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:...
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...
This month Sonia and Colin cover the latest statement of changes, new parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 being brought into force, the Brook House inquiry, the Rwanda litigation, new immigration fees and illegal working fines. If you would like to claim CPD points for reading the material and...
Anyone who is liable to detention may be granted immigration bail. They may be released or allowed to live outside of detention, subject to certain conditions. Bail is granted by either the Secretary of State or the First-tier Tribunal. The main difference is that the Secretary of State may grant...
Page contentsAssisting unlawful migrationFacilitating a breach of immigration lawHelping an asylum seeker enter the UKPiloting a rubber dinghy across the English ChannelFailure to comply with immigration controlThe 1971 Act offencesNon-cooperation with deportation or removalTraffickingUN definition of traffickingThe legislation in England and WalesThe legislation in Scotland and Northern IrelandEmployersDefinitionsSentencingLandlordsDefinitionsDefenceAgentsSentencing Assisting unlawful...
The government has published the new application fees previously announced earlier this year. The statement describes the increase as being made “to pay for vital services and allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises”. The explanatory memorandum provides a bit more detail: “an increase of 15-20%...
The most recent Border Force People Survey reveals “a dissatisfied workforce which is a breeding ground for insider risk to grow and become insider acts, enabled by privileged access”. That is according to a new report from the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration that looks at how internal...
This month Colin and Sonia cover two statements of changes to the Immigration Rules, the Illegal Migration Act, asylum withdrawals, the massive increase in fees, several legal updates on the rights of EU citizens and a number of cases, including one from the Supreme Court on Palestinian refugees. If you...
We are a bit behind the times this month, catching up from the summer. This time Sonia and I cover not one but two statements of changes, the Illegal Migration Act, asylum withdrawals, the massive increase in fees, several legal updates on the rights of EU citizens and a load...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), which regulates immigration advisers who are not practicing solicitors, barristers or Chartered Legal Executives, is consulting on a new code of standards. The OISC was brought into being by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the same time that a new criminal...
Most work and study migration to the UK is described as being part of the “Points Based Immigration System”. This terminology was first introduced in 2007 and covered the work and study routes available for non-EU migrants. Since 1 January 2021, EU citizens have also had to use the Points...
This month Colin and Sonia cover visa updates – including the new Innovator Founder visa and Hong Kong British Nationals (overseas) visa concessions – along with a number of new cases. They also cover the latest policy updates, including a new Nationality Bill introduced to protect British citizenship of children...
A would-be student stopped on arrival in the UK was wrongly denied a solicitor in interview, the High Court has found in R (on the application of Kumar) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1741 (Admin). The facts Mr Kumar arrived at Manchester Airport with a...
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the disembarking of the passengers on board the ship the HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks on 22 June 1948. Even now, five years after the Windrush scandal broke, many well-informed and well-intentioned journalists, writers and policy-makers do not really grasp the true legal...
This month Colin and Sonia cover visa updates – including the new Innovator Founder visa and Hong Kong British Nationals (overseas) visa concessions – along with a number of new cases. They also cover the latest policy updates, including a new Nationality Bill introduced to protect British citizenship of children...
Following the abolition of the “not in accordance with the immigration rules” ground of appeal by the Immigration Act 2014, several cases have considered the relevance of the immigration rules in human rights appeals. The Upper Tribunal has neatly encapsulated the current position in a recent case, Caguitla (Paragraphs 197...
This month Colin and Sonia cover the Illegal Migration Bill and its potential consequences, the right way to go about tackling the asylum backlog, Colin’s suggestion of a new British Citizenship Act, the resumption of hostile environment bank account closures, the latest caselaw and some business immigration issues. If you...
This month we talk more about the Illegal Migration Bill and its potential consequences, the right way to go about tackling the asylum backlog, Colin’s suggestion of a new British Citizenship Act, the resumption of hostile environment bank account closures, we run through a load of cases and end by...
The immigration rules are full of harsh general rules accompanied by potential exceptions. These exceptions require a subjective judgment to be made and they make the rules complex. They also manufacture risk for applicants, making the outcome of immigration applications hard to predict. Unpredictability, combined with the high financial and...
