Government measures aimed at stopping irregular migrants from renting a home are not being properly evaluated, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has found. The controversial Right to Rent scheme is “yet to demonstrate its worth as a tool to encourage immigration compliance, with the Home Office failing...
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v MS (Pakistan) [2018] EWCA Civ 594 looked at whether the Upper Tribunal can second-guess the decision of the government to reject someone’s application to be considered a victim of human trafficking. It found that the tribunal can only re-make...
[Editor’s note: this article is now largely superseded by new rules on settlement for Turkish nationals from 6 July 2018.] A new version of the Home Office guidance on applications from self-employed Turkish businesspersons for leave under the Turkish European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA), commonly known as the “Ankara Agreement”,...
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v (OP) Jamaica [2018] EWCA Civ 316 dealt with a deportation appeal in the context of assessing the weight to be given to Article 8 and the best interests of children. The judgment echoes previous decisions, in that...
Immigrants from other EU countries do not reduce average wages for UK-born workers. So said the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), a crack team of independent economists that advises the government on immigration policy, in an interim report published today. There is some evidence that the net effect of immigration is...
In the recently reported case of Elsakhawy (immigration officers: PACE) [2018] UKUT 86 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal dismissed an appeal concerning the applicability of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) to immigration officers exercising powers of “pastoral” interview. PACE is the law which safeguards the rights of those...
On 19 March the European Union and the UK published the impressively named Draft Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community. In other words, a draft Brexit divorce agreement. This blog post will focus...
In the recently published case of MT and ET (child’s best interests; ex tempore pilot) Nigeria [2018] UKUT 88 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal looked again at the balancing exercise between a child’s best interests and the public interest when deciding whether it is reasonable to expect a child to leave...
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. Refugee fostering questions The Mail says that the immigration system has failed in the case of Ahmed Hassan, the 18-year-old Parsons Green bomber, who is said to have admitted links with IS to Home Office officials shortly...
A recent case shows that practitioners should beware the Home Office’s use of consent orders in judicial review claims, write Kim Renfrew and Naga Kandiah of MTC & Co. Solicitors. Our client SP is an asylum seeker of Sri Lankan origin. SP submitted further evidence to the Home Office, to...
A quick note on a recent asylum judgment in Scotland — nothing earth-shattering in it, our friends at McGill & Co tell me, but a reminder to be on the alert for multiple misstatements of the threshold for success in decision letters rejecting further submissions. Paragraph 353 of the Immigration...
The number of cases of deprivation of British citizenship has risen sharply in recent years. For an in-depth look at the issues, see my earlier post on The rise of modern banishment: deprivation and nullification of British citizenship. The increasing use of the power by the Secretary of State has led...
Campaigners seeking to confirm whether the UK’s Article 50 notification triggering Brexit can be unilaterally revoked are one step closer to getting a decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Yesterday the Inner House of the Court of Session granted permission to proceed in Wightman and others v...
A pan-European alliance of NGOs has launched a new database allowing for easy comparison of how different European countries protect people left without citizenship of any country due to quirks in nationality law. The Statelessness Index covers a dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom. The European Network on Statelessness...
Businesses across the UK began receiving notification emails last week from the Home Office confirming that their applications for restricted certificates of sponsorship had been approved. This is because they had met an as yet unpublished points threshold. The Home Office has saved the bad news for today. Yet again there...
On 23 February 2018, the Home Office issued new guidance on dealing with applications for leave to remain on the basis of family life as a partner or parent or on the basis of private life, on a ten-year route to settlement. Under the heading “changes from last version of...
The Home Affairs Committee of MPs has announced that it is broadening an existing enquiry into the treatment of migrants held at Brook House detention centre to look at the detention system more widely. The influential committee, which is headed up by Labour heavyweight Yvette Cooper, said on Friday afternoon...
Short and sweet is the best way to describe the High Court’s decision in BS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 454 (Admin). It comes as a useful reminder that whether detention is “reasonable” depends on all the circumstances of the case. In particular, the risk of a...
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. Far-right activists denied entry Last weekend, the Evening Standard and Mail picked up on the travails of three far-right YouTube stars excluded from the UK on the ground that their presence was not conducive to the...
