Regina v Boateng – WLR Daily

Regina v Boateng; [2016] EWCA Crim 57

‘The defendant. a Ghanaian national, held a non-European Union passport. His wife, also a Ghanaian national, assumed the identity of a deceased Ghanaian national, who had had Dutch citizenship, and obtained a Dutch identification card and a Dutch passport under that false identity. The defendant and his wife had an infant daughter. On the false premise that he and the daughter were entitled to reside in the United Kingdom by virtue of his wife’s falsely assumed status as a European Union national, the defendant obtained residence cards, each in the form of a Home Office stamp in a non-European Union passport, for himself and the daughter. On three occasions the defendant used his passport, containing the residence card stamp, to enter the United Kingdom, and on one occasion he used it to open a bank account in there. The defendant and his wife were charged with various immigration and documentation offences. The defendant pleaded guilty to eight counts, charged as follows: (i) seeking or obtaining leave to enter or remain in the UK by the deception of applying to the Home Office for a residence card for himself (count 2) and for a certificate of naturalisation (count 12), contrary to section 24A(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971; (ii) facilitating the commission of a breach of section 10(1)(c) of the “Immigration Act 1999” by obtaining leave for his daughter to enter or remain in the UK by the deception of applying to the Home Office for a residence card for her, contrary to section 25(1) of the 1971 Act (count 3); (iii) possessing false identity documents with intent, contrary to section 25(1) of the Identity Cards Act 2006 (counts 4 to 7); and (iv) being in possession or control with intent of an identity document, namely a British passport in his own name that he knew or believed to have been improperly obtained in February 2012, contrary to section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010 (count 13).’

WLR Daily, 16th March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Secretary of State for the Home Department v Khan – WLR Daily

Posted March 15th, 2016 in appeals, immigration, law reports, visas by sally

Secretary of State for the Home Department v Khan [2016] EWCA Civ 137

‘The applicant, a Pakistani national, entered the United Kingdom with leave to remain. On 20 February 2012, before the expiry of his leave, he applied under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 for further leave to remain as a Tier 4 student, intending to study at a particular college which at that time was a registered licensed sponsor. However, by the time the United Kingdom Border Agency came to consider his application, the licence of his sponsoring college had been revoked. The agency suspended consideration of the application to enable the applicant to find a new sponsor and then submit an application to vary the grounds of his original application for further leave to remain, which the applicant did on 9 October 2012. Paragraph 34E of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules provided that if a person wished to “vary the purpose” of an application for leave to remain, the variation had to comply with the requirements for making an application as if the variation were a new application, or the variation would be invalid. The agency refused the applicant’s application to vary the grounds of his original application since, on 9 October 2012, he did not satisfy the requirements of paragraph 1A(a) of Appendix C to the Immigration Rules, which provided that an applicant had to have a certain level of maintenance funds “at the date of the application”. The applicant’s appeal against that decision was allowed by the First-tier Tribunal. The Upper Tribunal dismissed the Secretary of State’s appeal, holding that paragraph 34E did not apply in the applicant’s case since the applicant had not sought to vary the “purpose” of his application, which throughout had remained the same, namely to remain as a Tier 4 student; and that, therefore, the applicant had not been obliged to meet the maintenance fund requirements on 9 October 2012.’

WLR Daily, 18th March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Government suffers two defeats in Lords on Immigration Bill – BBC News

Posted March 10th, 2016 in bills, employment, immigration, news, parliament, Sunday trading by sally

‘The government has twice been defeated in the Lords over its Immigration Bill, shortly after losing a vote in the Commons on Sunday trading.’

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BBC News, 9th March 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Threat of deportation of 92-year-old Myrtle Cothill is lifted – BBC News

Posted March 7th, 2016 in deportation, elderly, health, immigration, news, visas by tracey

‘A 92-year-old woman facing deportation has been given permission to stay in the UK.’

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BBC News, 5th March 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Civil servants ‘complacent’ over e-Borders fiasco – The Guardian

Posted March 4th, 2016 in budgets, civil servants, immigration, news by tracey

‘Civil servants overseeing the e-Borders programme have been accused by parliament’s spending watchdog of being “complacent” and “worryingly dismissive” of failings that could damage national security.’

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The Guardian, 4th March 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Secret Evidence in Immigration Tribunal Hearings: R (on the Application of ILPA) v Tribunal Procedure Committee and Lord Chancellor – Free Movement

‘Open justice is one of the most crucial features of a free state. In weighing up individual cases, courts have sometimes decided that open justice shoud give way to other, equally necessary, ideals. For instance, national security won the day in the Court of Appeal decision in the Erol Incedal case. This was inevitably criticised by the press. In Immigration Law Practitioners Association, R (On the Application Of) v Tribunal Procedure Committee & Anor [2016] EWHC 218 (Admin), Mr Justice Blake in the High Court deals whether in appropriate circumstances information can be withheld from an appellant, or both an appellant and their representative, in immigration tribunals. Rule 13 of the 2014 Immigration Tribunal Procedure Rules purports to do just that; the Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA) brought a challenge to its legality.’

