ILPA Weekly Update (28 August 2023)

ILPA documents | ILPA Weekly Update

ILPA Members

Welcome to the weekly members’ email, with ILPA news, updates from the Legal Team, dates for Working Group meetings, including for ILPA’s new Digitisation Working Group, and a revised date for the Scotland Working Group meeting, September training dates, Government updates and the latest job opportunities.

ILPA News

Secretariat News

As members will be aware, Marianne Schönle, our Senior Legal Officer, will be leaving ILPA in early September. This will mean that the Legal Team’s capacity will be reduced from now as she prepares her handover, and for the coming few weeks, so please be aware that it may take longer than normal to receive a response. 

A reminder that Niamh Fegan, our Legal Officer, works on Legal Team matters three days per week and on Strategic Legal Projects two days per week. Combined with others’ working patterns, this means that ordinarily there are no members of the Secretariat working on Legal Team matters on Fridays, so please bear this in mind when contacting the Secretariat. Many thanks for your understanding.

We look forward to introducing members to our new Legal and Parliamentary Officer once an appointment has been made. 

GENERAL

ICIBI Call for evidence: An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector


The ICIBI is carrying out an inspection into the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector. The ICIBI has issued a public ‘call for evidence’ via the ICIBI website and has written to ILPA directly to ask if ILPA could signpost other stakeholders to the ‘call for evidence’ and encourage them to submit their evidence. The ICIBI is particularly keen to hear from people with lived experience of this process.

The inspection will be examining the following areas:

  • the effectiveness and efficiency of the health and care worker visa route 
  • the extent and quality of communication and engagement between the Home Office and the social care sector 
  • the current suitability of the Home Office’s licencing system for health and care worker visa sponsorship 
  • the effectiveness of the Home Office’s compliance requirements on sponsors, including how these safeguard employees from exploitation 
  • the Home Office’s progress towards delivery of their transformation plan, ‘The UK’s Points-Based Immigration System Sponsorship Roadmap’ (published in August 2021) and the effectiveness of any implemented changes.

The ICIBI’s call for evidence will remain open until 11 September 2023. However, ILPA has secured an extension to 25 September for ILPA to respond to the consultation, so if members would like ILPA to respond, please send your evidence to legal@ilpa.org.uk by 17:00 on 18 September, confirming in your email that you are happy for your evidence to be incorporated into ILPA’s response to the ICIBI (if sufficient evidence is received) which ILPA would make public. Thank you very much. Anyone wishing to respond directly to the ICIBI should assume the deadline to be 11 September as published in the absence of any communication with the ICIBI to the contrary. 

 

COURTS AND TRIBUNALS


ILPA Response to the Tribunal Procedure Committee (TPC) Consultation on Possible changes to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules and the Upper Tribunal Rules (29 August 2023)

ILPA sent a response on 29 August 2023 to the TPC’s consultation on potential changes to rules on Citizens’ Rights Appeals and Rule 22A of the Upper Tribunal Rules. With thanks to Chris Benn, Nicole Masri, Jonathan Kingham and Alison Hunter for their help and contribution.

 

REFUGEE AND ASYLUM


Home Office correspondence to SEG members re: The pausing of the differentiation policy (22 August 2023)

Following the pausing of the differentiation policy in the July 2023 changes to the Immigration Rules, the Home Office has sent a letter to SEG members with an update on the pausing, and ‘in particular on the process of varying the permission to stay of individuals granted temporary refugee permission to stay as Group 2 refugees or temporary humanitarian permission to stay following an asylum claim made on or after 28 June 2022’.

Individuals affected by a variation in their permission to stay are being contacted by an initial letter ‘which requests the return of their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and outlines the updated conditions of their permission to stay’.

The Home Office has also issued an updated Discontinuation FAQ. Please note that these documents must not be shared beyond the ILPA membership.

 

LEGAL AID
 

Legal Aid Agency ‘#HelpUsSayYes Webinar: Delivery of the Detained Duty Advice Scheme (DDAS) surgeries’: 12 & 13 September (13 is a re-run) 

The Legal Aid Agency is encouraging all those who currently deliver DDAS surgeries at immigration removal centres, or are considering doing so, to attend one of their forthcoming webinars taking place on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 September. The webinar will provide an overview of what to expect before, during and after delivering a DDAS surgery, as well as how work can be billed.

