the Immigration Services Commis ...

Closing date: 31 July 2017 5pm The Free Movement website has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months. Readership has increased massively, to an average of over 300,000 page views per month. Ebook sales are going well and membership has ...

In tribute to beloved author Michael Bond (1926-2017), who died yesterday, I am republishing this blog post reviewing the film Paddington, based on the character created by Bond. The blog post was originally published on 1 December 2014 and versions ...

The Queen’s Speech was today. This sets out the legislative agenda for the new Government and lists expected new Acts of Parliament the Government hopes to pass in the coming year. There are reports that this Queen’s Speech may be intended ...

It is the Queen’s Speech today. This sets out the legislative agenda for the coming Parliament in 2017 and 2018. But no party managed to win an overall majority in the General Election. We have what the political pundits and historians call a Hu ...

In R (Kiarie and Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42 the Supreme Court has struck down “deport first, appeal later” certificates for two foreign criminals. The Home Office had made use of new rules in the ...

Picking through various manifestos and public statements of the Democratic Unionist Party and its leading members reveals a few clues about the stance of the party on immigration issues. This may prove critical in the lifetime of the coming Government ...

Team Gaenor needs your support to ensure refugees fleeing persecution, conflict and oppression can access Pan African Development Education And Advocacy Programme services, which supports and empowers them to rebuild their lives in Uganda. More refuge ...

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 dependent relatives. The case is BRITCITS v Secretary of State ...

What is the hostile environment? The “hostile environment” for migrants is a package of measures designed to make life so difficult for individuals without permission to remain that they will not seek to enter the UK to begin with or if a ...

Can untrained landlords and agents tell if you have a legal right to be in the UK? Should unpaid landlords and agents have to do the Government’s job of immigration enforcement for them? If you look or sound ‘foreign’ why would a landlord tak ...

Also well worth a read: As all readers of this post will know, the United Kingdom gave notice of its decision to withdraw from the EU on 29 March 2017. Under Article 50 TEU, that means that (subject to a different date being provided for in a withdraw ...

Worth a read: The Brexit negotiations are heading for an early battle. The remaining EU states on Monday agreed that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK after its withdrawal should fall under the jurisdiction of the EU Court of Justice, or CJEU ...