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Free Movement, 29th February 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Prisons inspector calls for time limit on immigration detention – The Guardian

Posted March 1st, 2016 in detention, immigration, news, prisons by sally

‘The new chief inspector of prisons has backed calls for a limit on how long people can be held in immigration removal centres after finding one detainee held for more than five years.’

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The Guardian, 1st March 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Law-abiding’ rapist let back into Britain because it would break EU law to deport him to Romania – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 29th, 2016 in appeals, deportation, EC law, human rights, immigration, news, proportionality, rape by sally

‘Married father-of-three Mircea Gheorghiu is allowed to return to the UK after being sent back to his home country last year.’

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Daily Telegraph, 28th February 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘Absurd’ visa rules on income force UK citizens into exile, court told – The Guardian

Posted February 23rd, 2016 in appeals, families, human rights, immigration, news, Supreme Court, visas by sally

‘UK citizens are being forced into exile by the Home Office’s “irrational and absurd” minimum-income visa requirements, with some couples having no hope of ever being able to live together in Britain, the supreme court has heard.’

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The Guardian, 22nd February 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘I should be able to live with my wife’: families divided by UK visa rules – The Guardian

Posted February 23rd, 2016 in appeals, families, immigration, news, visas by sally

‘Ahead of a supreme court challenge to the minimum income requirement for partner visas, three couples discuss their situation.’

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The Guardian, 21st February 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Families to challenge minimum income visa rules in supreme court – The Guardian

Posted February 22nd, 2016 in appeals, families, human rights, immigration, news, remuneration, statistics, Supreme Court, visas by sally

‘The families of UK citizens denied the right to live in Britain because of the minimum income visa requirement for non-EU partners are to challenge the rules in the supreme court on Monday.’

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The Guardian, 22nd Febraury 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Deportation of woman, 92, ‘against human rights’ – BBC News

Posted February 22nd, 2016 in deportation, elderly, human rights, immigration, news by sally

‘The lawyer of a 92-year-old woman facing deportation from the UK says he will take her case to the European Court of Human Rights if needed.’

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BBC News, 20th February 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Virginia Mantouvalou: Modern Slavery? The UK Visa System and the Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted February 18th, 2016 in employment, immigration, news, trafficking in human beings, visas, women by sally

‘Since 2012 migrant domestic workers arrive in the UK under very restrictive visa conditions. The Overseas Domestic Worker visa does not permit them to change employer and ties them to the employer with whom they arrived for a non-renewable period of six months. Domestic workers, particularly when they live in the employers’ household, are a vulnerable group of workers. They are also often excluded from labour protective laws. The UK visa has been heavily criticised by many for creating further vulnerability, and has even been linked to slavery. Between 15,000 and 16,000 such visas are issued each year, according to the Home Office, which does not provide any further information on arrivals but produces data on the nationality of the employers. About 80 per cent come from a very small number of countries in the Middle East.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 16th February 2016

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Shabir Ahmed: Sex gang leader appeals over deportation – BBC News

‘The ringleader of a child sex grooming gang has appealed against deportation from Britain on human rights grounds.’

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BBC News, 16 February 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Immigration lawyers fail with challenge to secret evidence – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 16th, 2016 in closed material, immigration, news, tribunals by sally

‘A rule that allows decisions in immigration appeals to be based on undisclosed evidence is not unlawful, the High Court has ruled.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 16th February 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Judicial Review: What is meant by “totally without merit” – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 16th, 2016 in appeals, immigration, judicial review, news by sally

‘What is the difference between a case that is “totally without merit” and one that is “not arguable”? Are either of those more or less hopeless than a case that is “bound to fail”?’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 15th February 2016

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Government introduces Policing and Crime Bill – Home Office

Posted February 12th, 2016 in bills, child abuse, disciplinary procedures, immigration, news, police by sally

‘The Home Office has introduced new legislation which will aim to finish the job of police reform.’

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Home Office, 11th February 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Judge orders release of Zimbabwean criminal who cannot be deported – The Guardian

Posted February 2nd, 2016 in consent, detention, immigration, news, passports by sally

‘A high court judge has ordered the release of a convicted Zimbabwean criminal who has spent more than two years in immigration detention pending his deportation.’

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The Guardian, 1st February 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Refusal and revocation of British citizenship for dishonest conduct – Free Movement

Posted January 20th, 2016 in asylum, citizenship, deceit, fraud, immigration, news, statistics by sally

‘In another reminder that British citizenship can be refused on the basis of past dishonest conduct we have the case of R (on the application of Rushiti & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 3931 (Admin). This one dates back a few months but I’m afraid I only just found it in my drafts folder. It involves two linked cases, both of which are further examples of Albanians entering the UK and pretending to be Kosovar, eventually obtaining immigration status then applying for British citizenship.’

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Free Movement, 18th January 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Almost half of asylum seekers unhappy with their lawyers, report finds – Legal Futures

Posted January 19th, 2016 in asylum, complaints, immigration, law firms, legal representation, news, reports, solicitors by sally

‘Almost half of asylum seekers are not satisfied with the service provided by their lawyers, a report for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has found.’

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Legal Futures, 18th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk