Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #12

It looks like the next time we will see the Rwanda Bill is Monday 15 April, which the government is presumably fine with despite noises to the contrary given a) it isn’t going to stop people coming, b) Rwanda isn’t ready yet, and c) they don’t seem to have any way of getting people there.

On Friday the High Court in Ireland held that the Irish government’s decision to add the UK to the ‘safe third country’ list after Brexit was unlawful. I have been keeping an eye out for the full judgment on the Irish courts service page and Bailii, if anyone spots it elsewhere please do let me know and I will stick it up with a short post.

Over the weekend there were reports that France is engaged in dangerous pullbacks to try to turn boats around back to France. According to the article this is something the UK has asked France to do previously and they declined on the basis that it was against international maritime law. The UK is also at least partly funding the practice.

The Home Office’s determination to respond to Freedom of Information requests in the most unhelpful way possible appears to have backfired on it after it responded to two requests on data on deaths in asylum accommodation with dramatically different numbers.

On Free Movement, on the training front we have updated our course for members on advising employers on right to work checks. Tickets for our next two webinars on exceptional circumstances in Appendix FM applications and options for Ukrainians following the recent changes to those routes continue to sell at pace. 

On the blog we had lots of interesting stuff last week, today this deep dive into the latest statement of changes and what the implications are for employers. We also wrote up the latest round of fee increases and details of how the sponsor management changeover process is going to work for the rules changes in April.

Anyone who has a client who has been GPS tagged as part of their bail conditions should read about this successful challenge and what others can learn from it. While we are on GPS tagging, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued the Home Office with an enforcement notice last week in relation to the use of this.

Other cases we covered included the latest in Roehrig (entitlement of certain children of EU citizens to British citizenship) and Akinsanya (ability of Zambrano carers to access the EU settlement scheme). That’s not even all of it! For the rest on Free Movement and what we have been reading elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

What can an incoming government quickly accomplish in immigration policy and how? – Colin’s Substack, 19 March

Say one thing, do another? The government’s record rise in net migration – BBC News, 24 March

Launch of the Commission’s final report – From arrival to integration: building communities for refugees and for Britain – Commission on the Integration of Refugees, 20 March

Thousands of foreign nurses a year leave UK to work abroad – The Guardian, 25 March

Permission granted for judicial review of Home Office decision to refuse and certify Albanian “blood feud” asylum claims – Garden Court Chambers, 22 March

Healthcare workers among thousands wrongly stripped of work and benefits while waiting on visas, High Court hears – Independent, 22 March

Unsettled status? EU citizens in the UK – Sussex Bylines, 21 March

Costing the Rwanda plan – Institute for Public Policy Research, 18 March

Home Office Under Pressure To Disclose If Asylum Seeker Housing Profit Cap Has Been Triggered – Politics Home, 18 March

Heavily pregnant refugee to be evicted and sent 250 miles away from family – Open Democracy, 18 March