What a month. Sonia kicked off the podcast with a runthrough of the major policy proposals which came out in November, including the changes to refugee settlement periods and a look at the earned settlement proposals (though not in too much detail as she is doing a full webinar with Colin on the topic for Free Movement members on Wednesday 10 December at 11am). Barry had provided oral evidence to the House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee inquiry into Settlement, Citizenship andIntegration the day before we recorded, so he gave us an update on that (as mentioned by Sonia, the call for written evidence is here and the deadline is 26 January 2025).Sonia also ran through some of the lowlights from the latestquarterly statistics and gave updates on the latest eVisa and section 3C leave challenges. Barry looked at a useful post on what MPs are able to help with in immigration matters, and added his expert insights to posts on unmarried partner applications as well as a recent reported case on overseas adoptions. There were also several case updates and much more!Policy (01:20)Home Secretary opens consultation on “earned settlement” Home Secretary announces major asylum and other changes in new policy paper: “Restoring Order and Control”Latest statistics: gaps in Home Office’s family data give cause for concern in light of earned settlement proposals  Procedure (16:15)What can MPs do to help their constit

Our October round up is here! Barry does the honours thistime around with the statement of changes and Sonia foreshadows some bad news potentially coming next week. Barry shares an AI horror story that is really one for the ages (so far) after Sonia’s segment on the latest lawyers to fallfoul of AI hallucinated case citations. We also cover a new briefing on biometric excuses and predeterminations, sponsor licence enforcement, the rules around supplementary (not secondary) employment and new legislation in force on deprivation cases.There are also loads of new cases, from a grandmotherbattling a 23 year old deportation order so that she can join her family in the UK, to some dodgy interviewing practices by the Home Office, unrepresented appellants and decisions on the papers, and Sonia and Barry do their usual scratchingof heads over the Home Office’s decision to fight a fairly obvious case about an email all the way to the Court of Appeal.The 37 minute podcast follows the running order below:Statement of changes (02:00)Date set for commencement of new student, graduate and work immigration rules New suitability rules will apply to Appendix FM and other human rights applicationsVisa requirement imposed on Botswana nationals to prevent asylum claims  Procedure (15:20)Two more immigration lawyers facing potential disciplinary proceedings for misuse of AI How to apply to come to the UK when you can’t travel safely to enrol your biometrics Immigration enforcement interview at train station ruled procedurally unfair

September brought us a new Home Secretary who immediately made some inaccurate comments about “last minute” legal challenges to removal and the modern slavery identification system, so Sonia looked at those in this month’s podcast. Sonia also covered the final act of the previous Home Secretary, which was the closure of the refugee family reunion route. Refugees do still haveother options, but with a lot more hurdles and delays in place. Barry discussed the case of the Palestinian refugee wherethe Home Office withdrew the refusal of his asylum claim the day before the appeal hearing indicating that refugee status would be granted, only to refuse it again following publicity of the case – prompting a further legal battle. Barry also looked at changes to the early removal scheme for foreign national offenders, as well as the case of an ill-advised use of AI by an immigration barrister that led to a referral to the Bar Standards Board. All this and much more!Reminder – if you want to book any of our upcoming trainingcourses, you can find them all here.The 40 minute podcast follows the running order below:Asylum (02:55)The reality behind “last minute” legal challenges to removal Briefing: is the modern slavery identification system in the UK being misused? Home Office amends modern slavery guidance to facilitate returns to France following High Court decision Palestinian refugee forced to wait further 18 months for refugee status after Home Office change of position Refugee family reunion route closed in statement of changes: HC 1298 What now for refugee family reunion applications?  Depo

