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Re-entry ban concession
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In response to a comment left on my last post, I should make it clear that the concession as it stands in Hansard only applies to people currently in the UK who leave before 1 October 2008. This really does not make sense as it penalises those who have already left under legal advice, like the boyfriend of Manu in the comment. I would expect there to be changes to take account of this, but with the Home Office it is never safe to assume that commonsense will prevail. If there are any changes, I’ll post about it.
For convenience, the concession reads as follows:
“A number of people have, however, suggested that we will achieve our aims better if we give people who are currently here illegally a chance to leave before the new rules are applied to them. We have listened to their argument and reflected on it, and we agree with them. I can announce that we will not apply the provisions in new paragraph 327B of the Immigration Rules to anyone currently in the United Kingdom who leaves the country voluntarily before 1 October 2008. Those people will be able to apply to come back without being automatically refused under these provisions, although it is possible that they will be refused under other parts of the Immigration Rules.
I emphasise that that does not mean that those people will automatically be allowed to come back. They will need to meet all the other requirements of the Immigration Rules. The BIA will also, as now, have the discretion to refuse them if they contrive in a significant way to frustrate the Immigration Rules; for example, by contracting a bogus marriage, which we know happens. They will not face a period of automatic refusal under paragraph 327B, however, if they go home after 1 October. That gives those who are currently here illegally a clear incentive to go home and, as I mentioned earlier, it promotes the Government’s objectives. We cannot withdraw the Immigration Rules in order to make the change, as I have outlined, since many of them are already in force. The change will therefore take effect as a time-limited concession outside the rules. I hope that noble Lords will find themselves able to support that concession.”
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17 Responses
hiya,
my iranian husband and i had planned to go to iran next month for him to apply for entry clearance back into the uk………then we heard about this new rule.
we got some advice from a solicitor (who had not heard about this concession period) she rang home office and they would not confirm this and nothing has been published on the BIA website – therefore the solictor has advised us to go before april 1st.
we are still confused, he will back in iran by april 1st but his appointment to submit his visa application will be after.
Nadine, events have been moving quickly and there has been no proper publicity for this concession yet, so many lawyers will not know about it. To make matters worse, at the time of writing the plan is for there to be no change to the text of the rule itself, so the concession will not be at all obvious. Effectively, it will be a secret concession.
At the moment, if a person was not in the UK at the time the concession was announced, it would appear not to apply to him or her. This is absurd, though, and it is expected that the concession will be applied to those who promptly left the UK to seek re-entry under the rules.
My friend from the gambia overstayed by a few months on his marrage visa but split up with his wife, she enforced his removal. He handed himself in and was removed yesterday.
He has met someone new and she would like to marry him. How long is the grace period before he can re-enter? 6 months?
I left the uk 18 of January and I got marred later an I submit my application on the 31 of march to the embassy and my appointment was on the 3 April and my refuse was on 7 of April .so does this law should effect me or no my submit was 31 of march .can any 1 give me any answer what I should do and does this law should effect me ?
Thank you .
i just cant work 1 thing out: i am in UK on temporary admission for the last 10 years but a few years ago i did technically breach immigration law, thanx2my lawyer, who forgot to update the home office of my new address.
however, for the last 4 years i have been in full contact with the home office but nevertheless their database does have an entry stating i have previously absconded.
the question is: does the new concession applicable to me too? i aint an overstayer though but rather have been in breach of a condition attached i.e. i had absconded.
any suggestions?
I was previously removed from the uk in November 2005 for overstaying for 5 weeks.My wife and son who are currently in the uk came to visit me in Ghana in December 2006 and left in February 2007.we decided to make an application for settlement so i can join m y family in uk.I therefore made an application on the 3rd of April,2008 and went for my decision but was refused and the ECO stated that any future applications i make will automatically be refused until 2015.please as the law stands at present, am i affected by this automatic ban and do i have any human rights grounds at stake? Hope to hear from you soon.Thanks in anticipation of your assistance
I was previously removed from the uk in November 2005 for overstaying for 5 weeks.My wife and son who are currently in the uk came to visit me in Ghana in December 2006 and left in February 2007.we decided to make an application for settlement so i can join m y family in uk.I therefore made an application on the 3rd of April,2008 and went for my decision but was refused and the ECO stated that any future applications i make will automatically be refused until 2015.please as the law stands at present, am i affected by this automatic ban and do i have any human rights grounds at stake? Hope to hear from you soon.Thanks in anticipation of your assistance
I was previously removed from the uk in November 2005 for overstaying for 5 weeks.My wife and son who are currently in the uk came to visit me in Ghana in December 2006 and left in February 2007.we decided to make an application for settlement so i can join m y family in uk.I therefore made an application on the 3rd of April,2008 and went for my decision but was refused and the ECO stated that any future applications i make will automatically be refused until 2015.please as the law stands at present, am i affected by this automatic ban and do i have any human rights grounds at stake? Hope to hear from you soon.Thanks in anticipation of your assistance
Ibrahim, have a look through the pages on the re-entry ban. There’s a link to all of them on the ‘Advice’ page you can find from the front page of the site. The law has changed a lot since you made your application and depending on the reasons you were turned down, you may stand a much better chance now. There’s certainly no automatic ban now. Sadly, as you probably know, Ghana is one of the worst British entry clearance operations in the world, so applications there are always a lottery.
Freemovement,
As a Canadian citizen, I overstayed on a student visa in the UK. However, I left within the concession date, specifically in September 2008. When I returned a few months later at Heathrow Airport, however (without a visa, but Canadian citizens do not require one for personal/vocational purposes), I was refused entry.
Another colleague of mine was also refused entry. He was initially on a student visa, but left in January 1, 2008 – 30 days before the expiry of his student visa. He went to Paris, France, but there are no endorsements in his passport to evidence this journey. He went through the Channel, and the French officials sometimes do not stamp passports. When he tried to return to England in September, the Immigration Officials refused him entry because they presumed he overstayed as there were no French endorsements in his passport.
My question, based on the above two cases is as follows: Why did my friend and I get refused, especially if there is this so called concession.
Thank you for your insights.
You should get some legal advice, and I can’t do that through this website (or direct to the public at all, in fact). However, if the Home Office stuck to the law and followed its own policies, there would be a lot less immigration lawyers around, I can tell you. Particularly where there is no right of appeal or no other opportunity to seek court intervention, some Home Office officials do not observe their own policies. This may well be through ignorance, as being aware of all of those policies is a mammoth undertaking.
Even non-visa nationals CAN apply for visas if worried about refusal on entry. A refusal of the visa will usually trigger an appeal from outside the UK which allows litigation of the issue without the expense and inconvenience of being refused entry on arrival.
I am a diplomat from a war torn country posted in UK on 2007. I and my wife and our son were granted entry clearnce for five years period but on political grounds my term was prematurely terminated by officials in my country of origin. I was adviced by a lawyer to apply for DLR as. my application was considerdered in appropriate by the home office recently and has asked me to attend in person the screening unit for applying human protection/asylum under the terms of paragraph 327(b)of immigration rules. what is the best course of action. thanks a lot
You need specialist legal advice and you’ll need to pay for it, unless you are eligible for legal aid. See the various pages on this website about getting advice.
Hi
I had a student’s visa but was refused renewal to post study work. My solicitor advised that I resubmit a fresh application. The Solicitor would write a covering letter then submit to the home office on my behalf. However, I have only found out that the solicitor lied to me that the application was submitted. The forms have been in her house together with all my other documents. I had paid alot of money for legal representation. Home office confirmed no submissions were made. I have now over stayed by six months. what is my fate?