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28.06.2021 - What happens to EU citizens who miss the settled status deadline?

The law

The first thing to say is that they can still apply. The Withdrawal Agreement again:

where the deadline for submitting the application… is not respected by the persons concerned, the competent authorities shall assess all the circumstances and reasons for not respecting the deadline and shall allow those persons to submit an application within a reasonable further period of time if there are reasonable grounds for the failure to respect the deadline…

There is Home Office guidance on what counts as “reasonable grounds”. For present purposes, it’s enough to know that you can still secure...

25.06.2021 - Non-Europeans can be detained for longer, EU Court of Justice decides

An eight-month detention period for EU citizens is disproportionate, the Court of Justice of the European Union has decided. The case is C-718/19 Ordre des barreaux francophones and germanophone and Others.

The case originated in the Belgian courts. Legislation in Belgium designed to facilitate the removal of unauthorised non-EU nationals, as well as EU nationals deemed to be a risk to public safety or security, allows people in either category to be held in immigration detention for up to eight months. There were two main questions for the court in Luxembourg:

  1. Is it lawful to have enforc...

24.06.2021 - Bank of England shrugs off inflation fears

The Bank of England has shrugged off concerns that inflation could surge as the economy returns to normal after the pandemic.

Consumer price inflation hit a two-year high of 2.1% in the year to May, exceeding the Bank's 2% target.

But in its latest statement, the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said the effect would be temporary.

The MPC voted 9-0 to keep interest rates steady at the historic low of 0.1%.

Rates have been unchanged since March last year, when they were reduced to help contain the economic shock of Covid-19.

MPC members also voted 8-1 to continue with the Bank's existing ...

23.06.2021 - My passport is just my way out of here: the Brits affected by deportation

Interviewer: What do you think it means to be British?

Mary: It is a passport. To be British now, I’m sorry to say this, but it is a passport. That is it. That is what being British means to me. I have lost faith in the country which I used to call home. I have lost faith, I have lost trust. Every single bit of pride that I had to be calling myself a British citizen has gone out of the window. They have basically sucked every single bit of love for the UK out of me.

Mary, a white, British-born citizen, was interviewed as part of new research examining the impact of insecure immigration status ...

23.06.2021 - Brexit: EU citizens given 28-day deadline to apply to stay in UK

Immigration enforcement officials will begin giving EU citizens who live in the UK a 28-day warning to apply to remain, the government says.

But the Home Office will allow people indefinite time to complete an application for settled status if they have a reasonable excuse for delay.

There is a week to go until the deadline for applications.

Some 5.6 million European Economic Area (EEA) citizens and their dependents have applied for settled status.

But there are around 400,000 cases outstanding, and the government's helpline is receiving thousands of calls a day.

After the 2016 Brexit referend...

23.06.2021 - Open-ended overstayers can’t rely on ten-year lawful residence rule

This, in a sentence, is the conclusion reached by the Upper Tribunal in R (Waseem & Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (long residence policy – interpretation) [2021] UKUT 146 (IAC).

Background: overstaying and long residence

This is the fifth time within the last few years that the higher courts have considered the long residence rules. In particular, there has been uncertainty about whether someone can quality for settlement based on ten years’ continuous lawful residence if they have any gaps during which time they were an overstayer.

In looking at this issue, judges draw ...

22.06.2021 - Criminals being deported can’t be transferred to an open prison

R (Akbar) v Secretary of State for Justice [2021] EWCA Civ 898 was a challenge to the Prison Rules 1999, one of which says that a prisoner who is being deported and has run out of appeals “must not be classified as suitable for open conditions”. The challenge was unsuccessful.

Jawad Akbar has a terrorism conviction, reportedly for planning to blow up crowded buildings, and is nearing the end of a 17-year minimum prison term. Born in Pakistan, he has Italian citizenship through his father, and it is to Italy that the Home Office intends to deport him.

In 2018, Mr Akbar asked for a transfer to a...

22.06.2021 - Lengthy absences from the UK can put EU settled status at risk: understanding the immigration rules

For most people, the EU Settlement Scheme has largely lived up to its government billing as generous and straightforward, but confusion over permitted absences is likely to cause some European residents trouble down the line.

People with pre-settled status, in particular, need to be aware of the absence rules. If they have been outside the UK for more than six months in any 12-month period, they will now only be able to upgrade to settled status if they returned to the UK before 31 December 2020.  

People who already have settled status, or have clocked up the necessary five years and intend t...

22.06.2021 - Government borrowing eases in May

Government borrowing fell in May compared with the same month last year, with the economy in recovery mode after lockdown measures eased.

Borrowing - the difference between spending and tax income - was £24.3bn, official figures show, which was £19.4bn lower than May last year.

However, the figure was the second highest for May since records began.

Borrowing has been hitting record levels, with billions being spent on measures such as furlough payments.

The huge amount of borrowing over the past year has now pushed government debt up to nearly £2.2 trillion, or about 99.2% of GDP - a rate not ...

21.06.2021 - Latest on Zambrano carers and the EU Settlement Scheme

On 9 June 2021, in the case of Akinsanya, the High Court found that the definition of Zambrano carers in the rules for the EU Settlement Scheme was wrong, insofar as it prevented those with permission to remain under another part of the Immigration Rules from applying.

With the deadline to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme around the corner, on 30 June 2021, potential Zambrano carers are in a difficult position. Ms Akinsanya did ask the High Court to order an extension to the deadline so that people affected by this ruling have more time to work out what to do. The result is a consent order...

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