British Lawyer

25 March 2021 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org - +44(0)3300010342, +44(0)7791145923 (WhatsApp/Viber) >>> The Home Office piblishes the “New Plan for Immigration”: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/new-plan-for-immigration The Home Office has published a new plan for immigration with the title, somehow both grandiloquent and banal, New Plan for Immigration. It is mainly concerned with asylum and people who enter the UK illegally (those two concepts being subtly mashed together) but there are also some miscellaneous proposals for tweaks to citizenship laws. Bonus points for “safe and legal” arrivals At any rate, the strategy is to contrast refugees who have arrived through “illegal” routes with those who have travelled via “safe and legal routes”. The latter are to be treated better than the former, creating a sort of two-tier asylum system. The safe and legal arrivals may benefit from the following: - Indefinite leave to remain on arrival for resettled refugees, rather than five years’ temporary permission leading to ILR as now. - A possible tweak to the family reunion rules such that “unmarried dependent children under the age of 21”, rather than under 18 as now, can come to the UK if both their parents are here as refugees already. - A bit of extra funding for integration programmes, already announced, “tailored and flexible employment support arrangements” and improved English language teaching. - Some chat about reopening resettlement schemes, but with no timetable nor numerical target akin to the “20,000 Syrians in five years” in place between 2015 and 2020. Punishment of clandestine entrants By contrast, people who have entered the UK illegally to claim asylum, or who have travelled through a “safe third country” such as France, will be have fewer rights than before. Rules allowing the Home Office to refuse even to consider an asylum claim where the person has come via a safe third country are already in place but get another airing. Anyone who arrives into the UK illegally – where they could reasonably have claimed asylum in another safe country – will be considered inadmissible to the asylum system, consistent with the Refugee Convention. There will be a “rebuttable presumption” that people can be returned to EU and other developed countries, and sections 77 and 78 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 amended so that people can be removed despite having a pending asylum claim or appeal. This is all academic given that punting asylum seekers to other countries is admitted to be “contingent on securing returns agreements”, which do not exist (but will be pursued). So instead, people in this position will be punished with a new “temporary protection status” instead of refugee status. This is for people with inadmissible claims but who cannot be returned. It will be a grant of permission to remain in the UK for no longer than 30 months, with no recourse to public funds and “restricted” family reunion rights. They would also be “regularly reassessed for removal from the UK” (a policy that already exists, at least on paper). There will be an increase in the maximum sentence for entering the UK illegally. The maximum currently is six months, but the document does not say what this would change to. The separate “facilitation” offence of assisting unlawful immigration will now attract a maximum of life in prison, up from 14 years (in reality the average sentence is three and a bit years). Other asylum measures Changes to substantive law There are to be changes to the test for whether someone has a “well-founded fear of persecution”, subject to consultation and the Refugee Convention. People will first have to prove on the balance of probabilities that “they are who they say they are and that they are experiencing genuine fear of persecution”. There will then be consideration of “whether the claimant is likely to face persecution if they return to their country of origin”. This would have to be established on the lower standard of proof of “reasonable likelihood”. There will also be a statutory definition of “persecution”, in line with the Refugee Convention. National Age Assessment Board There are plans for new bureaucracy around age assessments. A National Age Assessment Board will set centralised standards and processes for assigning an age to asylum seekers who claim to be under 18. These would be enshrined in secondary legislation. There is also to be legislation allowing immigration officers, rather than social workers, to make “to make reasonable initial assessments of age”. The current policy of treating someone as an child unless they seem clearly over 25 may be reduced to 18. Also up for consultation is a “fast-track” statutory appeal process