The Home Office has made changes to the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession by publishing new guidance and a new application form today. There is a new acronym for practitioners to learn as the concession has been re-branded as the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC). The big change is...
Domestic violence is a serious infringement of someone’s rights. While most often perpetrated against women, it can affect people from any background and part of society. Migrants can be particularly vulnerable and unwilling to seek help because of their precarious status in the UK. This article looks at in country...
The Court of Appeal has re-affirmed that the domestic violence provisions in the immigration rules are restricted to certain categories of partners and is not open to partners of Points Based System dependants, even if they have in fact suffered domestic abuse. The case is SWP v Secretary of State...
The UK’s long-awaited Domestic Abuse Bill has reached the House of Lords stage of its progress towards becoming law. In the House of Commons, MPs had considered an amendment to lift the no recourse to public funds rule for migrant survivors of domestic abuse. This amendment was proposed to fill...
The domestic violence concession allows victims of domestic abuse access to public funds while they make an application for settlement. The High Court has now made clear that this concession only applies to those who are already on the route to settlement as a partner in the case of FA...
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] CSIH 38 is an important 2016 decision from the Court of Session in Scotland, the full impact of which has still to be felt. It concerns the Immigration Rules, as they apply to spouses of refugees, where the spouse has...
Since April 2015, only very limited types of immigration case can be appealed. In the case of R (AT) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2589 (Admin), the High Court found that despite what the Immigration Rules say, an application for indefinite leave to remain on...
In a decision of 27 May 2016, the Inner House of the Court of Session held that excluding the spouses of refugees from the so-called ‘domestic violence concession’ (DVC) in Section DVILR of the Immigration Rules discriminates against such spouses in violation of Article 14 of the European Convention of...
The final judgment of the court in SSHD v NA Case C‑115/15 (previously NA (Pakistan) [2015] EWCA Civ 140) will come later this year, but the Advocate General Opinion released today suggests that victims of domestic violence should retain EU law rights of residence even where the EU citizen was...
CHAYN have produced a guide for non-lawyers on How to build your own domestic violence case without a lawyer. The guide goes step by step through the types of evidence and how to construct the case. It is also useful for lawyers trying to demonstrate the domestic violence suffered by...
The Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, Regulation 10(5)(d)(iv) provides for the continued right of residence of family members of EEA nationals exercising Treaty rights in the UK whose relationships have ended due to domestic violence, whilst it does not afford the same right of continued residence to unmarried partners of EEA...
I’ve been so busy I forgot to post a link to this recent piece on The Guardian’s Comment Is Free site. I have an excuse to mention that now because the Court of Appeal has considered and rejected an appeal against findings by Immigration Judge Woodcraft in a domestic violence...
Migrant victims of domestic abuse are highly vulnerable as a result of their insecure immigration status, especially as they usually have no recourse to public funds and may have limited resources of their own. This often makes it difficult for them to escape their abusive relationship. In recognition of this,...
The Court of Justice of the European Union has concluded that women who experience gender-based violence in their country of origin can be regarded as belonging to a ‘particular social group’ and qualify for refugee status. This is as a result of a preliminary reference made to the Court by...
Gender-based violence is an umbrella term used to describe crimes including rape, domestic violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Women who are fleeing gender-based violence from their country of origin and enter the UK can seek protection and claim asylum in the UK on this basis. As practitioners who...
A new report by the international aid spending watchdog has revealed that the Home Office spent one third of the UK’s international aid budget on domestic asylum costs, leading to severe cuts to genuine international aid programmes. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) found that the permission given by...
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...
Domestic abuse is a serious infringement of someone’s rights. It can affect men and women from any ethnic background and part of society, but migrants can be particularly vulnerable and unwilling to seek help because of their precarious status in the UK. The Home Office will allow someone who has...
A mother of three British children has lost her appeal against the decision of Amber Rudd to take away her British citizenship in 2017. The judgment of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) makes for very grim reading. The woman, anonymised as “U3”, was born in the UK with British...
Singh (EEA; EFMs) [2021] UKUT 319 (IAC) is the latest instalment from the Upper Tribunal on EU free movement law in outstanding cases from before Brexit — specifically, retained rights of residence for “durable partners”. Mr Singh had a residence card on the basis of a durable relationship with his...
