The latest instalment of the Akinsanya litigation, which looks at the entitlement of Zambrano carers to leave under Appendix EU has been decided by the High Court in Akinsanya & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 469 (Admin). Both appellants...
In a highly technical decision, Osunneye (Zambrano, transitional appeal rights) Nigeria [2023] UKUT 162 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal has concluded that Zambrano appeals may proceed notwithstanding the various Brexit regulations. The official headnote: A decision to the contrary would have come as something of a surprise as it was surely...
Zambrano carers who already have permission to stay in the UK under the Immigration Rules cannot use the EU Settlement Scheme as a fast track to permanent residence, the Home Office has confirmed. The department announced today that it would not be changing the rules in this area, despite having...
In the case of Velaj v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 767, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that Zambrano applications always require factual inquiries as to what would happen to the British dependant if their primary carer(s) indeed left the UK. In the case...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the government’s appeal against last year’s decision that the EU Settlement Scheme rules on Zambrano carers are unlawful. But the judgment in Akinsanya v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 37 leaves the situation for these carers — non-EU parents...
In Velaj (EEA Regulations – interpretation; Reg 16(5); Zambrano) [2021] UKUT 235 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal looked at whether the Home Office accidentally liberalised the regulations on when the primary carer of a British child can be removed from the UK. The tribunal concluded that it did not. As a...
The important case of Akinsanya, which we introduced in these articles, has opened the door for many non-European primary carers of British citizens to now apply for residence rights under the EU Settlement Scheme. There are many advantages to doing so — but also some pitfalls and potential issues to...
On 9 June, in the case of Akinsanya, the High Court found that the definition of Zambrano carers in the rules for the EU Settlement Scheme was wrong, insofar as it prevented those with permission to remain under another part of the Immigration Rules from applying. With the deadline to...
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...
In the case of Robinson (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 53 the Supreme Court has held that there is no “exceptional circumstances” test that applies in EU law to protect a non-EU national carer from deportation. The case involved a Jamaican woman who is...
The Home Office has so far rejected the majority of EU Settlement Scheme applications that rely on Zambrano rights. New figures show that 770 of the 1,260 Zambrano carers applying for leave to remain under the scheme have been rejected (61%). A non-EU citizen who is the primary carer of...
The Supreme Court has found in the case of Patel and Shah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] UKSC 59 that the carers of EU citizen children can derive a Zambrano right of residence only where the child will as a practical matter of fact be forced to...
The EU Settlement Scheme has been introduced to grant residence rights to European nationals and their family members after the UK leaves the EU. The scheme covers Zambrano carers. Unlike EEA Regulations, which do not provide a right to permanent residence for Zambrano carers, the scheme allows them to get...
Page contentsThe McCarthy caseFactsJudgmentThe Dereci caseFactsJudgmentThe Iida caseFactsJudgmentThe Ahmed case The McCarthy case Zambrano was handed down in March 2011. It was followed a couple of months later by the case of C-434/09 McCarthy v UK. Facts Mrs McCarthy, a national of the United Kingdom, was also an Irish national. She...
On 2 May 2019, the Home Office published updated guidance on “derivative rights of residence”, which includes the rights of Zambrano carers. Buried in the 63-page document is a fundamental change of policy: potential Zambrano applicants must first make a human rights application under British immigration law. In other words,...
An adult primary carer of an British citizen can acquire a derivative right to reside under EU law, the Court of Appeal has said in MS (Malaysia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWCA Civ 580. On the facts, it is surprising that the Secretary of State...
Figures obtained by Free Movement show that fewer than two thousand non-EU carers rely on EU law for their right to live in the UK. The relatively small number of people relying on these “derived rights of residence” raises questions about why the government appears set to deny them settlement...
In May this year, referring to the case of C-133/15 Chavez-Vilchez and Others v Netherlands, Colin wrote that the Court of Justice of the European Union has significantly extended Zambrano rights beyond those so far recognised by the Home Office and UK courts. The case undoubtedly represented a positive move — but the extent to which...
In R (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2017] UKSC 73 the Supreme Court decided that Zambrano carers are not eligible for non-contributory benefits which have a “right to reside” test. The benefits affected by the decision are income support, child benefit, child tax credits, and housing and homelessness assistance....
