Immigration roundup: December 2024

Free Movement

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

Inspection of trafficking decision making body finds speed prioritised over quality

EUSS (23:10)

Court of Appeal says that application made to EU Settlement Scheme was correctly rejected

Court of Appeal allows appeal on EU Settlement Scheme dependency rules

Procedure (29:05)

New Presidential Guidance on litigation friends in the tribunals

Leave obtained by deception does not count as “continuous lawful residence”

Court of Appeal finds Home Office cannot use the same certification decision in successive removals

Unrepresented claimant fails in judicial review of voided application

Deportation (38:10)

Upper Tribunal clarifies position on deportation of EU nationals for pre and post-Brexit conduct

Regulatory (39:14)

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner to be replaced by Immigration Advice Authority

Nationality (41:25)

High Court dismisses challenge to refusal of indefinite leave under Windrush scheme

Updates (45:00)

Fee waivers: what can you do if you cannot afford to pay your immigration application fee?

Briefing: applying for a graduate visa

How to apply for the UK’s global talent visa