Page contentsSummaryWho is affected?What is the effect?What new powers has the Home Office acquired?Investigation of right of residenceEnforced removalWhere do rights of residence of EU citizens in the UK come from?1. Treaties2. Directives and Regulations made by the EU3. Domestic laws of the United KingdomWhat is the “right of residence”?What...
There is a significant number of refugees who have arrived under the UK’s resettlement schemes. At present, these are: UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) Community Sponsorship Scheme Mandate Refugee Programme Previous resettlement schemes included the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme and Gateway Protection Programme, which have now been subsumed by the...
Another illuminating headnote from the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber reporting committee: (i) The requirements in para 399(b) are conjunctive. Accordingly, the correct approach is to consider para 399(b)(i) before the requirements in para 399(b)(ii) and (iii). If para 399(b)(i) is not satisfied, there is no need to consider the...
Relationship requirements Not all people in the UK with permission as a partner qualify for protection under the VDA rules (see VDA 4.1). It is only applicants who currently have, or have last been granted, permission as a: Fiancé(e)s and proposed civil partners are not eligible to apply for indefinite...
The Upper Tribunal has found that Appendix EU (Family Permit) requires those coming to the UK under these rules to be joining the relevant EEA national, and that it is not enough to be in the same country and joining their spouse only. The case is MD and Others (‘joining’,...
If a European national receives a criminal conviction arising from conduct which took place before the Brexit cut-off date, how can they rely on those previous EU rules in an appeal against deportation? The question is important because of the very large difference in the protections afforded by the previous...
The Court of Appeal has upheld the Upper Tribunal’s decision that those who applied for the wrong type of family permit before the end of the Brexit transition period cannot benefit from the EU Settlement Scheme or the EU Withdrawal Agreement. The decision is Siddiqa v Entry Clearance Officer [2024]...
As previously advised, today a statement of changes and explanatory memorandum to the immigration rules was published to bring in the income threshold increases for both skilled worker and Appendix FM partner routes. The immigration minister made a statement summarising the changes relating to the skilled worker, Appendix FM partner,...
A few days before the two-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK government announced a series of sweeping changes to the Ukraine schemes, giving just four hours’ notice of their implementation. Among the most significant changes are the closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme, and a new...
The latest immigration and asylum statistics have been published today. We have highlighted some of the interesting data below on asylum, EU Settlement Scheme, fee waivers and student and work routes. Page contentsAsylumInadmissibilityHomelessness of refugeesLarge drop in attendance by Home Office presenting officers at asylum appealsFee waiversEU Settlement SchemeStudentsWorkConclusion Asylum...
Domestic violence is a serious infringement of someone’s rights. While most often perpetrated against women, it can affect people from any background and part of society. Migrants can be particularly vulnerable and unwilling to seek help because of their precarious status in the UK. This article looks at in country...
Naturalisation is the legal process by which a non-British adult becomes a British citizen. An application has to be made to the Home Office and if the criteria set out in the British Nationality Act 1981 are met then the application will be granted and the person can attend a...
“This is a very dark day for many families who will be unable to meet the … new income requirement” commented Sonia on the day the Home Secretary announced that the minimum income requirement for partners under Appendix FM was going to be raised. Her view is shared by many immigration...
In Dani (non-removal human rights submissions) Albania [2023] UKUT 293 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal has said that an application made under the EU settlement scheme does not in itself amount to a human rights claim. This is yet another case where people trying to access their rights under the EU...
Our November roundup is here, where Colin and I cover the latest asylum and trafficking statistics, changes to the way late applications to the EU settlement scheme are treated, questions the Solicitors Regulation Authority still hasn’t answered, a couple of articles on the situation for Palestinians as well as quite...
This month Sonia and Colin discuss the latest asylum and trafficking statistics, changes to the way late applications to the EU Settlement Scheme are treated, a number of procedural updates, and a lot of case law. If you would like to claim CPD points for reading the material and listening...
