Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #54

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!

With last week’s first reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the sector has its first Bill under this Labour government. The Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 will be repealed but the situation with the Illegal Migration Act 2023 is less straightforward. Parts of that Act will be repealed, parts of it are not addressed at all and so will remain, some of what will remain is not currently in force. I think that all of the parts of the Illegal Migration Act that were disapplied in Northern Ireland are being repealed.

All of this needs to be carefully unpicked so that those seeking amendments can target their fire appropriately and accurately. For those working on the modern slavery elements, this is a useful briefing on what changes to legislation are needed, and that can be compared with what is being proposed in the Bill.

There is no sign of any inclination on the part of the Home Office to start processing Syrian claims again. Those with settlement applications on pause are in the strongest position to challenge this, given the need for a significant and non-temporary change in circumstances before the Home Office could consider refusing those applications.

As I say fairly often, section 3C leave is incompatible with the hostile environment and over the next few months tens of thousands of Ukrainians are going to move onto section 3C leave while their extension applications are processed. This is already causing problems and I suspect that media coverage is likely to increase given the huge number of people affected. Affected Ukrainians should contact their MPs to raise the political salience of this issue. Bear in mind also that the Home Office is actively appealing a decision saying that it should help people in this position.

On Free Movement, we covered the latest care home judicial review where the genuine vacancy requirement was in issue, and the Home Secretary has had indemnity costs awarded against her in an unlawful detention case. We have also updated our guide on how to apply for a student sponsor licence and published a new one on how to sponsor a charity worker.

Last but certainly not least, the consultation on legal aid fees has opened, this should be the final one before (the very long overdue) implementation of the increases. ILPA is already on the case so anyone who is a member should get involved with responding through them. Otherwise, the deadline is 21 March 2025. 

For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.

Cheers, Sonia

What we’re reading

How can immigration reform campaigners best engage with the Labour government? – Colin’s Substack, 29 January

‘I felt really lonely’: detention ordeal of young asylum seeker caught up in riot – The Guardian, 28 January

Port returns in UK: How the post-Brexit mobility of EU citizens is restricted – Border Criminologies, 27 January

Home Office to block cheaper visas for talented AI experts despite push for growth – The i Paper, 27 January

UK community worker flying home from US ‘questioned for over an hour’ after eVisa refusal – Independent, 30 January

Ukrainians can bring children to UK as visa changes reversed – BBC News, 31 January

The Brexit Files: from referendum to reset – UK in a changing Europe, 28 January

‘Illegal’ among words most often linked to migrants in UK politics, report finds – The Guardian, 31 January

Post-Brexit youth mobility scheme should be UK priority Starmer told ahead of EU meeting – Independent, 2 February

Settled, industrious, essential: it’s time we saw immigration as a British success story – The Observer, 1 February

Still Chasing Status – Legal Action Group, 23 January

Bibby Stockholm barge towed away, 18 months after arriving in Dorset – The Guardian, 30 January

Woman held for taking citizen tests ‘in disguise’ – BBC News, 27 January