Show Notes
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
Home Secretary delayed decisions on trafficking victims’ cases because of Rwanda policy – paving the way for potential damages claims
EU Settlement Scheme (17:30)
Lengthy absences from the UK can still put EU settled status at risk
EU Settlement Scheme: automatic extensions and potential curtailments
Home Office policy on delaying consideration of EUSS applications held to be unlawful
Court of Appeal finds breach of Withdrawal Agreement in “mystery” stamp case
Court of Appeal resolves ambiguity about assumed dependency in EU Settlement Scheme
Detention (28:07)
Harmondsworth detention centre inspection report: “worst conditions” ever seen
Nationality (30:30)
Briefing: a guide to applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme
High Court finds passport office prevented from refusing passport to person who may not actually be British
High Court upholds refusal to register child as a British Citizen
Points Based System (38:30)
High Court confirms that mandatory sponsor licence revocation is actually mandatory in latest care home case
How the UK’s systems for dealing with overseas entertainers have descended into farce and how they can be improved
Procedure (41:42)
eVisas: who is affected and what steps to take now
First-tier Tribunal judge carried out “wholly inappropriate” cross-examination of appellant
Immigration (48:20)
New Home Office guidance clarifies transitional provisions for absences in the 10 year long residence route
More from Free Movement
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In this month's round-up, Jasmine is joined by Mala Savjani, an associate solicitor at Wilsons. They cover the latest tribunal statistics, which make for grim reading as the asylum appeals backlog has climbed past 87,000 cases. With roughly twice as many cases coming in as going out, anyone lodging an appeal now faces a wait of close to three years. Mala then unpacks the judicial review challenges to the Home Office's good character citizenship policy. Jasmine and Mala also cover a Court of Appeal decision on Iranian sur place claims, a win for Freedom from Torture and the Helen Bamber Foundation over asylum accommodation protections, and a curious split between the English and Scottish courts on age assessments. Plus, the new compliance regime for universities, the English language test fraud allegations saga, settlement and more!
This month, Jasmine is joined by Isaac Abraham, a solicitor at the Islington Law Centre. They discuss the King’s speech and the latest immigration statistics, which show a fall in net migration and asylum claims, but a steadily growing appeals backlog. The number of sponsor licence revocations has also shot up. Jasmine interviewed Luke Piper last month about the devastation this is causing to sponsored workers, particularly in the health and care sector. Isaac discusses a number of new cases including a challenge by Syrian asylum seekers against removal to Bulgaria based on article 3 grounds and what happens to someone’s entitlement to benefits when they are subject to deportation proceedings. Jasmine talks about the problems that UK universities are creating for international student entrepreneurs and elsewhere there has been a judicial review challenge to the Home Secretary’s decision to grant temporary protection status of only 30 months to refugees. All this and much more!