Panorama, Undercover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets is required viewing for anyone interested in immigration in the UK. It is also deeply uncomfortable viewing. It documents an undercover investigation into Brook House, one of the UK’s 13 Immigration Removal Centres. The episode shows detainees subjected to severe violence, taunting, and mistreatment. A widespread culture of disdain towards the detainees among staff permeates the detention centre. The investigation sheds light on alarming issues surrounding immigration detention, which have been subject to criticism and legal challenge since the beginning of the proliferation of detention in the UK. This tweet from the Panorama account gives a sense of the programme: WATCH: undercover footage shot by…

Fees for immigration applications continue to increase every year. Most applications for leave to remain submitted from the UK (other than under the Point Based System) cost £993. In addition, applicants may need to pay an Immigration Health Surcharge (usually £500). On average, therefore, an applicant will need to spend almost £1500 to get leave to remain in the UK. This is, in fact, the very bare minimum. One may also need to pay £150 to pass an English language test for applications where there is an English language requirement; £590 for the Premium Service Centre for those who simply cannot leave their passport with the Home Office for months;…

SENIOR IMMIGRATION LAWYER/CASEWORKER Organisation: WESTKIN Associates website: www.westkinassociates.com Location: Mayfair, central london deadline: ONGOING SALARY: Dependent on experience and ability (circa 80,000 plus plus inclusive of and subject to target based bonuses) HOURS: 40 hours a week Requirements & General Description of the role. Applicants must hold level 1 OISC / LSC accreditation or better and/or be actively working towards the same. An Immigration Caseworker occupies a vital place within our growing business, with support from other departments, we ensure that their time is spent servicing client needs and focusing on the satisfaction of their clients. Duties: Conducting client consultations and advising on immigration law Close management of client and…

The Upper Tribunal overturned several decisions concerning the grant of Discretionary Leave to Remain to a victim of human trafficking in FT, R (on the application of) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKUT 331(IAC). The background to the case is that of the Home Office failing to appropriately identify the individual concerned as a victim of human trafficking, and subsequently unlawfully placing him in immigration detention for four years. The facts of the case are stark. After a childhood of regular beatings with rods and belts by his mother and his alcoholic father, his uncle borrowed money from people traffickers to send him to the United Kingdom. The…

The latest quarterly immigration statistics have been published. The headline is that net migration for the year ending March 2017 has reduced by almost a quarter, to 246,000 down from 327,000 in the year ending March 2016. The overall figure represents the lowest net migration figure since the year ending March 2014. This decrease is, I suppose, great news for arbitrary target setters and tabloid newspaper editors. You can see the summaries and breakdowns by theme here and the ONS analysis here. A deeper look at the statistics reveals that while most of the decrease is due to lower levels of immigration, much of it is fuelled by emigration, mostly…

Where a European national commits a crime in the UK and is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, they will often be subject to deportation proceedings. The protections afforded to them (and to British nationals who commit crime in European countries) are contained within a European Directive (2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004), and brought into domestic law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. We consider the protections afforded to European nationals against expulsion from the UK, the circumstances in which the protection can be invoked (and, arguably, lost), and consider the future of deportation law for European nationals if and when the UK leaves the Union. European rules…