for age assessments to reduce the number of judicial reviews in this area. Asylum appeals and judicial reviews There will be a “Good Faith Requirement” for appeals. “Anyone bringing a claim or a challenge in the courts and their representatives will be required to act in good faith at all times”. There will be a “new ‘one-stop’ process” to incentive people to raise all asylum issues up front: "People who claim for any form of protection will be issued with a ‘one-stop’ notice, requiring them to bring forward all relevant matters in one go at the start of the process." There is one paragraph on bringing back some form of fast-track asylum appeals, but no details. On the judicial review front, the Home Office is “considering” (so presumably will consult on) making people who lose judicial reviews pay some of the Home Office’s costs. Tribunal judges may also get additional powers to make wasted costs orders “in response to specified events or behaviours, including failure to follow the directions of the court, or promoting a case that is bound to fail”. Also under consideration is requiring medical and other experts to be drawn from a state-approved panel. This is, I kid you not, with a view to “putting the independence of the experts beyond question”. Removals Also in the mix are some bits and pieces on removing people from the UK. Perhaps the most eye-catching is an attempt to blackmail other countries into taking their citizens back: "We also expect our international partners to work with us on facilitating the return of their own nationals back to their country where those nationals have no lawful right to remain in the UK. We will seek to use the range of levers we have to improve returns co-operation, including considering whether to more carefully control visa availability where a country does not co-operate with receiving their own nationals who have no right to be in the UK." Existing powers to remove asylum support from people who fail to comply with attempts to remove them will be enforced (no doubt triggering a wave of human rights challenges). The scheme under which someone can be let out of jail early if they leave the UK will be adjusted. The early release window will be increased from 9 months to 12 months at the end of the sentence, subject to the person serving out at least 25% of their overall sentence. Finally, the maximum sentence for a foreign national offender who returns to the UK in breach of a deportation order will be increased from six months to five years. This will of course have the effect of keeping such people in the country for longer when the whole point is to get rid of them. Tweaks to British nationality law Finally there are to be some changes to nationality law. This has nothing whatever to do with the main themes of the policy statement. The nationality measures mostly concern niche scenarios (nevertheless very important to those affected). One is where someone is unable to inherit British citizenship from their father because their mother is still married to someone else, in which case the law deems the husband to be the parent for citizenship purposes. Such children will in future be entitled to register as British, rather than registration being at the discretion of the Home Office. Children of British Overseas Territories citizens who did not inherit that citizenship because of discriminatory rules (e.g. against unmarried fathers) will also get new routes to citizenship via registration. Such routes were introduced in respect of full British citizens years ago — sections 4C and 4F of the British Nationality Act 1981 — and these are essentially being extended to British Overseas Territories citizens too. As a general backstop, there will be a “new discretionary adult registration route”. This will allow adults, not just children, to get citizenship at the discretion of the Home Office “in compelling cases”. The existing equivalent for children is section 3(1) of the 1981 Act. There will be more flexibility introduced on the residence requirements for citizenship, essentially in response to this case: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/05/windrush-victim-denied-uk-citizenship-home-office-admitting-error-trevor-donald However, officials think that the route to citizenship for stateless children — paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the 1981 Act — is being abused. As a result, there will be extra “requirements and actions parents are required to follow before their children are able to benefit from statelessness provisions”. Consultation A consultation on many of the proposed measures will run until 6 May 2021. The consultation had not opened at time of writing but is supposed to later today on a dedicated website, https://newplanforimmigration.com.