Last month, two new visa concessions were added to the Hong Kong British Nationals (overseas) (BN(O)) route. You can read about them in more detail in the Home Office guidance. Leave outside the rules where financial or residency requirements cannot be met The second amendment extends the concession that enables the...
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For this month’s roundup podcast, Sonia and I manage to rattle through a huge volume of updates in a mere 36 minutes. We cover a load of cases, some important asylum policy updates and then several developments in immigration law as well. We’re sorry it is a little later than...
This month Sonia and Colin discuss lots of recent cases, some important asylum policy updates and several developments in immigration law. Listen to the podcast here: If you would like to claim CPD points for reading the material and listening to this podcast, complete the March 2023 update quiz below....
We live in what some have called ‘multi-status Britain’, a country in which discrimination is baked into a social, economic and racial hierarchy based on different forms of legal status. With British citizenship, other forms of British nationality, indefinite leave to remain, permanent residence, the five year route to settlement,...
Last week the immigration inspector published a 74-page stinging criticism of the Home Office’s approach to family reunion applications. After three previous inspections the Home Office’s performance had “deteriorated” and the inspection revealed “a system beset with delays and a team ill-equipped to manage the complexity and volume of applications”....
Quarterly immigration statistics released last week show the asylum backlog has hit a record high as 160,919 asylum seekers await an initial asylum decision, quadruple the number awaiting an initial decision at the end of 2019. In December 2022, following intense criticism over continuous unprecedented delays, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak...
What happens when you accidentally apply for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit when you meant to apply for an EEA Family Permit under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016? The answer: you are deprived of the benefit of the EU Settlement Scheme and the EU Withdrawal Agreement. This is the...
The Home Office’s new policy temporary permission to stay for victims of trafficking and slavery was published on 30 January 2023. It accompanies the new appendix to the Immigration Rules of the same name, which was published on 18 October 2022 and came into force on 30 January this year....
This month Sonia and I talk through various government policies all about being horrible to migrants. It’s a seemingly inexhaustible vein. Indeed, there aren’t many (any?) government immigration policies NOT about being horrible to migrants. We then move on to discuss a few different nationality law issues, including the mind-boggling...
The Home Office is not beloved as an institution. Some consider it necessary. But no-one likes it. That seems to include not just migrants and their families but also many of the civil servants at the Home Office itself, the lawyers and judges who interact with the Home Office and...
Yesterday, the third annual inspection from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) of ‘Adults at risk in immigration detention’ was published. On the same day, the Home Secretary discontinued the standing commission for this annual review. The report focuses specifically on the efficiency and effectiveness of Rule...
Colin and Sonia take a look back at 2022 and ahead to 2023 as well as covering the immigration updates from December 2022. Looking back, they talk about small boat crossings, the Ukraine and Hong Kong schemes, the impact (or lack of) the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, the Rwanda...
The High Court has concluded in the case of AAA and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3230 (Admin) that the UK government’s Rwanda plan is lawful. The individual decisions in the case were inadequate and will need to be re-made, but that is no...
In this month’s podcast episode, Colin and Sonia discuss an avalanche of asylum-related news, law and updates. They also touch on Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, third party support in spouse applications, marriages in durable partner cases, the opening of the citizenship route for Chagossian descendants and a Solicitor Regulation Authority report...
This month, Colin and Sonia mainly talk about an avalanche of asylum-related news, law and updates. It’s not all asylum, though, there’s also some blog posts to go over on Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, third party support in spouse applications, marriages in durable partner cases, the opening of the citizenship route...
Well-known human rights barrister Adam Wagner, based at Doughty Street Chambers, recently published Emergency State: How we lost our freedoms in the pandemic and why it matters (Bodley Head, 2022). I’m going to start this blog post with a short fairly conventional review of the thrust of the book. But...
In our October 2022 immigration update course we cover politics, asylum and small boat crossings, the statement of changes to the immigration rules (HC 719) and the latest immigration case law. The 50-minute podcast follows the running order below. Timestamps indicate when a particular section begins. Politics Braverman attacks modern...
Welcome to the October 2022 episode of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month, Colin and Sonia talk politics, asylum, the statement of changes to the immigration rules and case law. The episode is a bit longer than usual as there was a lot going on! If you would...