Let's face it, August was a rough one and hopefully most of you managed to escape it for a summer holiday at some point, in which case you definitely need Sonia and Barry to help catch you up! The UK announced its new arrangements to return people arriving across the Channel to France, hotels used as asylum accommodation hit the headlines as far right protests hit the streets, and the latest immigration and asylum statistics were out - with some notable omissions. In addition to this, Barry covers an unsuccessful attempt by the Daily Mail to publish the personal details of a woman who lacks mental capacity as well as a new registration process for Irish citizens to become British.Barry also covers the very sad case of a woman who was unsuccessful in her challenge to a refusal of indefinite leave to remain. Sonia highlights an unreported but useful case on public order disqualifications in trafficking claims, an essential read for anyone working on those cases. She also looks at an important change to practice in the First-tier Tribunal which has been endorsed by the Upper Tribunal. All this and more in our August roundup! The 41 minute podcast follows the running order below:Statistics (00:45)Latest statistics raise questions around sustainability of Home Office asylum decision making Briefing: the sorry state of the UK asylum system  Asylum (07:00)Briefing: how to come to the UK from France under the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme Expression of interest form for France to UK transfers goes live What do we know about the UK-France agreement on asylum returns? Trading in human lives: unpacking the UK/European transfer scheme

July was actually a fairly busy month! Join Sonia and Barry as they run you through what happened, including the changes to the skilled worker route, everything that happened on Afghan resettlement, recent changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and the latest instalment in a far too long running Palestinian case. An article from BID flagging up a really important change being proposed to cautions got a huge number of views and has hopefully helped to raise awareness.Other cases included one involving a questionable practice by the Home Office relating to people in prison, a successful challenge to a sponsor licence revocation. Barry and Sonia also discussed the wisdom of civil penalty appeals, the latest on climate change litigation and an important update for anyone filing judicial reviews in the Administrative Court. That's not even all of it!The 43 minute long podcast follows the running order below:Statement of changes (00:50)Afghan scheme closed immediately and major changes to skilled worker route – statement of changes: HC 997  Asylum (02:10)Secret Afghan resettlement scheme set up after government data breach Successful challenge to transparency of Triples review of Afghan resettlement rejectionsWhat does the ICJ’s advisory opinion on climate change mean for displaced people?The Climate Mobility Case Database: a new movement to advance the rights of climate-displaced communities Palestinian family succeed in their latest battle to reach the UK  Deportation (12:30)

Time for your June round up of all things Free Movement - and Barry is back! In this month's episode both Sonia and Barry divulge some rather niche interests, while discussing the second latest (!!) statement of changes, the Migration Advisory Committee's review into the minimum income requirement, the legal aid crisis (the increase was announced the day of recording) and impact on the tribunals. They also looked at difficulties for both Afghan women and Ukrainians seeking protection in the UK. Cases included a mystifying decision by some legal representatives to ignore a helpful email from the Home Office, some guidance on bringing Cart judicial reviews under the new restrictions, a certificate of travel refusal and more!The 37 minute long podcast follows the running order below:Statement of changes (01:30)Statement of changes: HC 836 sees changes to permitted absences for EU Settlement SchemeAsylum (02:40)The Home Office is refusing Ukrainians’ protection claims and telling them to leave the UKLegal aid crisis worsens with shortage of immigration and asylum advice throughout the UKImmigration tribunal appeals backlog up 80% to 90k outstanding cases The uncertain future for Afghan women seeking asylum

May is over and the immigration white paper has finally been published, so Sonia spends a bit of time at the beginning of this month's podcast reliving the horrors of that. Andrew covers a very wide range of topics in this episode, from deprivation of citizenship to "self sponsorship" to deportation of EU nationals to visitors. Sonia goes on (yet another) rant about eVisas. If there is a potential audience for Andrew's offer of a ten hour podcast purely listing eVisa complaints then do let us know and we'll consider it! All this and much more. The 45 minute long podcast follows the running order below:Immigration white paper (00:52)The immigration white paper has been publishedWhat does the immigration white paper say about workers and students?What does the immigration white paper say about family, deportation and other areas?Immigration white paper impacts on the Higher Education sector and international studentsImmigration white paper – the case for optimism and what sponsors should doPoints based system (09:05)Your questions answered: the ‘Self-Sponsorship route’ for overseas businesses establishing a UK presenceBriefing: an employer’s guide to section 3C leaveAsy

