The First-tier Tribunal now has a new set of procedure rules: the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014, which came into force on 20 October 2014. The Rules are streamlined in some parts and the overriding objective is modified to emphasise fairness and justice more than...
Comes into force today. Clarifies that Tier 4 students on post graduate courses of 12 months or longer can sponsor family member dependants. TB screening introduced for those entering from Mauritania for over 6 months and TB screening only required for those entering for settlement from China, Hong Kong and...
Theresa May announced substantive changes to the immigration rules, which would limit the number of immigrants entering the UK on the basis of marriage or having family members here. Some of the changes, coming into force on the 9th July 2012, were covered by Samina Iqbal and Nishan Paramjorthy, at...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I am writing this a little early so the usual caveat applies if I have missed out something big that happened Monday morning. On Wednesday morning I recorded the podcast with Barry (yes he’s back!) and asked where was the legal aid increase...
Time for your June round up of all things Free Movement – and Barry is back! In this month’s episode both Sonia and Barry divulge some rather niche interests, while discussing the second latest (!!) statement of changes, the Migration Advisory Committee’s review into the minimum income requirement, the legal...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Another week, another newly surfaced problem with eVisas. Today it was reported that the Security Industry Authority (“an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office”) is not accepting eVisas as official ID for its licence application process. To state the obvious,...
The Crime and Policing Bill is currently awaiting second reading in the House of Lords and it introduces a number of new measures which expand police powers. BID is concerned that these new powers risk unfair deportation of people with limited leave to remain for minor offences. One part of...
Immigration and asylum law in particular is a complex and fast moving area, and it is crucial that lawyers stay up to date to best serve their clients. It is also a regulatory requirement that must be met annually. There is no longer a minimum hours requirement for continuous professional...
The High Court has rejected a judicial review challenging the Home Secretary’s refusal to consider an application made outside the rules. In doing so, the court rejected the argument that the Home Secretary should create a specific application form for leave outside the rules under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Just spotted this – a challenge has gone in on the pause to settlement applications from Syrian refugees. I have been saying for a while that I think this is where the stronger challenge is with the pause, given the different test at...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Two things happened last week that were covered by the media in a way that was incredibly annoying to anyone who values accuracy (hi!). The first happened on Tuesday morning and prompted an incredibly early start to my day as I thought I...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! When I said last week that I expected we might get some answers on the immigration white paper from the Home Secretary at the Home Affairs Select Committee, I will admit that I had not yet watched this committee in action with this...
May is over and the immigration white paper has finally been published, so Sonia spends a bit of time at the beginning of this month’s podcast reliving the horrors of that. Andrew covers a very wide range of topics in this episode, from deprivation of citizenship to “self sponsorship” to...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Home Affairs Select Committee will take evidence from the Home Secretary tomorrow and she will be questioned on the immigration white paper, among other topics. The committee will be far more difficult to stonewall than MPs’ written questions, and so there is...
We often get questions about how to become an Immigration Advice Authority (or ‘IAA’, previously known as the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner or OISC) adviser so in this detailed article we pulled together everything useful we can think of into one place for you. The short version is...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! It has been a busy week and there is a lot I want to mention. First of all, the Legal Aid Agency announced this morning that it has come under cyber attack and the perpetrators have “accessed a large amount of information relating...
The foreword to the white paper contained little affirmation of the legitimate reasons employers have for recruiting from overseas, or of the contribution many skilled migrants have made to the UK. The Prime Minister made a decision to refer to high levels of inward migration as causing ‘incalculable damage’, and the...
This morning I did a quick post to let everyone know that the immigration white paper had been published, along with the summary recommendations from the paper. Let’s now take a closer look at what is being proposed for workers and students. I have looked separately at the rest of...
The immigration white paper has been published containing proposals for future legislation. The summarised proposals from the paper are set out in full below. We have also published a more detailed look at the proposals affecting work and student routes and a separate look at the rest of the proposals,...
It was a relatively quiet April ahead of what looks to be a busy May. Sonia is joined by Andrew again this month. Sonia runs through the amendments made at committee stage of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration one and despaired over the lack of attention given to the...
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has completed its committee stage in the House of Commons and report stage will take place on Monday 12 May 2025. The Bill as first introduced has had a couple of amendments at committee stage, both introduced by the government. There are also...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Last week I saw an asylum refusal letter that referred to the wrong country of origin. Most lawyers will have seen one of those. So I do understand the “it can’t possibly be worse than current decision making” responses to last week’s announcement...
Following the recent roll out of the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) regime for non-visa nationals, there has emerged an apparent discrepancy between some of the suitability requirements in the ETA rules and the visitor rules. This is relevant because it could, at least in theory, lead to cases of...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! It looks like further government amendments will be made to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. The Home Office has announced an increase to the penalties for people who give immigration advice without being appropriately regulated. The announcement also said that they will close a loophole that...
It’s been a year since the armed forces immigration rules were ‘simplified‘ and Appendix HM Armed Forces was published, replacing Appendix Armed Forces. This article highlights the anomalies within the rules created by the unique status of serving personnel, summarises the discretions in place for both serving personnel and families and...
Asylum Aid’s legal challenge to the lawfulness of the statelessness family reunion rules has been comprehensively upheld. The judgement was handed down by the High Court on 14 February and has not been appealed. The case is Asylum Aid v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 316...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Anyone relying on a US State Department “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” report in an asylum or human rights claim should check the date on it carefully going forward, after reports on the weekend that these will no longer cover many areas, including reports...
A visit visa allows a person to visit the United Kingdom on a temporary basis, usually for up to six months at a time. As is typical of many sections of the immigration rules, the rules for visitors are complex and spread across several appendices. The rules are also updated...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! A survey of Ukrainians in the UK has indicated that a high proportion had lost either lost out on a new job, their tenancy was not renewed, were unable to sign a new tenancy or had a job contract that was not renewed,...
The February podcast is here! We kick off with Sonia briefly summarising the recently published statistics for 2024. There was then a lot to cover on asylum with several case updates and of course the recent Home Office changes to the good character requirements. Barry was thrilled to be able...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! With no sign of any movement from the government on the ban on citizenship for those who have arrived in the UK without permission, despite further pressure, it looks like it will end up being lawyers who hopefully get this policy overturned. We have also started...
Companies like TrustedHousesitters have recently hit the news following a number of incidents whereby some of its international members tried to enter the UK as a visitor in order to take advantage of an agreed-upon housesitting arrangement but were instead denied entry into the country. With the rise of this...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Second reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill took place last Monday and more briefings have been published, including from Refugee Council, ILPA, Work Rights Centre and Amnesty. The call for evidence for the committee stage of the Bill is now open. Committee stage starts on 27 February so best to...
Emotions can run high in any litigation. In a case arising from unlawful detention, like Mlundira v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 189 (KB), the stakes and emotions can be heightened. This case underlines how important it is to consider and respond to correspondence from the...
Sometimes a migrant here in the UK unlawfully will want to apply for immigration status. Lawyers and the Home Office often call this “regularising” their status, because the person becomes a “regular” migrant within the rules rather than an “irregular” one outside the rules. One of the ways to do...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The 2nd reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will take place later today and it looks like committee stage will finish no later than 20 March 2025. Useful resources I have seen published in the last week include this briefing from Focus on Labour Exploitation and...
Sonia and Barry are back already to celebrate the end of January! There is a brief look back at 2024 and look forward to 2025 which of course now includes the new Bill (seriously what are we calling this thing for short? BSAIB just doesn’t work, as Barry ably demonstrates)....
