Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  Personally I feel that Grant Shapps’ record as the best Home Secretary we have had in the past 15+ years remains intact. What a legacy though – in her last week in the job, Yvette Cooper closed the refugee family reunion route. A...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  Would it even be a music festival without at least one Home Office related line up change? Anyway, this newsletter was written on Wednesday last week because I am currently making my way home to a hot shower, here’s hoping that the end...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  A lot has happened in the last week. I am going to focus on statistics because there are some important omissions which are really key to everything else that is going on. In 2022/23 72% of Home Office decisions were passing their own...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  Shortly after the immigration white paper was published, two petitions against the doubling of the settlement period from five to ten years in two specific routes hit the 100,000 threshold required for the government to consider holding a debate on the issue. Keeping...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  There are obviously a variety of reasons why the right wing press’ targeting of judges and putting them in danger of violence is problematic. One of those issues is how poor the journalists’ understanding is of their subject matter. I have written a...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  Because of the way that people in the asylum system are treated, the period while waiting for a decision is often an undignified and dangerous time. It is understandable that where other options are available people will choose those so as to avoid...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  This is an important read from our fellow blogger Giles Peaker over on the Nearly Legal housing blog, looking at how AI has contributed to the spread of inaccurate information about housing for people in the asylum system. A housing association in Wales...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I have exceptionally gone a little longer than usual this week, for obvious reasons.  Last week many people received a message from the Ministry of Defence that immediately struck them with terror. It is still difficult to contemplate the extent and implications of what...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!  After several months of uncertainty following December’s pause, a written statement will be made today by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the processing of Syrian protection claims (h/t Jon Featonby). The big news last week was the announcement of...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I am writing this a little early so the usual caveat applies if I have missed out something big that happened Monday morning. On Wednesday morning I recorded the podcast with Barry (yes he’s back!) and asked where was the legal aid increase...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Another week, another newly surfaced problem with eVisas. Today it was reported that the Security Industry Authority (“an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office”) is not accepting eVisas as official ID for its licence application process. To state the obvious,...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Just spotted this – a challenge has gone in on the pause to settlement applications from Syrian refugees. I have been saying for a while that I think this is where the stronger challenge is with the pause, given the different test at...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Two things happened last week that were covered by the media in a way that was incredibly annoying to anyone who values accuracy (hi!). The first happened on Tuesday morning and prompted an incredibly early start to my day as I thought I...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! When I said last week that I expected we might get some answers on the immigration white paper from the Home Secretary at the Home Affairs Select Committee, I will admit that I had not yet watched this committee in action with this...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Home Affairs Select Committee will take evidence from the Home Secretary tomorrow and she will be questioned on the immigration white paper, among other topics. The committee will be far more difficult to stonewall than MPs’ written questions, and so there is...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The fallout from the white paper continues, unsurprising given the almost total lack of clarity in it. The Independent Monitoring Authority has had to put out a statement reassuring those with leave under the EUSS. By the looks of immigration message boards, MPs’...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! It has been a busy week and there is a lot I want to mention. First of all, the Legal Aid Agency announced this morning that it has come under cyber attack and the perpetrators have “accessed a large amount of information relating...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The government’s long awaited (and dreaded?) white paper on immigration has been published today, following a weekend of some fairly grim language from ministers, including the PM (I think the “lab” analogy in particular was vile). Solidarity with all of my fellow migrants...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Last week I saw an asylum refusal letter that referred to the wrong country of origin. Most lawyers will have seen one of those. So I do understand the “it can’t possibly be worse than current decision making” responses to last week’s announcement...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! It looks like further government amendments will be made to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. The Home Office has announced an increase to the penalties for people who give immigration advice without being appropriately regulated. The announcement also said that they will close a loophole that...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Anyone relying on a US State Department “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” report in an asylum or human rights claim should check the date on it carefully going forward, after reports on the weekend that these will no longer cover many areas, including reports...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! On Friday the Home Office announced a new £1.5 million fund to help people with the Windrush Compensation Scheme. Assistance is needed and welcome, but the announcement does not include help with legal fees and instead makes a point of saying that “Many...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! As you read this I am either: in the US having a very lovely time on my holiday, in the US in immigration detention having a very bad time, or I have been bounced back into the UK (in which case I will...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! A survey of Ukrainians in the UK has indicated that a high proportion had lost either lost out on a new job, their tenancy was not renewed, were unable to sign a new tenancy or had a job contract that was not renewed,...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! On Tuesday last week the Home Affairs Select Committee heard oral evidence for their inquiry into asylum accommodation from witnesses including David Bolt, the interim Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (for a little while longer at least). The written evidence submitted to the inquiry has...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Committee stage of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill continued last week, and the two amendments that had been put forward to reverse the recent changes to the good character guidance were debated on Thursday. Pete Wishart MP put it well when...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! There were reports of widespread issues with eVisas last week as accounts again seemed to be linked to the wrong identities in yet another data breach. It remains unclear what is causing these issues or when and how it is expected to be resolved. In the meantime, it was...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Committee stage of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill continues this week. An amendment has been proposed by the SNP’s Pete Wishart (on page 8), which would ensure that illegal entry to the UK is ignored when considering the good character requirement in...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! With no sign of any movement from the government on the ban on citizenship for those who have arrived in the UK without permission, despite further pressure, it looks like it will end up being lawyers who hopefully get this policy overturned. We have also started...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Second reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill took place last Monday and more briefings have been published, including from Refugee Council, ILPA, Work Rights Centre and Amnesty. The call for evidence for the committee stage of the Bill is now open. Committee stage starts on 27 February so best to...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The 2nd reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will take place later today and it looks like committee stage will finish no later than 20 March 2025. Useful resources I have seen published in the last week include this briefing from Focus on Labour Exploitation and...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! With last week’s first reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the sector has its first Bill under this Labour government. The Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 will be repealed but the situation with the Illegal Migration Act 2023 is less straightforward....

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Home Secretary has named her preferred candidate as the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration – John Tuckett, who is currently the Immigration Services Commissioner. It’s over to the Home Affairs Select Committee now, who will carry out a pre-appointment hearing before...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The OISC rebrand to Immigration Advice Authority happened last week. The timing of all this is not amazing given the amount of time that organisations are currently wasting trying to navigate the new online portal process introduced in October. Problems reported by people...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Times reported last week that Professor Brian Bell, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, supports people in the asylum system being allowed to work in any role after waiting six months for their claim to be decided. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise given...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! It may be a brand new year but the same unresolved issues from 2024 continue to roll on. The first is of course eVisas, and we are now past the point where any remaining biometric residence permits have expired. The latest update is...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Statements by UNHCR and ECRE are both must reads in relation to the pause on Syrian asylum claims. A pause seems sensible to me and could be beneficial to those where proceeding with the claim now may otherwise result in a refusal. Many Syrian asylum claims are...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! On Wednesday the government made a written statement on eVisas that didn’t contain much that was new, apart from the ability of people to use biometric residence permits that expire on 31 December 2024 to travel up until 31 March 2025 (actually announced in the Guardian...

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Okay, it’s a Monday, so let’s do the good news first. Bibby Stockholm is empty. Friday was the deadline for the Lord Chancellor to make an announcement on legal aid fees for immigration and asylum work, following the settlement of Duncan Lewis’ judicial review in September....

Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Manston is back in the news after the Home Secretary withdrew her decision of September 2024 not to hold a statutory inquiry into what happened in 2022 when the Home Office “completely lost grip” on the centre. A judicial review that was due to be heard last...