It was a relatively quiet April ahead of what looks to be a busy May. Sonia is joined by Andrew again this month. Sonia runs through the amendments made at committee stage of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration one and despaired over the lack of attention given to the case where the UK detained a Brazilian tourist for eight weeks. Andrew looks at Asylum Aid's successful statelessness challenge as well as a really interesting piece on discrimination against non-EEA nationals with pre-settled status. There were also lots of case updates, including on fee waivers in indefinite leave applications, successful and unsuccessful skilled worker cases, and much more!The following posts were covered in this episode:What amendments have been made to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill?Asylum (03:45)New Iran country policy and information note on social media, surveillance and sur place activities First-tier Tribunal wrong to allow appeal based on a grant of humanitarian protection that did not exist Court of Appeal considers standard of proof for internal relocation  Family (08:00)Asylum Aid wins High Court challenge to the statelessness family reunion rules The armed forces immigration rules: what are they, why do they exist and what are the challenges? Home Office guidance on discretionary indefinite leave for children held to be unlawful

This month Barry is away and so his colleague Andrew Jones has stepped up and stepped in to co-host with Sonia, and frankly made it all look rather easy. March was a busy one, and Sonia and Andrew rattled through a lot. There were some big decisions in the asylum world, including Wethersfield and an important one on asylum support and withdrawals. Sonia attempted to explain an incredibly complex trafficking case in under 60 seconds and gave Andrew the two most depressing cases of the month, one involving the ongoing separation of a family in the UK and France and another where a man won his spouse appeal, but only after his spouse had died.It was statistics galore with the 2024 figures now out for both for trafficking cases and the tribunals. There was also a statement of changes last month, along with some fee increases taking effect in April that practitioners should be aware of. We also covered the latest deprivation decision, this one from the Supreme Court. That’s not even all of it!Asylum (01:05)High Court confirms ability to challenge lawfulness of withdrawal decision in asylum support appealHigh Court finds that three men were unlawfully accommodated at WethersfieldCourt of Appeal says exclusion of those with deportation orders from trafficking concession is lawfulChildren with pending asylum claim can be removed from the UK to be reunited with their parentsInspector’s report finds penalty scheme for deterring clandest

The February podcast is here! We kick off with Sonia briefly summarising the recently published statistics for 2024. There was then a lot to cover on asylum with several case updates and of course the recent Home Office changes to the good character requirements. Barry was thrilled to be able to discuss his favourite section of the British Nationality Act 1981 as well as getting to cover Alex Piletska’s “highly entertaining” housesitting piece. All that and much more!General immigration (01:00)Health and care worker visas and asylum grant rates both plummeted in 2024 according to latest statistics  Asylum (03:15)High Court upholds award of £98,757 damages to refugee Home Secretary’s decision on national security is sufficient to revoke refugee status Upper Tribunal dismisses judicial review in case of parents seeking to reunite with young children  High Court provides guidance on interaction between Schedule 10 accommodation and Care Act duties Who is eligible and how to apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme? Challenge to refusal to relocate Diego Garcia refugee to the UK dismissed by High CourtGood character guidance amended to block refugees from naturalisation British citizenship (20:45)

Sonia and Barry are back already to celebrate the end of January! There is a brief look back at 2024 and look forward to 2025 which of course now includes the new Bill (seriously what are we calling this thing for short? BSAIB just doesn't work, as Barry ably demonstrates). Sonia and Barry cover two of the recent Court of Appeal deprivation cases, as well as Asylum Aid's recent statelessness challenge and a recent decision on children separated from their parents during a Channel crossing. Sonia also covered a few trafficking updates and made a plea for one final effort on legal aid as the final consultation opens. There are new briefings and case updates on work routes as well as interesting one on urgent removals. Barry finishes off with a look at Manston and the recent judicial review forcing a proper inquiry into what happened at the centre. The 41 minute podcast follows the running order below: Immigration news (00:30) Free Movement review of the year 2024 Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill   Nationality (04:05) Deprivation of British citizenship process is procedurally unfair, says Court of Appeal New Court of Appeal guidance on the correct test to be applied to s.40(3) deprivation of citizenship appeals Statelessness – Asylum Aid legal challenge to family reunion rules change in High Court this week   Asylum (13:45) Home Office wins appeal against interim admission of parents of separated children Consultation on increase to legal aid fees opens

