Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #29

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

There were two separate incidents last week in which a person lost their life while trying to cross the Channel. On Wednesday one person died and 71 were rescued, and the next day one person died and 85 were rescued. Nothing yet from the new government on any alternatives for people attempting that journey.

The use of “tied” visas continues to cause huge problems for those people using them to come to the UK. In the health and care sector, a care home that was sponsoring over 100 visas has had its sponsor licence revoked, throwing hundreds of people into turmoil. Those affected may find this database of social care providers in England licensed to sponsor workers’ visas helpful if they want to try to find a new sponsor.

Issues were also seen in the seasonal agricultural worker route where it seems some Indonesian men may have been charged thousands of pounds in illegal fees by a recruitment agency, only to be dismissed shortly after arriving in the UK.

As with Rwanda, inadmissibility seems to be on its way out as the “asylum pause” announced in February is over. We will hopefully get further details of what will happen next very shortly. This is by no means the end of this saga though, and I am going to keep reminding everyone that admitting people is not enough, repeal of the Illegal Migration Act is still necessary because of the current prohibition on indefinite leave to remain and citizenship.

On Free Movement, we are starting to load up our new season of webinars and workshops for September and onwards. Remember that the workshops have very limited numbers and places have already started to sell so it is a good idea to get in early.

In the last week on the blog we covered an important clarification from the Home Office on the transitional provisions for absences for people applying under Appendix Long Residence. We also briefly covered the immigration and asylum parts of the King’s Speech, as well as this look at the problems faced by overseas entertainers coming to the UK (note that we’ve made some edits since Friday, any errors ours not Steve’s). For anyone who hasn’t listened yet, the latest monthly roundup podcast is out, with a bit of bonus (?) election chat at the end. 

There were also a couple of case round ups. For those and everything else on the blog and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

Labour’s inbox: asylum issues – Colin’s Substack, 8 July

Labour’s inbox: immigration issues – Colin’s Substack, 10 July

‘No concerns’ about foreign students’ entry grades – BBC News, 16 July

‘It would be hard to leave’: Syrian refugee, 11, opens up on ‘kindness’ she received in Shropshire – Shropshire Star, 20 July

‘Totally imprisoned’: Asylum seeker speaks of conditions on Bibby Stockholm – ITV, 19 July

Whitstable mum’s battle with Home Office passport officers over British citizenship after booking £8k family holiday – Kent Online, 12 July

UK immigration: what’s Labour’s alternative to scrapped Rwanda policy? – Channel 4, 15 July

EU to water down Brexit travel checks for British passengers as new border plan delayed again – Independent, 18 July

No “Bounce” In International Student Applications Fuels Concern For University Finances – PoliticsHome, 19 July

Government fails to monitor firms with £4bn contracts to house asylum seekers – OpenDemocracy, 18 July

The issue with using ‘proof’ of sexual orientation in asylum decision-making – Refugee Law Institute, 18 July

Behind Closed Doors: A Storytelling Legal and Empirical Analysis of Human Trafficking Risks in Home Office Hotels Compared to Other Accommodation for Unaccompanied Children and Young People Seeking Asylum in the UK – ECPAT and UCL, 16 July

Finding a safe home: What can we learn about solutions to refugee accommodation from the Ukraine response? – British Red Cross, 16 July