Immigration Bill 2015 – Update

The Immigration Bill 2015, now the Immigration Bill 2015-16, is in its final stages having been debated in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords extensively. It is expected that it will shortly be granted Royal Assent and become an Act of Parliament. 

It has been debated in Parliament since September 2015 and there have been many amendments including the following:

• Immigration detention should be limited to 28 days, except where a court decides otherwise;
• Asylum seekers should be allowed the right to work if their claims have not been processed within six months;
• Government to arrange the relocation of child asylum seekers who have made it to Europe into the UK, with the total number to be decided by the government.

The controversial plan to remove the right of appeal in the UK for human rights cases still stands. At present an applicant only has a right to appeal from within the UK if they are refused asylum/protection or a human rights claim (EEA cases have a different right of appeal under the EEA Regulations). 

Once granted Royal Assent the Immigration Act 2015-16 will create a new power where human right cases can be certified as clearly unfounded, ensuring that the only right of appeal is from outside of the UK. The only exception is that human rights cases cannot be certified so as to be out of country only if this would be a breach of human rights or cause “serious irreversible harm”.

We will continue to keep you updated.