This morning the Supreme Court handed down its judgment on whether the Prime Minister suspending Parliament for five weeks at a crucial time in the Brexit saga was legal. As Colin put it, the government “could not have lost more comprehensively”. I’ve covered some of the highlights elsewhere and the full...
A solicitor with 43 years’ experience has been struck off after allowing a group of supposed immigration lawyers to take over his firm and run off with all the client files. Michael Smith was prosecuted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for allowing himself to be “used as a front” for...
The Immigration Act 2016 authorises immigration officers to temporarily close down businesses persistently employing illegal workers. The provision is one of several that make up the hostile environment policy, which has been rebranded the “compliant environment”. The objective of the policy is to encourage those without permission to live and...
The Upper Tribunal in AAR & AA (Non-Arab Darfuris – return) Sudan [2019] UKUT 282 (IAC) has rejected a Home Office attempt to resume returns of non-Arab Darfuris to Sudan. The tribunal upheld its previous guidance, reaffirming the position that all non-Arab Darfuris are at risk of persecution in Sudan,...
The Upper Tribunal has finally, some six years after the test was introduced into domestic regulations, taken a good, hard look at the “centre of life” test applied by the Home Office to Surinder Singh cases. For background on the Surinder Singh route see our explainer post here: The Surinder Singh...
Whether you read Twitter, the Times or the Law Society Gazette, you might have heard of the happy-ending case of Nasrullah Mursalin. Mr Mursalin was a paralegal at Gull Law Chambers Limited. In July, he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for breaching family court rules after he sent papers...
In the case of C‑94/18 Chenchooliah the Court of Justice of the European Union returns to the contentious issue of the rights of family members of EU citizens. Family members like to have rights, governments like to be able to remove family members and the judges are called on time and...
As I was reviewing John Vassiliou’s excellent piece on Hong Kongers with British National Overseas status last week, I realised that we’ve never put together an explainer on the right of abode. A quick Google search showed up no great explanations either, so I thought it was time to try...
The High Court has referred an immigration law firm to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, citing “serious concerns” over its conduct of several cases. The case is R (Al Mahfuz & Anor) v Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) & Anor [2019] EWHC 2318 (Admin) and the firm concerned is Heans...
An EU citizen, or their spouse or civil partner, is entitled to have his or her dependent parent continue to live with them or join them in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme. This has always been the case since the scheme began. But one particularly confusing aspect, even...
A few weeks ago I analysed EU Settlement Scheme stats released in August. I argued that the Scheme is not working as well as the Government claims it is. While it might be performing well from the point of view of its administrators at the Home Office, it surely seems to...
In DM (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2351 (Admin), the High Court ruled that the lack of accommodation for foreign national offenders cannot be a defence in a claim for unlawful detention. The case involved DM’s deportation for a sexual offence for which he...
The government published a new statement of changes on 9 September. We covered changes related to work and study routes in this post, and changes related to the EU Settlement Scheme in this post. There are two more changes which are worth noting. Section 67 leave Section 67 of the...
The two-year post study work visa has returned from the dead, apparently. Multiple statements, from the Prime Minister, the Business Secretary, the Department for Education and, last and least, the Home Office have been released announcing the resurrection of a visa originally introduced in 2004 and killed off by Theresa...
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A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published yesterday, 9 September 2019. This post will cover changes to work and student visa routes, while a separate post deals with changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and other changes brought about by Brexit. Except where indicated otherwise, these changes...
Yesterday afternoon the government dropped statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 2631. This is a formal change to the Immigration Rules and there is a lot to it: the full version weighs in at 102 pages. We’ll deal with other changes in another post (or posts) but here we’re...
The Johnson ‘government’ has reaffirmed that free movement rules will continue if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October. A new voluntary (Ed. – !?!) immigration scheme will be introduced called the European Temporary Leave to Remain Scheme, or “Euro TLR” to its (few) friends. From...
This is an update on UK citizens’ and residents’ access to healthcare in the EEA and Switzerland if a no-deal Brexit happens on 31 October 2019. The people who will be affected are those for whom the UK is currently paying for their healthcare in another EEA state or Switzerland...