Из недавнего. Заявление клиентки из России, SET(O) - ILR. Рассмотрели за 24 часа, т.е. Super Premium Service.

Получен очередной Exceptional Assurance ("продление" статуса из-за коронавируса). Рассмотрели и одобрили за несколько дней. Вот так выглядит само решение:

Буду рад помочь British Lawyer

24 March 2021 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org - +44(0)3300010342, +44(0)7791145923 (WhatsApp/Viber) >>> A man from Belarus who has been in “limbo” since 2003 wins permission to remain in landmark case: https://tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/2021-ukut-62 In R (AM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (legal “limbo”) [2021] UKUT 62 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered the extraordinary case of a Belarusian man who had been in the UK on immigration bail since 2003. The official headnote "A person whose removal from the United Kingdom has become an impossibility in the sense identified by the House of Lords in R (Khadir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] UKHL 39 cannot be subject to immigration bail (formerly temporary admission). Such “Khadir” Impossibility is, however, a high threshold to surmount. (2) Applying the four-stage analysis of Haddon Cave LJ in RA (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWCA Civ 850, an individual who is subject to immigration bail may still succeed in a human rights challenge, based on ending his state of legal “limbo” in the United Kingdom, where the case is of a truly exceptional nature." >>> No role for Parliamentary reports in immigration appeals: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2021/61.html The Upper Tribunal has rejected an attempt to put a report by an unofficial grouping of MPs into evidence in an English language testing appeal. The case is DK and RK (Parliamentary privilege; evidence) India [2021] UKUT 61 (IAC) and the official headnote reads: "(1) Although the Upper Tribunal is not bound by formal rules of evidence, it cannot act in such a way as to violate Parliamentary privilege, whether that be to interfere with free speech in Parliament or by reference to the separation of powers doctrine. The Tribunal cannot interfere with or criticise proceedings of the legislature. (2) Courts and tribunals determine cases by reference to the evidence before them and not by reference to the views of others, expressed in a non-judicial setting, on evidence which is not the same as that before the court or tribunal. Indeed, even if the evidence were the same, the court or tribunal must reach its own views, applying the relevant burden and standard of proof." The issue of Parliamentary privilege was also canvassed recently by the Court of Appeal, in R (Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rev 1) [2021] EWCA Civ 19.

>>> Covid-19 advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...y-uk-residents This was updated on 19 March 2021 to change the exceptional assurance expiry date to 30 April 2021.

23 March 2021 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org - +44(0)3300010342, +44(0)7791145923 (WhatsApp/Viber) >>> Covid-19 advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents This was updated on 19 March 2021 to change the exceptional assurance expiry date to 30 April 2021. >>> Covid-19: jobs that qualify for travel exemptions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules This was updated on 22 March 2021 with further details about exemptions for essential and emergency work and is on GOV.UK here. This page was also updated on 19 March to exempt aviation and maritime crew from red list country quarantine measures and remove Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) from the red list. >>> Entry clearance fees:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/entry-clearance-fees-ecb06 Information and guidance on handling visa applications made outside the UK published on GOV.UK and archived here. This was updated on 15 March 2021 to add a call out box to explain that the current guidance for the discretion to waive a fee in other cases is being revised and not currently operational, but can still apply. >>> Public Funds: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-funds Version 17 of this guidance has been published on GOV.UK. The guidance has been updated to reflect changes arising at the end of the transition period after the UK’s exit from the EU. >>> Re-entry bans: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offender-management A new version of the guidance 'Re-entry bans' as been published on GOV.UK. >>> Three persons win appeals against losing British citizenship The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has allowed the appeals of three people who were deprived of their British citizenship following allegations that they had travelled to Syria and posed a threat to national security. Those interested in the details can search for "C3, C4 & C7 v Secretary of State for the Home Department (SC/167/2020, SC/168/2020 and SC/171/2020)".

Приветствую, 1. Да. И это называется в UK Land Registry 2. Нет.

Из недавнего. Заявление клиентки на супружескую визу жены британского гражданина (Appendix FM Partner, 5-Year route to ILR). Рассмотрели за 2 месяца. Делюсь статистикой.

Вот как выглядит EEA Family Permit на основании прецедента Surinder Singh route. Еще один клиент смог привести маму с Украины по EEA immigration law. Заявление рассмотрели быстро.

А вот так выглядят положительные решения Home Office о продлении т.н. PBS Dependents' виз по категории Skilled Worker: В этом случае главный заявитель подавал на ILR, а члены его семьи, кто приехал намного позже, на продление.

Для статистики. Рассмотрели заявление клиентки на замену BRP на BRC за 2 недели:

Заявление на ПМЖ (ILR) по категории "жертва домашнего насилия". Рассмотрели довольно быстро, хотя Home Office запросил дополнительные документы (которые уже были поданы).

Пожалуйста. Я был рад помочь Вам.

На этой неделе, гражданство, заявление AN. Гражданин EU. От "А до Я" - 4 месяца (подача - решение - приглашение -церемония).

