A heavyweight Presidential panel sitting in the First-tier Tribunal has made multiple awards of costs against the Home Office for unreasonable behaviour and given guidance on the proper approach to making such awards in future. Despite the decision being promulgated in December 2017, the Upper Tribunal’s Reporting Committee has elected...
A new Practice Statement adds to the list of immigration tribunal powers that can be exercised by members of staff rather than judges. The Senior President of Tribunals, Sir Ernest Ryder, issued the document on 15 May 2018. Colin commented on the last version of this Practice Statement, issued in...
Interesting development on in-country applications. A new service delivered by outsourcing firm Sopra Steria will see supporting information processed at local libraries rather than people having to post it in with their application: Under the new arrangements people using the service will be able to submit biometric information including photos,...
In Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v HD (CHB) (Second interim decision) [2018] UKUT 148 (AAC), the Upper Tribunal decided to make a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The question is whether an EU national who was self-employed before pregnancy and childbirth can rely on C-507/12...
Lawyers are raising funds to reunite child refugees in northern France with family members already in the UK. The Dunkirk Project involves legal help for families split by the English channel in order to help young migrants stuck in Calais and Dunkirk come to the UK to claim asylum. Children...
The case of R (Lauzikas) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 1045 (Admin) marks an important development in the law on the detention of European nationals pending deportation. The key finding is that the standards set out in the Free Movement directive, including proportionality and necessity, must...
As we reach the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, it seems like a good time to reflect on the impact that the current immigration system can have on the mental health not only of migrants, but also their legal representatives. We regularly hear of people becoming depressed as a...
New updates, commentary and advice on immigration law is added to Free Movement every working day. You can keep up with it in a variety of ways: by visiting the homepage, using the RSS feed, following us on social media (Facebook, Twitter and, coming soon, LinkedIn). The vast majority of readers, according...
The ill-treatment of Commonwealth soldiers may no longer make headlines, but scandalously high immigration fees are depriving many of those who have served this country of their right to settle in Britain, writes Vinita Templeton of Duncan Lewis. The new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, recently announced that the £2,389 fee...
The government’s anti-slavery czar, Kevin Hyland OBE, has resigned and says that his successor must be able to operate independently of government. In a resignation statement, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner said that As the inaugural incumbent in a unique role there have predictably been some learning points for all around...
The Court of Appeal in Youssef v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 933 has decided that the appellant was disqualified from refugee status because he had incited terrorist acts in general. There was no requirement for there to be a link between his incitement and a specific...
A judicial review aimed at improving the support available to potential victims of human trafficking has failed in the Court of Appeal. The case is R (EM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 1070. The Secretary of State was successfully represented by no less than...
The Home Office has issued a new version of the paper application form for EU permanent residence, EEA(PR), for use from 10 May 2018 onward. It is still 85 pages long and the accompanying guidance has not changed, although in the past new guidance on how to complete an updated...
The Court of Appeal in SC (Zimbabwe) v SSHD [2018] EWCA Civ 929 gives us yet another new decision on the deportation of foreign criminals, this time on the definition of “persistent offenders”. Its discussion of the concept, while interesting enough, makes no real changes to the law as set down previously by...
What is a genuine relationship? This idea of a love marriage is an invention of modernity,. It’s not so long ago that most people would be getting married through other kinds of arrangements. In Victorian England, all kinds of financial considerations would be in play as to who the right...
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Parveen v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 932 seems to be an additional nail in the coffin for the once renowned (and now shut down) Malik Law Chambers, with the court repeatedly criticising the firm’s preparation of the application...
Thousands of suspected “illegal” migrants were due to have their bank accounts closed earlier this year but have been given a reprieve by the new Home Secretary over fears that members of the Windrush generation could be affected. Sajid Javid told the Home Affairs Committee of MPs this afternoon that...
The responsibility to take the utmost care to ensure that the Points Based System, Immigration Rules and guidance are followed remains with the sponsor. A Mr Talpada attempted to challenge the applicability of the Rules and guidance to his case on the facts and by using common law legal principles...
Just one new reported decision of the Upper Tribunal this month. It involves a Jamaican national deported in September 2016 who, rather poignantly, “has never physically seen” his son, born in the UK later that year. The case is R (Watson) v Secretary of State for the Home Department &...
One of the interesting aspects of the ongoing national debate about Brexit is the prominent position occupied in the debate by the UK fishing industry. I would venture to say that maritime immigration control is a topic infrequently encountered even by Free Movement readers, and with the current focus on...
