Since 1 July 2021, EU citizens living in the UK without having applied for pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or securing some other kind of immigration status, are here unlawfully. The Withdrawal Agreement on which the EU Settlement Scheme is based requires the Home Office to...
Prior to Brexit, EU citizens and their family members could be deported. However, their deportation was regulated by EU law, and more specifically the European Union Directive (2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004), brought into domestic law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. The protections afforded to European nationals under those...
The High Court has rejected a challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision to move a group of Afghan families rescued from the Taliban in 2021 from one temporary hotel to another temporary hotel. R(HZ) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 660 (Admin) leaves open the...
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...
In the latest podcast episode, 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...
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 Brexit fall out continues with the High Court finding in the case of Independent Monitoring Authority v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3274 (Admin) that the EU settlement scheme is unlawful. The scheme was set up by the British government to transition the lawful basis...
While most commonly registration applications are made by children, some adults can also register as British. This type of registration is particularly common for adults who would have been born British had nationality law not been discriminatory. Page contentsSection 1(4): 10 years of continuous residence in the UK since birthSection...
Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit) have both received some updates in the latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. The accompanying explanatory statement gives an overview of the changes that have been made. The changes come into force on 9 November 2022. A few of the definitions...
The Home Office has put in place some immigration concessions and special visa schemes in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This includes the very important Ukraine Family Scheme. The department’s “core plan” is to issue visas rather than formal refugee status to Ukrainian citizens, keeping them out of...
Are you applying to stay in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey? This is one of the final questions asked at the submission stage for all UK residence visa applications. Immigration professionals will invariably select “no” and progress with submission. But for those independently making an application to enter...
In this month’s podcast episode, we are discussing the new Home Secretary and the direction of government immigration policy, changes in policy and new visas, and the latest immigration case law. The 40-minute podcast follows the running order below. Timestamps indicate when a particular section begins. Politics Priti Patel: an...
Welcome to episode 104 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I am joined by “immigration lawyer about town”, as she put it, Sonia Lenegan. Taking pity on me after my solo effort last month, Sonia is the legal and policy director at Rainbow Migration, a consultant solicitor...
Many predicted that the heady mix of Brexit and COVID-19 would result in litigation, and so it has come to pass. Ending EU free movement law in the middle of a global pandemic – when people faced difficulty travelling, marrying, and getting advice from an immigration lawyer – was bound...
“Theresa May exercised her free movement rights with a trip to Florence on Friday…” So began CJ’s first blog post for Free Movement, published on 26 September 2017. Nearly five full years later — a period sufficient to see off three Home Secretaries — CJ is moving on to a...
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in 2018 and had issued almost 6.5 million decisions by the end of June 2022. The sheer scale of the scheme is a remarkable achievement for the Home Office. The department took on a momentous task when the UK government decided that everyone who...
Short-term: domestic abuse concession A victim of domestic abuse who is working may be able to escape the situation by moving elsewhere and supporting themselves while making an application for indefinite leave to remain. Those without the means to do this are likely flee to a refuge to escape the family home....
Leave as a partner depends on the relationship between sponsor and partner continuing. But there is a special scheme for migrants in the UK as partners when the sponsor passes away. Essentially it allows the bereaved partner to get indefinite leave to remain early. This not only secures their immigration...
A person with leave to remain as a parent can qualify for indefinite leave as a parent following either: The applicant for indefinite leave must continue to meet the same relationship, financial and immigration status requirements as previously, although it is not possible to rely on a relationship with a...
Past lack of Comprehensive Sickness Insurance is no longer an issue for EU nationals trying to get their British citizenship, revised Home Office policy says. As we discussed on the podcast only recently, certain EU citizens (principally those here as students or self-sufficient) have been penalised for not having private...
Those covered by Appendix FM are as follows: Partners of: Parents of: Children of: It is important to note that children of British or settled persons are not covered by Appendix FM unless there is also a parent applying under Appendix FM. Instead, practitioners must look at Part 8 of...