An Albanian national was mistakenly allowed to enter the UK by an immigration officer who used a stamp described by the Home Office Presenting Officer as “a stamp which is regularly encountered, but the use of which is shrouded in mystery”. As a result, he did not meet the requirements...
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...
British citizenship became the primary nationality status for residents of the United Kingdom and those with “a close personal connection” (as the preceding White Paper put it) to the country. Page contentsWho acquired the new status?Who did not acquire the new status?Citizenship registration and the Windrush generationLegacy Who acquired the...
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...
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...
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...
Theresa May’s unironically named book, The Abuse of Power, reveals that even now, five years later, she still does not understand what caused the Windrush scandal. She blames Clement Attlee’s government, other governments over the intervening years and issues a classic non-apology. It was anyone’s fault but hers. “At the...
Adult dependent relative visas have one of the highest refusal rates of all immigration routes. Between 2017 and 2020, 96% of applications were refused. In this article I look at why these applications often go wrong and what you can do to try make them go right. This is not...
The word “deportation” is often used by journalists and in everyday language to mean “removal from the United Kingdom.” In fact, there are two different legal powers to enable forced removal of a person from the UK: So a deportation order involves more than removal from the UK: it involves...
While advisers qualified at OISC Level 2 can lodge notices of appeal against immigration and asylum decisions, they are not authorised to do substantive appeals work. This includes paper appeals work and making representations to, or appearing before, the courts or tribunals. In this unit we will look at which...
Naturalisation is the process by which a non-British adult is made a British citizen. When people talk about “getting my British passport”, this is generally what they mean. Naturalisation applications are made under section 6 of the 1981 Act. If the Home Secretary is satisfied that the person meets the...
For those who are not automatically British citizens by operation of law, there may still be an entitlement to register as British citizens. Registration is a process where a person can apply to the Home Office providing evidence that they are entitled to British citizenship under certain sections of the...
The vast majority of British citizens have acquired their citizenship automatically, by operation of law. This will have happened in one of two ways: Those who acquire British citizenship automatically do not need to apply for British citizenship. However, proof that a person meets the criteria for acquisition may be...
Following Brexit, almost all EU/EEA nationals lost their permission to be in the UK as free movement ended — unless they secured themselves a new immigration status. This included those who had previously been issued a permanent residence document under the “EEA Regulations”. The EU Settlement Scheme was set up...
There are some common and recurring concepts that immigration advisers will encounter across the in their practice and those taking the level 2 assessments should have a good understanding of them. We look at some of the key ones here. Page contentsThe Immigration RulesDependantsSponsorshipNo recourse to public fundsFinancial requirementAdequate maintenance...
…some parts of the rules relating to the EU Settlement Scheme are so difficult to comprehend that it is at least arguable that they lack the clarity of law. An aspect of the definition of a ‘durable partner’ contained in Annex 1 of Appendix EU (definitions) is one such example. ...
A claimant wrongly given a deportation order couldn’t benefit from the Windrush Compensation Scheme because his indefinite leave to remain had already lapsed, the High Court has held in R (on the application of Thompson) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2037 (Admin). The compensation scheme...
Absences from the United Kingdom — time spent outside the UK, basically — can have an impact on whether a person qualifies for full settled status under the EU settlement scheme. If you spend too long outside the country, you may lose your eligibility for settled status. This rule has...
On 17 July 2023, a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published. As usual, it is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum. Also as usual, it is largely concerned with cracking down on those perceived as abusing immigration law. There are, though, one or two positive changes. Asylum...
The common travel area enables passport-free and legal travel between the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands for British and Irish citizens and migrants with lawful status. Once a person is within the common travel area, there are no...
The Court of Appeal has re-affirmed that the domestic violence provisions in the immigration rules are restricted to certain categories of partners and is not open to partners of Points Based System dependants, even if they have in fact suffered domestic abuse. The case is SWP v Secretary of State...
The Home Office is normally trigger-happy with refusals, but has been at pains to stress that it will not apply the same “computer says no” approach to the EU Settlement Scheme: Throughout, we will be looking to grant, not for reasons to refuse, and caseworkers will be able to exercise...
