A “returning resident” is a resident of the United Kingdom with settled status who returns to the country after a lengthy absence abroad. Ordinarily, when a person refers to “returning residents” they might be talking about a temporary resident who leaves for a short time, for example on holiday or...
This month Sonia and Colin discuss the latest developments with the Home Office evictions and withdrawals, as well as the new Rwanda legislation. They also cover the government’s five point plan to reduce net migration as well as the latest case law and Tribunal statistics. If you would like to...
With the news that the immigration health surcharge will be going up dramatically, potentially in the next few weeks, it makes sense for people already in the UK or looking to move here soon to look at whether an early application is possible. As a reminder, the increase is from...
Need or want to learn immigration law with an OISC Level 1 training course? Planning to sit the OISC level 1 exams? Prefer to learn in a small group? We have the perfect course for you. Our approach to OISC Level 1 training is to offer ‘guided learning’. Trainees study...
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I was away last week so this is very much an exercise in catching myself up, as well as all of you. It seems that quite a lot happened, and so in absolutely no particular order (apart from doing Rwanda last because I just...
Reunite Families UK, a lived experience organisation, have published a timely new report looking at the negative mental health impact of family separation caused by the immigration rules, particularly the minimum income requirement. The research looks at the current position, which is shortly to become considerably worse when the increase...
This article provides an overview of some of the safeguards available for those who are held in immigration detention, focussing particularly on those who have been victims of torture. These safeguards are all the more important following the expansion of detention powers under section 12 of the Illegal Migration Act....
Our new OISC Level 2 course: immigration and asylum online training is now live and available to all Free Movement members. It covers the whole of the OISC immigration and asylum syllabuses and is perfect for anyone relatively new to the immigration sector who wants to take their knowledge of immigration law...
A new statement of changes has been laid today. Most of the changes relate to the EU Settlement Scheme and travel document requirements for school groups visiting the UK from France. There are also three new appendices (taking us up to 81 separate appendices to the immigration rules), Appendix Bereaved...
On Monday the new Home Secretary presented a “five-point plan” to reduce UK immigration after a feverish fortnight of the right of the Conservative party, most of the opposition, plus every news outlet badgering him about the Office for National Statistics revising its estimate of 2022’s net migration up to...
The “no recourse to public funds” condition is imposed on grants of limited leave to enter or remain with the effect of prohibiting the person holding that leave from accessing certain defined public funds, set out at paragraph 6 of the immigration rules. A person who deliberately claims public funds despite such...
This week, the Supreme Court brought us the (hopefully) final instalment of the long residence cases, R (Afzal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 46. Immigration lawyers have followed the long series in this line of cases the way we followed Game of Thrones: they both...
The Immigration Act 1988 arguably represents the end of the period of imposing ever greater restrictions on the arrival of racialised Commonwealth citizens while simultaneously liberalising the admission of white aliens. It extended the fundamentally exclusionary purposes of the 1971 and 1981 legislation. It is not that future legislation was...
At the time the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force, two other existing forms of British nationality status were preserved. Page contentsBritish subjectsBritish Protected PersonsBritish Nationals (Overseas) British subjects The first was British subject status. Those who had been British subjects without citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1948...
Significantly, a considerable number of British subjects who were then living in the United Kingdom free from residence conditions were excluded from automatic acquisition of patrial status. Page contentsAutomatic acquisition of indefinite leave to remainAutomatic acquisition of limited leave to remainExcluded from statusLong term consequences Automatic acquisition of indefinite leave...
The unification of control regimes and the controversy surrounding imposition of full immigration control on British subjects led to a significant improvement in the transparency of immigration law. In turn, this made it feasible to challenge the exercise of immigration powers in the courts in a way that was difficult...
One of the manifesto commitments of the incoming Conservative government of 1970 was to establish “a single system of control over all immigration from overseas”. This was a genuinely radical proposition, although one to which the modern reader is inured. To treat British subjects and aliens in an identical way...
The Immigration Act 1971 remains the foundation of immigration control today. Much of the Immigration Act 1971 was effectively a consolidation of powers already conferred on the government by existing immigration legislation, albeit that aliens were at that time subject to far more regulation than British subjects. The standout features...
The Immigration Appeals Act 1969 is a little-remembered piece of legislation, overshadowed as it is by the racist intent of the predecessor Commonwealth Immigrants Acts and the sheer durability of the successor Immigration Act 1971. Nevertheless, it was an important piece of legislation at the time and a major if...
The outbreak of war led to imposition of far more extensive regulation of movement in and out of the country. Even in wartime, though, the level of regulation was notably less than modern immigration control. Indeed, the wartime controls were noticeably less complete than those eventually settled upon during the...