Members can register their place for either date here (both sessions are identical); please note that places are limited and allocated on a ‘first come’ basis.

 

DIGITISATION

 

Home Office Open Consultation: ‘Biometric registration regulations: changes to the Code of Practice’ 

A reminder to members of the Home Office’s Open Consultation, ‘Biometric registration regulations: changes to the Code of Practice’, for which the Home Office has stated to ILPA:

We plan to update our biometric legislation, including the “Code of Practice about the sanctions for non-compliance with the biometric registration regulations”, which governs how we ensure compliance with the requirements of the Immigration (Biometric Registration) Regulations 2008, to reflect the transition to digital evidence of immigration status. It was last updated in 2015. Before we publish a revised version, we are conducting a public consultation which is due to end on 8 October 2023. You can find the consultation document at: Biometric registration regulations: changes to the Code of Practice – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you would like ILPA to respond to this consultation, please send any contributing comments you have by close of business on 29 September 2023 to legal@ilpa.org.uk. Further or alternatively, ILPA has been invited to a Home Office consultation event in mid-September 2023, and can endeavour to raise any member comments at that point. We would be grateful if you could please confirm in your email that you are happy for ILPA to share your comments with other ILPA members and for ILPA to incorporate them into a public consultation response.

Recruitment of Salaried Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (UTIAC)

Application Seminar 2023 (Tuesday 5 September, 5-6pm) 

The Judicial Office is hosting an online seminar for the role of a Salaried Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (UTIAC) on Tuesday 5 September, 5-6pm. Further details, including the registration link, are available here.

Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law

The latest edition of ILPA’s official journal, the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, includes an article by Ishita Chakrabarty entitled ‘The Greys Between Citizenship and Foreignness: The Inherent Flaws Within India’s Citizenship Legislation’. A summary of the article is available for ILPA members on our website here.

ILPA members benefit from a 15% discount on the Journal’s subscription rates. More details about the Journal and how to subscribe are available here.

Update from the Strategic Legal Fund (SLF)

Next round of SLF funding 

A reminder that the deadline for applications for the next round of SLF funding is Monday 11 September. Further details, including how to apply, are available on the SLF website. Please feel free to forward this information on to anyone who may be interested in applying.

ILPA Working Groups

Working groups are open to all ILPA members. If you work in an area of law covered by one of the working groups and/or you are based in an area where there is a regional working group, we would strongly recommend that you subscribe to receive notifications and updates. 

Working group meetings taking place in September are as follows (please note the ILPA Scotland Working Group meeting due to take place today (31 August) has been rescheduled to 13 September): 

ILPA European Working Group Meeting
Wednesday 6 September, 5.00-6.30pm. Register here.

ILPA North West Working Group Meeting
Thursday 7 September, 5.30-7.00pm. Register here.

ILPA Digitisation Working Group Meeting
Monday 18 September, 5.00-6.30pm. Register here. 

ILPA Refugee Working Group Meeting
Tuesday 19 September, 5.00-6.30pm. Register here.
This meeting will be held in hybrid format, hosted remotely on Zoom and in person at ILPA, Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London N1 6HT. If you would like to attend in person, in addition to registering as requested above, please email legal@ilpa.org.uk as soon as possible and no later than 5pm on Monday 18 September to indicate that you would like to attend in person, so that your details can be added to the guest list for the purposes of managing numbers and facilitating entry to the building.

ILPA Family and Personal Migration Working Group Meeting
Wednesday 20 September, 5.00-6.30pm. Register here.

ILPA Economic Migration Working Group Meeting
Wednesday 27 September, 5.00-6.30pm. Register here. 
Please note this meeting will be held in hybrid format, hosted remotely on Zoom and in person at Mayer Brown, 201 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3AF. If you would like to attend in person, in addition to registering via the above link, please email legal@ilpa.org.uk by 11:45am on 27 September, so that your details can be added to the guest list and shared with the relevant colleagues at Mayer Brown and the building’s reception for the purposes of managing numbers and facilitating entry to the building.

Training

Please see our website calendar here for details of all upcoming ILPA training and events, with a reminder that you need to be logged in to book member-only events and you will need your ILPA membership number to take advantage of member rates. Training taking place in September is as follows:

WEB 1204 Mergers and Acquisitions (Webinar)
Tuesday 5 September, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Book here.