A short Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC895 was laid yesterday, 15 March 2018. It makes minor changes to the Rules to take effect on 6 April. The explanatory memorandum summarises the tweaks as being to: Ensure that an asylum claim can be deemed inadmissible, and not be substantively considered by...
The Ganges and Gurkha is the 60th most popular restaurant in Plymouth. It serves Nepalese and Indian food, and was shortlisted for the British Curry awards in 2013. In 2015, it had a Tier 2 sponsor licence, meaning that it could sponsor workers from overseas to come and work in...
A law centre solicitor who took money from clients seeking help with immigration and asylum problems has accepted his striking off the role of solicitors. Andrew John Puddicombe was employed by Gloucester Law Centre until November 2015, when management discovered that for three years he had been “charging clients on...
A group of charities and NGOs have launched a new guide on immigrants’ rights. It places with particular emphasis on coping with hostile environment measures designing to make life intolerable for undocumented migrants. Know Your Rights: A Guide for Migrants promises to help migrants “understand your rights in a situation where immigration rules...
Every few years another “good character” nationality case makes it to court. Usually they arise in the context of adults applying for naturalisation as British citizens at the Home Secretary’s discretion under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981, and invariably they concern criminal convictions (except for one, which I...
The first round of immigration checks on migrants’ current accounts took place in January, with banks being required to check the immigration status of their customers against a Home Office database. Those flagged up as being in the UK unlawfully face having their account frozen or closed. Naturally enough, there...
The independent prison inspector has raised the alarm over the continued detention of migrants who the Home Office accepts have been tortured. A scathing inspection report also found “considerable failings” in safety and respect for detainees at the “prison-like” Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke,...
On 1 March the Court of Appeal looked at Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the context of a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) appeal. Although the appeal was dismissed, the court confirmed that running a business may amount to private life for the purposes of Article 8. The...
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. Transgender asylum seekers Leila Zadeh of the UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group and Paul Dillane of rights group Kaleidescope Trust are quoted in a Guardian piece covering attacks on LGBTI people in asylum accommodation....
The case of AB, R (On the Application Of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 383 has unusual facts, but an unsurprising conclusion: the Home Office cannot grant asylum to someone who is not in the UK. The background is not really important but undoubtedly...
An adult who is not a British citizen can apply to become one. This process is known as naturalisation. People will normally be eligible to apply for naturalisation under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 if they: are 18 or over are of “good character” meet the knowledge...
Campaign groups are fighting for better protection of migrants’ personal data on multiple fronts this month. Last week came news that permission had been granted in a judicial review of data sharing arrangements between the Home Office and the NHS. As we reported before Christmas, the Migrants’ Rights Network argues that...
The Court of Appeal in Tanvir Babar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 329 dealt with the application of Immigration Rule 276B. The court highlighted the tensions between the Home Office policy, the application of the Immigration Rule and the weight that needs to be...
We recently covered the case taken by British migrants living in the Netherlands that had, it appeared, succeeded in its aim of getting the Court of Justice of the European Union to decide whether their EU citizenship survives Brexit. The headline was British migrants trying to keep EU citizenship get Court...
A Home Office letter handed to hunger strikers at Yarl’s Wood detention centre casts doubt on the department’s simultaneous insistence that the refusal of food may be for non-political reasons. Last week, Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford suggested that the 120 women refusing food and fluid at the notorious facility might...
At a time when immigration practitioners are facing a wave of referrals and allegations of misconduct, the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Shah (‘Cart’ judicial review: nature and consequences) [2018] UKUT 51 (IAC) comes as another timely reminder that judges are in no mood to deal with haphazard or slapdash appeals...
Barrister Adam Wagner founded the widely acclaimed UK Human Rights Blog at 1 Crown Office Row in 2010. He went on to found RightsInfo, an online platform that aims to build knowledge and support for human rights, and now practises out of Doughty Street Chambers. Both initiatives speak to his talent as...
In JM (Zimbabwe), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 188 the Court of Appeal grappled with an interesting point on the proper interpretation of paragraph 403(c) of the Immigration Rules. Paragraph 403 deals with the grant of leave to stateless people....
Here’s your round-up of the immigration and asylum stories that made national headlines this week. There weren’t as many as usual, although it was another big week in Brexit. Yarl’s Wood Last Friday, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott visited Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, scene of a hunger strike by...
