Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law

Home Office wrongly put people refused “right of abode” down for removal

THANKS FOR READING

Older content is locked

A great deal of time and effort goes into producing the information on Free Movement, become a member of Free Movement to get unlimited access to all articles, and much, much more

TAKE FREE MOVEMENT FURTHER

By becoming a member of Free Movement, you not only support the hard-work that goes into maintaining the website, but get access to premium features;

  • Single login for personal use
  • FREE downloads of Free Movement ebooks
  • Access to all Free Movement blog content
  • Access to all our online training materials
  • Access to our busy forums
  • Downloadable CPD certificates

The Home Office incorrectly put long-term UK residents on a removal list for the best part of a year, the immigration inspector has found.

In a report published yesterday, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reveals that for most of 2017, people refused the “right of abode” were automatically put into a database of migrants with no right to live in the UK.

Right of abode is a complex legal status, and those turned down for it often have the right to remain on another ground. But in January 2017, David Bolt reports,

the Home Office decided to ‘pull’ all refused RoA applications where the applicant had no current basis of stay in the UK automatically into the Migration Refusal Pool… the decision failed to take account of the fact that an individual might correctly be refused RoA but still have the right to remain in the UK, the refusal having no effect on immigration status.

This continued until the end of 2017, when the department realised that 

a ‘small number of cases’ had been referred for consideration of enforcement action, despite the individual having been in the UK for a considerable number of years.

Some of these, the report says, were “Windrush individuals”.

Mr Bolt says that “the Home Office should provide assurances that all cases, not just Windrush ones, that were wrongly ‘pulled’ into the MRP have been identified and remedial action taken”. The department claims to have already done so.

Relevant articles chosen for you
CJ McKinney

CJ McKinney

CJ McKinney is a specialist on immigration law and policy. Formerly the editor of Free Movement, you will find a lot of articles by CJ here on this website! Twitter: @mckinneytweets.

Comments