WEB 1207 Nationality Applications for Children (Webinar)
Thursday 14 September, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Book here.

WEB 1260 Settlement: family, private life and other human rights routes
Tuesday 26 September, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Book here.

FREE 1245 Transnational Marriage Abandonment (Members’ Online Training)
Wednesday 27 September, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Register here.

Please also watch out for the separate Training email we will be sending this week with further details. If you have any suggestions or requests for future training, please get in touch by emailing us at training@ilpa.org.uk. 

Home Office and Other Updates

Please see below for recent Government updates. We keep a copy of these documents on our website here so members can access archived versions through our website.

GENERAL

OISC Criminal Enforcement Policy (25 August 2023)
A ‘Change of Policy’ of the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner’s (OISC) policy on dealing with unlawful immigration advice and/or services and advertising has been published here.

Border Force privacy information notice (29 August 2023)
The ‘Storing your information’ paragraph has been amended in the Border Force privacy information notice here.

Policy and legislative changes affecting migration to the UK: timeline (24 August 2023)
The ‘details of policy changes, together with information on changes to immigration legislation that affect immigration statistics’ has been updated here to accompany publication of ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023’ (see Data and Statistics section below).

Modern slavery: how to identify and report perpetrators (29 August 2023)
Guidance telling Home Office staff about how to identify suspected perpetrators of modern slavery related criminal offences has been published here and added to the Enforcement and criminal investigations (immigration staff guidance) here.

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) (30 August 2023)
The guidance has been updated here to say that ‘Nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will be able to apply for an ETA from 1 February 2024’.

ECONOMIC MIGRATION

Dependent family members in work routes: caseworker guidance (23 August 2023)
The Immigration staff guidance on considering applications from people who wish to enter or remain in the UK as a dependent family member has been updated here to correct endorsement details for entry clearance.

Global Talent eligible prize lists (29 August 2023)
Website links for the Centenary Prize, the Fashion Awards and the Royal Gold Medal have been updated in the ‘prize lists for achievements in science and the arts that qualify applicants for the Global Talent route’ here.

FAMILY AND PERSONAL / CITIZENSHIP

Leave outside the Immigration Rules: caseworker guidance (30 August 2023)
The immigration staff guidance on dealing with applications to grant leave outside the Immigration Rules has been updated here ‘to correct wording which does not align with AUK application form’.

UK government support for Chagossians (29 August 2023)
A pre-departure ‘information pack’ containing guidance for British citizens of Chagossian descent who are considering relocating to the UK has been published here, with a translation of the guidance in Mauritian Creole available here, with a second ‘information pack’ for British citizens of Chagossian descent arriving in the UK published here and translation here. Both packs have been added to the page providing ‘information on UK government support to people born on the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) / Chagos Archipelago and their descendants’.

Form MN1: guidance / Registering children as British citizens (24 August 2023)
Updated Information about who qualifies for a section 4D application has been updated in the Guidance to register a child under 18 as a British citizen here. The Caseworker Guidance: Registering children as British citizens’ has also been updated here to insert ‘information about section 4D of the British Nationality Act 1981 which was omitted from earlier versions’.

Naturalisation as a British citizen: caseworker guidance (23 August 2023)
The ‘Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion’ guidance has been updated here ‘to clarify the Home Secretary’s power and discretion to grant or refuse naturalisation under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981’.

Safeguarding and consent issues: caseworker guidance (30 August 2023)
The guidance has been updated here to explain that the Child Protection and Safeguarding team must not allow the change of a child’s name if a Child Arrangement Order, or other court order, specifically prevents this.

ASYLUM AND REFUGEE / PROTECTION

UK visa support for Ukrainian nationals (24 August 2023)
The ‘Guidance on support available to Ukrainian nationals and their family members’ has been updated here to show that the Ukraine helpline is closed on bank holidays.

Assessing destitution: caseworker guidance (30 August 2023)
The immigration staff guidance on assessing and making decisions on asylum support claims based on destitution has been updated here ‘to clarify that a screening interview is not needed to access asylum support’.

Questionnaire: continue your asylum claim (29 August 2023)
The guidance has been updated to clarify that people from Iran or Iraq who applied for asylum before 28 June 2022 should use this questionnaire.

