Author: Karma Hickman

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Karma Hickman

Karma Hickman is an Associate Solicitor at Bindmans LLP. She undertakes a broad range of immigration work for individuals. She has a particular interest in complex citizenship and European matters, and considerable expertise in family-related immigration cases, including international surrogacy and intercountry adoption.

When is a month not a month?

Time is definitely a relative concept, a new Upper Tribunal decision suggests, examining the issue of what constitutes a “month” for the purposes of the

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Excess absences remain a real risk for holders of pre-settled status, with recent changes announced to the EU Settlement Scheme likely to cause more confusion. The changes mean that some people with pre-settled status may see their status automatically upgraded to settled status by the Home Office, while others may...

3rd July 2024
BY Karma Hickman

The Home Office has promised to give UK visas to Ukrainian surrogate mothers and their families, casting a lifeline to intended parents. Provision will also be made for babies born outside the UK to Ukrainian surrogate mothers, according to Home Secretary Priti Patel, in a letter to leading surrogacy lawyers....

21st March 2022
BY Karma Hickman

The protection afforded to children who are long-term UK residents has been further diluted in a new Court of Appeal decision, NA (Bangladesh) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 953. The judgment is the latest in a line of cases to grapple with what exactly...

30th June 2021
BY Karma Hickman

Rules restricting migrants’ access to benefits are back in the spotlight following a new High Court decision, which found that aspects of the “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) scheme fail to protect the rights of children. The case of ST (a child, by his Litigation Friend VW) & VW...

4th May 2021
BY Karma Hickman

Time is definitely a relative concept, a new Upper Tribunal decision suggests, examining the issue of what constitutes a “month” for the purposes of the Immigration Rules on long residence. The case of Chang (paragraph 276A(a)(v); 18 months?) [2021] UKUT 65 (IAC) involved an application under the ten-year lawful residence...

25th March 2021
BY Karma Hickman

A non-binary gender identity can form the basis of an asylum claim, the Upper Tribunal has expressly confirmed for the first time. The case is Mx M (gender identity – HJ (Iran) – terminology) El Salvador [2020] UKUT 313 (IAC). Background to asylum claim Mx M is a citizen of...

24th November 2020
BY Karma Hickman

New guidance on intercountry adoptions has finally been published following a lengthy gap that left parents, practitioners and even Home Office caseworkers struggling with this tricky section of the Immigration Rules. The last in-depth document, written in 2008, disappeared from the Home Office website many years ago – although it...

2nd September 2020
BY Karma Hickman

The popularity and visibility of surrogacy are on the rise, thanks in part to scientific advances, a greater acceptance of LGBT+ rights and popular celebrity stories. The thousands of families created through surrogacy have meant joy for many but the journey towards that goal is usually a challenging one, particularly where...

27th August 2020
BY Karma Hickman

The Court of Appeal has backed a High Court decision that a mother and child’s asylum records must be disclosed in family proceedings. In H (A Child) (Disclosure of Asylum Documents) [2020] EWCA Civ 1001, the court rejected arguments that the family judge had failed to attach sufficient weight to...

6th August 2020
BY Karma Hickman

The High Court has looked further at when details of an asylum claim can be shared in family proceedings. The judgment in R v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No. 2) [2020] EWHC 1036 (Fam) applies previously established principles to a particular set of circumstances. It follows on...

27th May 2020
BY Karma Hickman
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