It’s goodbye to 2024 in this month’s podcast, with Sonia and Barry wrapping up December. They spend a bit of time discussing eVisas at the beginning of the podcast, before moving on to asylum and trafficking where issues around the quality of decision making have been raised in a couple of different posts. Barry covered two Court of Appeal decisions on the EU Settlement Scheme as well as an Upper Tribunal decision on deportation of EU nationals. Sonia discussed OISC’s name change and suggests that time and money might have been better spent on resolving the various issues with the new online portal. All that and much more! The 46 minute long podcast follows the running order below:  eVisas (00:40) eVisas and the hostile environment: a disaster waiting to happen Home Office minister makes statement on eVisas Asylum (13:10) Briefing: current problems in the UK asylum system and how to address them Migrant Help: now more helpful? Court of Appeal dismisses Iranian asylum appeal Afghan family to have application decided a sixth time after unfair refusal Recent changes to the policy on granting leave to survivors of trafficking In

Barry returns and joins Sonia to run you through November on Free Movement. It was statistics galore for Sonia who covered the latest immigration, asylum and trafficking figures. A surprise statement of changes contained bad news for Colombians and Ukrainians. Barry was a really big fan of Colin's review of the latest Paddington movie and enthusiastically endorsed Alex Piletska's suggestion that the referee requirement for citizenship applications is scrapped. There were also several cases covered, including a detailed explanation from Sonia of the implications of the latest challenge to the no recourse to public funds policy. Full details of all the posts we covered can be found below. The 50 minute podcast follows the running order below: General immigration (00:40) Statistics for July to September 2024 show health and care worker and student numbers continuing to fall Safe options for Ukrainians and Colombians coming to the UK shut down in latest statement of changes   Asylum (03:50) Appeals lodged in the First-tier Tribunal up 53% and continued “significant increase” of asylum appeals expected States cannot refuse asylum claims by LGBTQI+ people based on the ‘discretion test’ alone Trafficking referrals and decisions at record high in latest statistics Unlawfully withdrawn asylum claim re

Colin's back! But for how long? All is revealed in our October roundup podcast. Plus Sonia and Colin discuss hot topics such as the new practice direction for appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, appeals backlogs, issues in asylum interviews and reaccreditation for the Law Society's immigration and asylum scheme. We also cover the latest Supreme Court decision on the best interests of children, a case involving some serious administrative failings at the Court of Appeal, climate change and refugees and the latest inspection report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. On work routes we cover posts explaining which routes can lead to settlement, the latest round of litigation on care home sponsor licence revocation and whether the skilled worker pay thresholds create an equal pay issue. All this and much more (and no politics!). The 38 minute podcast follows the running order below: Procedure (01:30) New Practice Direction of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal issued Court of Appeal apologises and grants four year extension of time after administrative failings Administrative Court reminds practitioners of the need for an application when seeking to rely on expert evidence When can someone be refused a passport because of their name? Supreme Court says that statutory duty regarding children does not apply to the First-tier Tribunal

In this episode of the podcast Barry does everyone a big favour by taking us through the autumn statement of changes in detail. Sonia and Barry also have a bit of a call to arms on discretionary grants of indefinite leave to remain and tackling the ten year route. The importance of scrutinising country policy and information notes in asylum claims is covered over a few different articles. Barry goes through the minefield of travelling with leave under Appendix EUSS or a pending application, as well as the additional powers given to Border Force officials to cancel leave granted under Appendix EUSS at the border. Sonia really really doesn't want people to abuse the fee waiver process. We also cover Windrush and freedom of information requests, a successful Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) judicial review, the latest on biometric residence permits and eVisas, and more. We finish up with a look at the recent legal aid challenge and what the next steps look like there. The hour long podcast follows the running order below: General immigration (00:30) Statement of changes HC 217: fee waivers for bereaved partners, visa regime imposed on Jordan Home Office confirms error in immigration rules and directs skilled worker sponsors to updated guidance   Asylum (10:30) A troubling new approach to Afghan asylum claims Inspection of Home Office’s country guidance on Rwanda includes concerns about methodology and omission of evidence Concerns raised about Home Office use of