Regulation 9 of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 provides that the NHS in England cannot charge overseas visitors for treating a condition caused by torture, female genital mutilation, domestic violence or sexual violence. This is provided the overseas visitor did not travel to the UK...
In FA (Sudan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 59, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that someone applying to stay in the UK under the domestic abuse rules must have had permission to remain as a partner. This appeal was a bold challenge to...
Following years of discussion and consultation, the government’s draft Domestic Abuse Bill was eventually published in January 2019. Now, nearly two years later, the bill comes before the House of Lords on Tuesday 5 January. Campaigners and survivors alike know that this so-called “landmark” legislation continues to fall short— specifically...
The rise in reports of domestic abuse during lockdown is horrifying. Worldwide, the situation is so bad that it’s been dubbed a “shadow pandemic“. In the UK, calls to domestic abuse helplines have risen by a terrifying 80%. In response, police forces across the country have urged people experiencing abuse...
Adilah is from Afghanistan. In 2012, she marries a British citizen, and moves to the UK on a spouse visa, which her husband applied for on her behalf. When she arrives in the UK, things are, to say the least, different from what she had imagined. She can’t leave the...
Whilst survivors and campaigners welcomed the reintroduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill in parliament last week, there is a clear consensus amongst us that the government’s “landmark” legislation fails to protect migrant victims. In order for the UK to comply with its domestic and international obligations, the Bill must include...
In OA v Secretary of State for Education [2020] EWHC 276 (Admin), the High Court has ruled that the student loan regulations unlawfully discriminated against migrant victims of domestic violence and abuse. The rules required three years’ lawful residence in the UK to qualify for a student loan but failed...
Domestic abuse is a serious infringement of someone’s rights. It can affect men and women from any ethnic background and part of society, but migrants can be particularly vulnerable and unwilling to seek help because of their precarious status in the UK. The Home Office will allow someone who has...
For the second time in as many months, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has dismissed a direct discrimination claim brought by a migrant domestic worker against her employer. In this case and an earlier case, the Claimants were Nigerian nationals who had come to the UK on domestic worker visas...
Successful applicants under Appendix VDA are granted ‘settlement’, otherwise known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (or ‘indefinite leave to enter’ in cases of transnational marriage abandonment). VDA applications are not considered ‘human rights claims’ and do not carry a right of appeal. Instead, the applicant only has a right to...
Relationship requirements Not all people in the UK with permission as a partner qualify for protection under the VDA rules (see VDA 4.1). It is only applicants who currently have, or have last been granted, permission as a: Fiancé(e)s and proposed civil partners are not eligible to apply for indefinite...
The Immigration Rules for Victims of Domestic Abuse (VDA) recognises the vulnerability of spouses and partners coming to the UK to join their British or UK-settled partners who later become victims of domestic abuse. Immigration Rules to protect victims of domestic violence were established in 2002 and most recently were...
CLOSING DATE: 5 MAY 2024 South West London Law Centres is seeking an experienced Asylum/Immigration Solicitor or Caseworker with the appropriate level of accreditation to provide casework together with colleagues in a number of new projects including homelessness and domestic violence cases. You will show care and attention to our...
Legal reform charity JUSTICE has published a report today from their EUSS working group that looks at the ongoing problems with the EU settlement scheme and makes 16 recommendations. The report commends the scheme as being largely successful and for processing a huge number of applications in a relatively short...
As the government’s Rwanda plan continues to court controversy, there is one area of their policy which by their measures could be seen to be succeeding: their efforts to stop Albanians from seeking refuge in the UK. Since 2019, the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit at Islington Law Centre...
Your February roundup is here as promised. Colin and I discuss Shamima Begum’s latest appeal, the pause on some asylum cases, a run of decisions involving poor conduct on the part of either the Tribunals or the Home Office, as well as corporate transactions, the sudden closure of the Ukraine...
This month Sonia and Colin cover Shamima Begum’s latest appeal, the pause on some asylum cases, a run of decisions involving poor conduct on the part of either the Tribunals or the Home Office, as well as corporate transactions, the sudden closure of the Ukraine Family scheme and much more....
Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! The Home Office has announced that Ukrainians who are here under one of the existing schemes will be “permitted to extend their visa”. This process will require an application, and that process will only open early next year. In the meantime, people will continue to...
