In R (A and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 360 (Admin), Mr Justice Fordham refused permission for a judicial review challenge to the consultation on the Home Office’s New Plan for Immigration. The judgment’s lengthy discussion of whether the issue was justiciable will be...
The Investor visa route has been closed to all new applicants with “immediate effect”, the Home Office announced this afternoon, citing “security concerns” and “wider corruption”. This follows multiple media reports yesterday that closure was imminent, although an announcement had not been expected until next week. A statement of changes...
In this month’s update we cover right to work checks, quite a few different asylum issues, a bit on visas for social care workers, EU rights, marriages of convenience, and finish on the hot topic of citizenship deprivation. The downloadable 26-minute podcast follows the running order below. Timestamps indicate when...
Welcome to episode 97 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we cover quite a few different asylum issues, a bit on visas for social care workers, EU rights, marriages of convenience and finishing on the hot topic of citizenship deprivation. If you would like to claim CPD...
The Graduate immigration route is for international students who have completed a degree or other higher educational qualification in the UK. It allows people who previously had a Student visa to: work in the UK after their degree/qualification is completed in a job at any skill level or salary, for...
Welcome to episode 96 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we’re covering December 2021 and we’ll go over some EU rights issues, a bit on deportation, a bit on asylum, touch on human rights and address some fascinating procedural issues of law. If you would like to...
This month we cover some developments on EU citizens’ rights, several cases on immigration appeals, the latest work visa statistics, and then a few court and tribunal judgments on asylum, human trafficking and deportation. Our thanks to Iain Halliday who ably stands in for Colin this month. The downloadable 34-minute podcast...
Welcome to episode 95 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we cover some developments on EU citizens’ rights, several cases on immigration appeals, the latest work visa statistics, and then a few court and tribunal judgments on asylum, human trafficking and deportation. Our thanks to Iain Halliday who...
It’s hard to imagine a time when immigration lawyers will stop banging the fairness drum. Far from being responsible for an appeals “merry-go-round”, we find ourselves day in and day out trying to resolve unfair issues and cases in a highly politicised area of law. Unfairness takes many forms. It...
Immigration appeals can last a long time: often years and years. What happens when things change during the appeal? This is the question answered by the Upper Tribunal in Akter (appellate jurisdiction; E and R challenges) [2021] UKUT 272 (IAC). The main take away from this case is: don’t appeal to...
This month we kick off with some human rights developments and some fairly consistently good news on asylum (which is nice for a change). There are quite a few business immigration issues to run over quickly before we turn to developments in the English Channel and the international law of...
Welcome to episode 94 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month we kick off with some human rights developments and some fairly consistently good news on asylum (which is nice for a change). There are quite a few business immigration issues to run over quickly before we turn...
Today marks a significant date in the immigration lawyer’s calendar: it is 50 years exactly since the Immigration Act 1971 received royal assent. Free Movement staff have planned a party to celebrate the occasion (not). The 1971 Act is the root of British immigration law. 50 years on, it seems...
On 21 October 2021 the Home Office published the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) second annual inspection of the Adults at Risk policy, alongside its response. The report itself is an impressive piece of work and provides comprehensive information about the current state of immigration detention and...
The legendary tome that is Macdonald’s needs no introduction for most immigration lawyers. It is the reference book on immigration law. If you want to know something and Google — or dare I say even Free Movement — fails you, this is the place to look it up. It’s certainly...
The Intra-company Transfer (ICT) route has seemed increasingly redundant since the launch of the Points Based Immigration System last year. The Skilled Worker route became simpler and easier to use, while the abolition of the resident labour market test removed ICT’s unique selling point. With the number of ICT applications...
This was the question before the Court of Appeal in R (X and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 1480. The court decided that the answer is “yes”, with some caveats. Challenge to five-year delay pending fraud investigation The case concerned a family who...
Welcome to episode 93 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast, a week later than advertised. This month we start with changes to the Immigration Rules and other news around work and student visas, and then the latest on deprivation of citizenship. We review some new case law on asylum,...
This month we start with changes to the Immigration Rules and other news around work and student visas, and then the latest on deprivation of citizenship. We review some new case law on asylum, talk about why the Home Office is now conceding so many appeals, before ending on EU...
British businesses have long relied on workers from the European Union to come in for short or medium-term projects. Before Brexit, this was frictionless from an immigration perspective. People arrived, people worked, people left and businesses were happy. EU free movement ended (for the UK) on 31 December 2020, but...