В данном пункте конкретно спрашивается про это: "enter your name as shown on your current passport or travel document." Предыдущие фамилии так же обычно указываются. Это единственное место в анкете, где спрашивается указать "other name" ?

16 March 2021 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org - +44(0)3300010342, +44(0)7791145923 (WhatsApp/Viber) >>> Government plans to reduce the use of judicial review in immigration cases: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/03/13/exclusive-ban-lawyers-needlessly-delaying-deportation-flights/ The report of the Independent Review of Administrative Law will be published this week and the Justice Secretary will on Thursday set out plans for reducing the use of judicial review in immigration cases, the Telegraph reports. The paper says that those plans include an end to Cart/Eba judicial reviews of the Upper Tribunal’s refusal to grant permission for an appeal to itself: "One plan would see lawyers prevented from launching judicial reviews of Upper Tribunal immigration decisions, bringing the system back in line with previous years. A new law will be passed to overturn a 2012 Supreme Court ruling which allowed these cases to be subject to judicial review." This would be only “the first salvo from the Government in a major crackdown on so-called ‘meritless’ immigration and asylum claims expected in coming weeks”. Previous reports have suggested that the government also wants to restrict migrants’ rights under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Judicial review applications to the UTIAC have fallen every year since 2015/16, from 15,800 then to 5,700 last year.

Просто приятно:

15 March 2021 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org - +44(0)3300010342, +44(0)7791145923 (WhatsApp/Viber) >>> Can an income from the child who has turned 18 be taken into account (UK Spouse visas) ? Apparently, the answer is "yes": Appendix FM-SE: "1(b) (ii) income from a dependent child who has turned 18, remains in the same UK household as the applicant and continues to be counted towards the financial requirement under Appendix FM;" >>> New UK Visa fees: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table >>> New Graduate route to open from 1 July 2021 The new Graduate route will open for applications on 1 July 2021. Eligible students holding a Tier 4 or Student visa valid on or after 1 July 2021 will have the opportunity apply to stay in the UK for 2 years (3 years for doctoral students) to work or seek employment. The UK has also extended the coronavirus concessions for students who so far have been unable to travel to the UK. Students who started their studies in Autumn 2020 will now need to be in the UK by 21 June 2021 to be eligible to apply under the Graduate route. Students starting their studies in January/February 2021 required to be in the UK by 27 September 2021. >>> IDV app continues to be offered to eligible in-country Students Applicants applying in the UK under the student route, and whose biometrics have been recorded in a previous application, continue be assessed by UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) for eligibility to use the IDV app. The IDV app is free and enables applicants to submit application information to UKVI without having to book or attend an appointment with UK Visa & Citizenship Applications Services (UKVCAS). Once UKVI have undertaken this eligibility assessment, UKVCAS will contact applicants to inform them either use the IDV app or to book an appointment at a UKVCAS Service Point. The IDV app is currently only being used for eligible Tier 4 applicants in the UK. The IDV app cannot be used for other routes, including all applications for replacement biometric residence cards.

Для статистики. UK Spouse Visa, гражданин Рф. Получили продление на 8 недель.

Например, долг более £500 NHS = отказ в визе. Правда, частные LandLord туда автоматически не попадают.

На этих выходных. Для статистики. Гражданин Украины. Заявление на гражданство (AN - Naturalization). Рассмотрели за 2 месяца.

Зависит от того, куда обратился хозяин жилья. Если в суд и т.п. - можете вообще в UK не попасть.

Обычно нет, если не спрашивают internal ID.

"Подаем на продление, получаtм ILR". Это было довольно редкое заявление. Клиентам, PBS dependents, не хватало несколько недель для ILR. Я предложил подать заявление на продление и через некоторое время сделать т.н. application variations (PBS Dependents - ILR (SET(O)). Было подано сначала одно заявление и, до сдачи биометрики (важно) подано второе заявление. В итоге клиенты получили ILR и теперь смогу вернуть госпошлину ££££ за первое заявление.