Asylum accommodation factsheets (25 August 2023)
Updated factsheets and newsletters for Wethersfield and Scampton have been published here.

DATA AND STATISTICS

Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023 (24 August 2023)
Quarterly and annual statistics relating to those: coming to the UK, extending their stay, gaining citizenship, applying for asylum, and being detained or removed, as well as immigration for work, study and family reasons, including new visa routes where these are operational have been published here.

Home Office immigration statistics: user guide (24 August 2023)
The user guide to Home Office immigration system statistics has been updated here to accompany publication of ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023’.

Immigration data quarter end: Q2 2023 (24 August 2023)
The Q2 2023 data has been published as below:
Immigration and protection
Customer service operations
HM Passport Office
Immigration enforcement
Visa and citizenship
RASI (Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration activities)
Sponsorship transparency data
Windrush Taskforce data
Border force transparency

Migration Transparency Data (24 August 2023)
Data for Q2 2023 (as above) has been added here.

Immigration system statistics quarterly release (24 August 2023)
The documents relating to the immigration system statistics quarterly release have been published here and added to the collection of migration statistics here.

Afghan Resettlement Programme (24/30 August 2023)
The latest operational data has been published here (updated on 30 August to show that the figure for the total number of arrivals in the UK from Afghanistan is to the end of June, not March)

Irregular migration to the UK statistics (24 August 2023)
‘Irregular migration to the UK, year ending June 2023’ statistics have been published here and added to the collection of documents relating to the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ here.

Returns summary: previous data tables (24 August 2023)
A list of previous returns summary tables has been published here.

Ukraine visa scheme summary: previous data tables (24 August 2023)
A list of previous data tables for the Ukraine visa schemes has been published here.

Regional and Local authority data on immigration groups (24 August 2023)
The data table ‘Regional and Local Authority data on immigration groups, year ending June 2023’ has been added here.

EU Settlement Scheme statistics (24 August 2023)
EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics, June 2023 have been published here and added to the collection of documents relating to published statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme here.

Home Office EU Settlement Scheme statistics: user guide (24 August 2023)
The reference guide with explanatory notes on issues and classifications has been updated here to accompany the publication of ‘EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics, June 2023.

Immigration system statistics data tables (24 August 2023)
Listing of the data tables included in ‘Immigration system statistics’ has been published here  and added to the ‘Asylum and resettlement summary: previous data tables’ here.

Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023 (24 August 2023)
Quarterly and annual statistics relating to those: coming to the UK, extending their stay, gaining citizenship, applying for asylum, and being detained or removed, as well as immigration for work, study and family reasons, including new visa routes where these are operational have been published here.

Managed migration datasets (24 August 2023)
The statistical dataset page for managed migration (here) has been superseded by the immigration system statistics data tables page (here). The datasets can now be found as follows:
Asylum and resettlement
Sponsorship
Sponsored work visas by occupation and industry
Entry clearance visas granted outside the UK
Passenger arrivals (admissions)
Extensions
Settlement
Citizenship
Returns
Detention
European Economic Area
Ukraine visa schemes
Regional and local authority data on immigration groups
Transfers to the UK under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016

Ukraine Visa Schemes: visa data (24 August 2023) 
The Visa data has been updated here with latest figures. 

INSPECTIONS

An inspection of the Home Office’s illegal working enforcement activity (25 August 2023)
‘In line with his 2023-24 inspection plan, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has commenced an inspection of illegal working enforcement activity’ as detailed in the ‘news story’ here. The list of live inspections has been updated accordingly here.

A ‘spot check inspection’ of the Border Force operations at Portsmouth International Port (29 August 2023)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has commenced a spot check inspection of Border Force operations at Portsmouth International Port, the first of a new type of inspection, as detailed in the ‘news story’ here, and added to the list of live inspections here.

Jobs

ILPA members benefit from significantly reduced rates to advertise jobs with us. More details about our fees and how to submit a job ad can be found here. 

Current vacancies

Immigration Legal Caseworker, Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) project, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit. Apply by 12pm, Friday 1 September.

Immigration Supervisor, Sindhu Immigration Services. Apply by Saturday 30 September.

Immigration Solicitor, Eversage

Kind regards,
ILPA

Document Date
Monday August 28, 2023