In a new case, Chavez-Vilchez and Others v Netherlands C-133/15, the Court of Justice of the European Union has significantly extended Zambrano rights beyond those so far recognised by the Home Office and UK courts. The case offers far better guidance than was available in previous cases and emphasises that the...
Official headnote from Ayinde and Thinjom (Carers – Reg.15A – Zambrano) [2015] UKUT 560 (IAC): (i) The deprivation of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of the rights attaching to the status of European Union citizens identified in the decision in Zambrano [2011] EUECJ C-34/09 is limited to safeguarding a British citizen’s EU rights...
Court of Appeal rules that the Zambrano status arises immediately and there is no need to show destitution. However, Zambrano carers have no entitlement to mainstream social assistance following the amendment to the habitual residence test in November 2012. In Sanneh & Ors v Secretary of State for Work and...
There are two places we can look to see what the approach of the Home Office is to Zambrano cases. The first is the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, which set out the legal framework, and the second is Home Office policy documents, which set out how the framework will be...
As has been seen, the legal basis for Zambrano was Article 20 of the TFEU. Having stated simply that “citizenship of the Union is intended to be the fundamental status of nationals of the Member States” the Court of Justice went on: 42. In those circumstances, Article 20 TFEU precludes...
Free movement law historically and conceptually depended on two elements: facilitating movement across borders and facilitating economic or protected activity of some sort, such as work, self employment or studies. Previous cases such as Baumbast, Chen and Metock started the evolution away from these principles. Zambrano represented more of a revolution, achieved by basing the...
In C-34/09 Zambrano, a Colombian national, Mr Zambrano, lawfully entered Belgium and then applied for asylum. His wife and child joined him. The asylum claim was rejected but no removal action was pursued. The couple had two more children, who acquired Belgium nationality. Mr Zambrano found work in order to...
The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Zambrano requires a lot of explaining. The process of seeking to understand its impact will continue for some time at an EU level and domestically. In Harrison (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1736 the...
The Immigration (European Economic Area) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/2560) come into force on 8 November 2012. There are two bits of good news for applicants and one piece of bad news. For previous news, updates and commentary on Zambrano and developments since that case see the EU citizenship blog topic. The...
One day, some day, the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 will finally be amended to reflect the UK Border Agency understanding of Zambrano. Until then we will all continue to struggle both on a practical and conceptual level. Zambrano rules that third country nationals can derive a right of...
This is the second post in a short series on the Zambrano judgment. The first part was Making a Zambrano application. Next time: Whither Zambrano? by Iain Palmer. Following on from the last post on Zambrano, the position of the UK Border Agency is that a decision that a Zambrano...
On 15th November 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘the CJEU’) handed down its judgment in the case of Dereci (C-256/11). This was a much awaited judgment after the ‘Zambrano and Article 20’ revolution was dampened by McCarthy (see here for previous posts in relation to Zambrano and here for McCarthy). As a quick reminder, Article 20(1) of the TFEU, with which...
The UK Border Agency has released the slightly more detailed guidance on Zambrano-based applications that was referred to in my earlier post on this. This follows from a Freedom of Information request, although in fact the document had already been provided to ILPA. Frankly, it does not take things a...
I’ve previously posted up the publicly available UKBA guidance on Zambrano, but a commenter very helpfully posted a link to more information available on the Wornham & Co blog. I don’t myself post letters to or from ILPA unless the information is public, but there is some suggestion in the...
The first of my catch-up posts comes courtesy of the indefatigable Mr T – many thanks, Mr T. The UK Border Agency have issued some belated guidance on the Zambrano case. It only appears in the form of an item on the news section of the UKBA website, though, and...
The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of Zambrano (C-34/09) may mark the watershed between the history of European Community free movement law and the future of unconditional European Union citizenship rights. Free movement law historically and conceptually depended on two elements: facilitating...
Criminal convictions and other signs of poor character can, unsurprisingly, negatively affect applications for leave to enter or remain in the UK. Page contentsMandatory refusals for criminality/bad characterSerious harmPersistent offendersVisitorsAppendix FMOffences committed outside the UKExceptions to mandatory bansConviction for an offence not recognised in the UKDiscretionary grounds for refusalCharacter, conduct...