So, the Royal Wedding approaches. But once the bunting is bought, the flags are flown and the merchandise marketed, what happens next for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry? Will they live happily ever after and, if so, where and with what visa? Princes and princesses often seem to come from...
Before she travelled to the land of her fathers, Yasmeen Din was born to Pakistani parents in the Churchill Hospital in Oxford on 26 June 1968. By virtue of section 11(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, read with section 4 of the British Nationality Act 1948 and section 2(1)(a)...
Fresh out of the Court of Justice of the European Union is the interesting case of C-82/16 K.A. & Others v Belgium. A significant part of the decision deals with the 2008 Returns Directive, which does not apply to the UK. The remainder of the court’s judgment deals with the issue of...
Greece has received the largest number of refugees entering Europe since the migrant crisis began and its legal community, already hit by years of austerity, has struggled to cope. Refugee Legal Support – Athens is the response of a few experienced UK immigration lawyers to that crisis, using our legal...
In Secretary of State for the Home Department v MA (Somalia) [2018] EWCA Civ 994 the Court of Appeal grappled with the thorny question of what issues are relevant when a decision-maker is assessing the cessation of refugee status under the Qualification Directive. Article 11(1)(e) of the directive states that A...
The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, has announced that a senior barrister of Caribbean extraction will oversee a compensation scheme for victims of the Windrush scandal. Martin Forde QC of One Crown Office Row was named today as the “Independent Person” who will direct the compensation scheme once in place, as well as advising...
Ararso v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 845 is an unusual appeal about the extent to which the Home Office must take account of orders made in previous judicial review proceedings when deciding to re-detain someone. The Court of Appeal held that injunctions against removal...
An individual’s right to access information held about them under the Data Protection Act 1998 is arguably one of the greatest legacies of the New Labour government. In immigration law, where complexity abounds and cases often roll on for years through changes in rules and regulatory frameworks, this right is...
Welcome to the March 2018 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. This month I start on the Brexit outlook for EU citizens before turning to several immigration law issues affecting children that came to light in March. The Upper Tribunal reported a fresh batch of decisions, a couple...
The Home Office has today issued revised guidance that should help asylum seekers and other migrant children in the UK who have been banned from studying under changes introduced at the beginning of the year. The new system of immigration bail that came into force in January means that “many children...
The enhanced protection in Article 28(3) of Directive 2004/38/EC — that a person may only be expelled on “imperative grounds of public security” if they have resided in a member state for ten years prior to the decision to expel them — benefits only those who have satisfied the eligibility...
Independent reviews of public institutions are critical by design, which is why almost every report ever published by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration is damning of the Home Office to a greater or lesser extent. Today’s review of the government programme for resettling Syrian refugees is a notable and welcome...
Housing solicitor Giles Peaker was an accomplished art historian before turning to the law at the age of 40, rising to become a partner at Anthony Gold within five years of qualification. He founded the Nearly Legal blog while still a paralegal. Initially a repository for reflections on becoming a...
The Windrush scandal has drawn attention to the harshness of UK immigration policy. Many people who lived in the UK for decades have been unable to satisfy the Home Office of their status. They lost jobs, benefits or housing, were told to leave the country, or even deported, despite most...
The government has tabled a number of adjustments to the rules on detention, to come into force this summer. The most significant is the changed definition of “torture” in the context of the detention of vulnerable people. Page contentsGovernment forced to change tack on tortureThe new definition of “torture”Detention of...
Safira,* who identifies as a lesbian woman, grew up in Nigeria. Because of her sexual identity, Safira’s family members abused her, physically and psychologically, in an attempt to “cure” her of what they considered “demonic tendencies”. Her family eventually disowned her, and she was rejected by her church. When she...
Until recently, self-employed Turkish businesspersons who were in the UK under the Ankara Agreement could get indefinite leave to remain after four years. Then two cases established that the Secretary of State was entitled to change the rules on settlement while still complying with that agreement: see the Upper Tribunal...
Judge Clements, President of the First-tier Tribunal (IAC), yesterday released comprehensive new guidance on immigration bail for judges. The updated guidance naturally takes into account the significant changes brought about by the Immigration Act 2016. The blog has previously touched on some of the changes brought about by Schedule 10...
The Court of Appeal in DW (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 797 has stepped in to overturn the First-tier Tribunal’s decision to block the deportation of an individual on the basis of his family life. Page contentsFactual backgroundThe public interest in deportation of foreign...