Barry joins Sonia again this month to look back at what happened in August. We cover the latest statistics on asylum, immigration and trafficking. There are a couple of cases relating to asylum family reunion, as well as a policy change for those separated during Operation Pitting. Other cases covered included deprivation of citizenship, an unsuccessful challenge to legal aid provision for young people and a successful challenge by Bail for Immigration Detainees in a freedom of information challenge. We also discuss updates on a couple of reports from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the latest on what is happening with Tech Nation. The 43 minute podcast follows the running order below:   Asylum (00:55) Latest statistics show little movement on the asylum backlog, drop in students and health and care workers Positive decisions by immigration authority remain very low in latest trafficking statistics Unsuccessful challenge to lack of legal aid for asylum interviews Appeal against grant of limited bail on Diego Garcia dismissed No discrimination found against Afghan man blocked from Ukraine schemes Tribunal orders Home Office to disclose information on emergency travel documents for Somalia and Eritrea New country of origin information on children and young people from Sudan Home Office finally announces separated families route for Afghan evacuated families

It's August and Colin is away on holiday so Sonia was joined by a very special guest, Barry O'Leary, for the July roundup. Sonia and Barry discussed the end of the Rwanda scheme and the resumed processing of asylum cases, things not to do when carrying out an asylum backlog clearance, and the latest pause on decision making. They also cover the many EU Settlement Scheme cases that came out in July, the Windrush Compensation Scheme, a very popular post on a case involving estoppel and passports, and much much more. The 53 minute podcast follows the running order below: Asylum (00:55) The Rwanda policy is in its death throes Asylum processing to resume as new regulations allow grants of leave to be made Lessons to be learned from the last asylum backlog clearance exercise Successful challenge by Masters student to asylum accommodation move Freedom of information request shows increase in multiple asylum interview invites for applicants Asylum Support Tribunal says it can consider lawfulness of Home Office withdrawal of asylum claims High Court finds trafficking decision unlawful for failure to consider all available evidence Policy on leave to remain for survivors of trafficking continues to cause confusion and distress

Here is your June round up of Free Movement. In this episode Colin and Sonia discuss why the Illegal Migration Act should be repealed, an appalling decision on trafficking delays, a much better decision on section 3C leave, the raised standard of proof in asylum claims, one and a bit cases on challenging judicial behaviour, the latest care home revocation case and much much more. By popular (?) demand, we finish with a chat about the general election. The 39 minute podcast follows the running order below: Asylum (00:40) Briefing: four problems in the UK asylum system and how to address them Almost four year delay in deciding trafficking claim held to be lawful by High Court The new, higher standard of proof doesn’t apply to human rights claims Kent County Council cannot avoid its duty to find placements for unaccompanied asylum seeking children   Procedure (13:10) Court of Appeal rejects claim that hearing was unfair because tribunal judge asked too many questions Home Secretary’s failure to provide digital proof of status to those with section 3C leave held to be unlawful (and see here for an update from RAMFEL: https://www.ramfel.org.uk/news-and-blog/3c-leave-update-time-to-request-digital-proof-of-status) High Court decides there is no oral permission hearing in Cart judicial reviews 

In this podcast Sonia discusses Kalayaan's new report "12 years of modern slavery" with Avril Sharp, immigration lawyer and policy officer. The report looks at the history of the overseas domestic worker visa, and the harmful changes that have made. They also discuss the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, delays within the National Referral Mechanism system for identifying survivors of trafficking and modern slavery, the experiences of those within the system, similarities with other "tied" visa routes and changes that need to be made to protect domestic workers.

Here is your May round up of Free Movement. In this episode Colin and Sonia look at the latest immigration, asylum and trafficking statistics, including discussion of the fee waiver backlog. They also cover the latest on “safe and legal” routes for those in Afghanistan and Gaza. Sonia nerds it up over archived Home Office guidance and we cover several new cases. The episode ends with a discussion of the upcoming general election and some hopes (and some lack of hope) for a new government. The 35 minute podcast follows the running order below:   Asylum (00:20) Home Office statistics link drop in asylum grant rate to Nationality and Borders Act 2022 Trafficking statistics show positive decisions by the immigration enforcement competent authority are at a record low Inspection report on Afghan resettlement schemes reveals another secret pause on processing cases Upper Tribunal finds guidance for those unable to travel from Gaza to enrol biometrics is unlawful Asylum seekers on Diego Garcia granted bail to access limited areas of the island Procedure (17:10) How to access old versions of Home Office guidance and identify any changes A varied application can be refused where false representations were used in the original application Human rights (19:40)