Our October immigration round up is here and as we recorded shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Rwanda litigation we included discussion of that at the beginning. Do keep listening after that though, as Colin and I cover everything from fishing to legal aid shortages via eSports, medico-legal...
This is the second in our series of blog posts on how to become an OISC adviser. Our first post covered what you need to do to register at level 1. Here we look at what OISC Level 2 registration really means, the OISC requirements for advancing from Level 1...
This month Sonia and Colin discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in the Rwanda litigation. As well as that, they cover everything from fishing to eSports, legal aid shortages, medico-legal reports, public funds and the shortage occupation list. If you would like to claim CPD points for reading the material and...
The “sole responsibility” immigration test comes into play where one of the parents of a child is relocating to the United Kingdom and one parent remains abroad. The United Kingdom’s immigration rules effectively presume that a child should remain outside the country with the other parent, unless the parent moving...
A new report comes with a stark warning: “As the number of sponsored migrant workers rises every quarter, the issue of migrant labour exploitation is only likely to increase”. Work Rights Centre, a charity that works to support migrants and disadvantaged British residents access employment justice, has today published their...
The Home Office has changed the immigration rules and the guidance on making applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, taking a far more restrictive approach to late applications than has been the case previously. The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) has updated its guidance to reflect these changes...
The Home Office has explained in newly published guidance ‘Asylum decision-making prioritisation‘ how they will decide the order for decision making of asylum claims. This provides some much-needed clarity to the process. As anyone working in the sector can tell you, there is no fixed timeframe for an asylum claim...
Some migrants can be accompanied or joined by their family members, such as a spouse or child. To check whether family members are eligible to join under a particular immigration category, you need to check that particularly category in the Immigration Rules. For most points-based routes, the requirements for family...
Page contentsChildrenBoth parents settled or BritishOne of the parents is not settled or BritishParent of a childAdult dependent relativesAdult relative of a UK sponsorDependencyLong term personal care to perform everyday tasksUnable to obtain the required level of care in the country where they are livingApplicants who cannot meet the requirements...
The Student and Child Student routes are generally used by education providers who want to offer international students a place to study in the UK. Education providers are typically universities and private colleges or schools. They must be registered as a licensed sponsor. Having a sponsor licence enables them to...
Visitors are those who come to the UK for a short time and intend to leave the UK at the end of their visit. Page contentsWhere to find law and policy on visitorsCategories of visitorsPeriods of leaveThe main requirements for visitorsAdditional requirements for certain standard visitorsChild visitorVisitors for private medical...
There are a lot of immigration-related criminal offences. The main offences are mostly contained in the Immigration Act 1971 as (heavily and repeatedly) amended but are sometimes set out in other immigration statutes. Some of the offences are very rarely, if ever, prosecuted. In this unit, we break down the various immigration...
There aren’t many books about immigration law in the United Kingdom so the publication of a new one should be regarded as something of an event. On top of that, it’s not often a book challenges your view of the concept of “law”. Professor Robert Thomas’ Administrative Law in Action:...
Page contentsContriving to frustrate the intentions of the Immigration RulesImmigration law breaches that might trigger refusalReceiving “services or support to which they were not entitled”Aggravating circumstancesDealing with refusalsHelpful casesPast breaches of immigration rules: re-entry bansWhat periods apply and when?When does the ban period start?When do re-entry bans not apply?Can entry...
Criminal convictions and other signs of poor character can, unsurprisingly, negatively affect applications for leave to enter or remain in the UK. Page contentsMandatory refusals for criminality/bad characterSerious harmPersistent offendersVisitorsAppendix FMOffences committed outside the UKExceptions to mandatory bansConviction for an offence not recognised in the UKDiscretionary grounds for refusalCharacter, conduct...
If, for example, a false document is submitted with an application, an applicant who is believed to have known that it was false will be accused of deliberately using deception. This has implications not just for their present application but also for any they might make in the future. There...
The grounds for refusal at Part 9 of the Immigration Rules enable, or even require, an immigration application which otherwise meets the requirements to be refused. In 2020, Part 9 of the Rules underwent a significant overhaul. Many of the old grounds for refusal have new names, but the old case law...
At least 51% of asylum applicants in England and Wales – 37,450 people – are now unable to find a legal aid lawyer. That is the deficit between the number of new legal aid cases opened (‘matters’) and the number of new applications for asylum. This analysis comes from Freedom...
UNHCR has published their recommendations on how the Illegal Migration Act 2023 should be implemented in order to bring it “closer to conformity with the UK’s international obligations”. UNHCR is explicit that its position remains that the core provisions of the Act are inconsistent with those obligations, however notes that...
Our September roundup is here, featuring the latest statement of changes and new parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 being brought into force. We also discuss the Brook House inquiry, the Rwanda litigation, new immigration fees and illegal working fines and have an impromptu book club. If you listen...