The other family members covered by Appendix FM are: Parent of a Child Bereaved partner Victim of domestic abuse Child of a sponsored partner Adult Dependent relatives Page contentsParent of a child in the UKRequirements common to five- and ten-year route applicationsAdditional requirements for five-year routeAdditional requirements for ten-year routeOther...
Appendix FM-Family Life as a Partner covers entry clearance, leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain. It must be read in conjunction with the sections entitled General, Exceptional Circumstances and Section EX. Partner applications can broadly be divided into two groups: While this wording is well-known to all immigration...
The provisions covering family life are mainly contained in two parts of the Immigration Rules: Appendix FM and Part 8. Part 8 pre-dates July 2012 – which is when Appendix FM came into force – and the two sets of provisions are structured differently. Part 8 covers children sponsored by...
Owing a debt to the National Health Service is a ground for refusing applications for permission to enter or remain in the UK. Such debts arise because “overseas visitors” are charged for certain types of NHS treatment. The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No....
A new law preventing migrants from using their residence permits to prove their right to rent or work in the UK is coming into force without robust parliamentary debate. From 6 April 2022, no migrant in the UK will be able to use their biometric residence permit or card as...
The Home Office is writing two special visa schemes for Ukrainians into the Immigration Rules and adding a third for people already here. Statement of changes HC 1220 codifies the existing Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme (described here) from today, 30 March 2022, and creates a new Ukraine...
Under EU free movement law, British citizens who had been exercising “treaty rights” in the European Economic Area and then decided to move back to the UK could sponsor their family members to come with them. This allowed them to use the friendlier EU law rules on family migration, rather...
Eligibility for NHS treatment does count as Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled. The case is C‑247/20 VI v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Page contentsBackground: non-working EU citizens needed health insuranceWhy did it take so long to decide that the NHS counts...
Regular readers will remember the problems caused by Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, or CSI. Essentially, certain EU citizens in the UK pre-Brexit were expected to have private health insurance. If they didn’t, it can still cause them legal problems to this day, at least on paper. Baroness Ludford, speaking in the...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the government’s appeal against last year’s decision that the EU Settlement Scheme rules on Zambrano carers are unlawful. But the judgment in Akinsanya v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 37 leaves the situation for these carers — non-EU parents...
People having problems with their application to the EU Settlement Scheme or issues proving their status have one main point of contact with the Home Office: the EUSS helpline. The Home Office has now revealed that this valuable resource has been failing people, with only 44% of calls getting through...
Residence check on application Once the automated residence check has been carried out the applicant will see one of three possible preliminary results on-screen: 1. “You’ll be considered for settled status.” The automated check confirms the applicant had been living in the UK for a continuous five-year period. If this...
Administrative review Applicants can ask the Home Office to review its decision if the application has been refused outright or if pre-settled status is granted instead of settled status. This is only available for decisions made on eligibility grounds. Applicants may submit new evidence to the Home Office with an...
Introduction to immigration law ebook Dec 2020 An application to the EU Settlement Scheme can be refused or rejected. This could be on: An application for pre-settled or settled status may also be refused if the applicant has previously been refused entry to the UK under EEA Regulations, or where...
28-day written notices Home Office policy says that where EU citizens are encountered by an immigration officer – and if it appears that they fall within the scope of the EU Settlement Scheme – they should be issued with a written notice. The notice should give them an opportunity to...
When should family members apply? Family members are encouraged to apply at the same time as their EU citizen sponsor, because “evidence of the EU citizen having been granted status under the scheme will be sufficient evidence of the [family member’s] identity, nationality and continuous residence”. How should family members...
As with EU citizens themselves, eligible family members of EU citizens are entitled to: Where an eligible family member was already living in the UK by 31 December 2020, they were supposed to have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme for status before 30 June 2021. If they have not...
Applications to the EU Settlement Scheme can be made inside or outside the UK. Applying involves entering some personal details via a Home Office smartphone app and then filling in an online form. There is help available for people who are unable to use the app or need help using...
As we have seen, the default setting of UK immigration law is that everyone who isn’t British or Irish needs permission to be in this country. For decades, EU citizens had permission under European Union free movement law. Brexit, followed by the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act...