Lurking in the weeds of the latest statement of changes are some tweaks to the procedural requirements in Part 1 of the Immigration Rules. Most take effect today. These provisions may not be the sexiest part of immigration law but they are worth paying attention to. Falling foul of a...
Certain foreign citizens who can drive fuel tankers can enter the UK without a visa until 15 October under a new immigration concession. The Home Office published the Concession for temporary leave to allow employment as HGV fuel drivers on Saturday 2 October. It allows entry outside the normal Immigration...
No, not Prince Andrew, who has enough problems already. Not the late American pop star either. Prince Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain. According to the High Court in FF v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 2566 (Admin), the Home Office is required to consider...
Immigration casework supervisor — recruitment brief 1. Job Description Refugee Legal Support (RLS) and Safe Passage International (SPI) are looking to recruit two immigration casework supervisors to deliver direct immigration casework, to train and supervise volunteer lawyers working on the Afghan Pro Bono Initiative. Partner Organisations Refugee Legal Support (RLS)...
The number of new visas is starting to make heads spin. The government’s announcement of a route for HGV drivers and poultry workers comes hot on the heels of a new employment route for Graduates which opened in July. Next year will see at least two more new visas launched,...
A woman went back to her husband who had previously been violent to her, and it was at least partly because she couldn’t find anyone to make her application for indefinite leave to remain under the domestic violence rules within the timescale required, and she panicked and went back him....
Scattered throughout the latest statement of changes like needles in a 186-page haystack are three COVID-19 concessions that previously only appeared in Home Office guidance. They will now form part of the Immigration Rules. In immigration law, a concession is a policy operated by the Home Office that is more...
This is where we keep tabs on changes to UK immigration laws, rules and procedures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve been trying to keep this post continually up to date rather than covering new coronavirus developments as separate blog posts that may become rapidly out of date. Material...
EU citizens and their families who apply late to the EU Settlement Scheme will have their day-to-day rights protected while that application is considered, the Home Office has announced. The U-turn came in a press release on Friday evening, which says: While the numbers applying late [i.e. after 30 June...
Since the announcement of the new High Potential Individual route as part of the UK Innovation Strategy, there’s been considerable buzz about what it will mean for graduates around the world seeking to move to the UK. Until the new route is mapped out in a statement of changes to...
“High potential individuals” will in future be able to come to the UK to work without a job offer, the government has announced. The move, building on previous promises to provide an unsponsored work route under the Points Based Immigration System for business visas, comes as part of the UK...
This update course covers June 2021, which feels a little unreal given the Nationality and Borders Bill had landed shortly before we were due to record. We’ll tackle that beast next month; in this edition, we’ve got a few points about the EU Settlement Scheme to cover; a couple of...
Welcome to episode 90 of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. We’re covering June 2021, which feels a little unreal given the Nationality and Borders Bill had landed shortly before we were due to record. But life goes on, and we’ve got a few points about the EU Settlement Scheme...
In a welcome judgment handed down yesterday, R (Akinsanya) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 1535 (Admin), Mr Justice Mostyn found in no uncertain terms that Zambrano carers do not lose their EU law right to reside just because they have permission to remain granted under...
The Home Office published a New Plan for Immigration “strategy statement” earlier today. It is mostly about legal immigration and economic migrants, as opposed to the New Plan for Immigration document published in March that focused on illegal immigration and asylum seekers. Home Secretary Priti Patel marked its publication with...
Travel to the UK is opening back up, but not as we previously knew it. The news has been replete with examples of EU citizens being denied entry at UK airports and detained for removal. These stories are nothing new to jaded non-European ears. But for many European travellers, this...
Would-be immigration advisers applying for Level 1 registration with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) now only have one shot at passing the exam. Instead of having two goes at it, those who fail first time will need to re-apply for registration and show that they have undertaken...
The New Plan for Immigration Policy Statement of March 2021 (the New Plan) contains proposals to make significant changes to immigration and nationality law and policy. This article addresses the proposals set out in Chapter 3, which concern changes to British nationality law, in the hope of enabling affected people...
On the face of it, the current immigration ‘system’ does not resemble a true system at all. A member of the public reading newspaper headlines about the latest immigration controversy; a migrant trying to understand what documents to include with an application; a lawyer attempting to explain the nonsensical requirements;...