When the word ‘chaotic’ no longer seems to adequately describe a situation you know things are getting bad. The government’s announcement and subsequent hasty retraction of its intention to end free movement on 1 November 2019 has served only to amplify levels of anxiety amongst EU nationals and the wider...
Here follows a shameless plug for a book to which I have contributed a chapter on deprivation and nullification of British citizenship. It is edited by the excellent Devyani Prabhat at the University of Bristol (do follow her on Twitter) and the various chapters consider the evolution of the contemporary issues...
The long suffering Migration Advisory Committee, or ‘MAC’ to its friends, has been commissioned to carry out yet another review. Back in June 2019 the MAC were asked by one Home Secretary to think again about salary thresholds for skilled workers. This time they are being asked by a different...
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A new revised guidance note for judges has been published by some other judges: Joint Presidential Guidance 2019 No 1: Permission to appeal to UTIAC. Paragraph 31 seems wrong to me, or at least inexactly phrased: If a FtT judge considering an application for permission to appeal is in doubt...
The cost of making an immigration or nationality application has risen extremely steeply in recent years. Annual increases of 20% or 25% per year became standard, bringing the current cost of an application for indefinite leave to remain (aka settlement) to £2,389. The actual cost of processing such an application...
The Government yesterday rowed back on the bonkers idea floated by Home Secretary Priti Patel two weeks ago to end free movement of EU citizens into the UK on 31 October 2019. Apart from the obvious problem of having to invent and implement a new immigration system in a matter...
People in immigration detention can make an application for Secretary of State bail directly to the Home Office. The Home Office has the same powers as the immigration tribunal to grant bail and manage its conditions. Is it worth applying? An application to the Secretary of State for immigration bail...
You walk into court, lever arch folders tucked safely under each arm. You’ve tried to be organised and posted copies of your bundles weeks in advance. You’re part way through your submissions, furiously referring to this, that and the other whilst the judge is looking at you with a raised...
The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said last week that free movement for EU nationals will end on 31 October 2019 unless there is a Brexit deal. Media reports indicate that she intends to repeal EU free movement law from day one of a no-deal Brexit, replacing it with new rules...
Following Priti Patel’s recent comments about the immediate end of free movement following a no-deal Brexit, the Home Office sent an email reassuring EU citizens that they will continue to be eligible to remain in the UK so long as they apply for the settled status scheme. What the email...
A solicitor convicted for his part in a notorious visa scam has been struck off. Sheikh Muhammad Usman, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for conspiring to get people leave to remain under false identities, will be unable to resume practise upon release. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said that...
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You’ve just had a fantastic summer holiday in, let’s say, Greece — away from the daily grind, the misery of Brexit and British summertime weather. Sunshine every day, beach swimming, late nights, great wine, even better food. You’re basically 90% gyros by this point, but it’s all right, it’s a...
An important Office for National Statistics (ONS) report released this week provides revised figures for EU and non-EU net migration since 2009. Here’s my take on what the key points of the report are. It has been clear for some time that something wasn’t quite right in the headline net...
There have been just four applications for the government’s flagship new visa for overseas entrepreneurs in its first three months of operation. Only four people applied for an Innovator visa between April and June 2019, according to the latest Home Office figures. By contrast, the visa it replaced — Tier...
The Court of Appeal has held that the UK government can be asked to pay expenses where a judicial review has been brought against the Upper Tribunal’s refusal to grant permission to appeal. The test case of Faqiri v Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) [2019] EWCA Civ 151 has...
Since 2016 there has been no minimum CPD training hours requirement and training can be undertaken by any training provider or even by informal methods including self study. The rules for solicitors, barristers and OISC advisers are all broadly similar and were all changed at around the same time. The...
Immigration lawyers often find themselves at the centre of employment law disputes where the employee’s immigration status appears to be crucial to the legality of their employment. In such cases the stakes are usually very high and the pressure on all concerned can be huge. Whilst the employee will be...
The way that I tell clients to treat this kind of evidence gathering process is… don’t treat it as an evidence gathering process. It may sound a little corny, but treat it as a celebration of your relationship so far. You’re telling a story to someone of how you met,...
Confusion abounds after Dominic Cummings sources close to Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Telegraph and Independent over the weekend that free movement of EU citizens would end the day after a no-deal exit on 31 October 2019. While at first glance it seems very unlikely that this means anything...
