News

13.02.2023 - Deception and denaturalisation

There are two types of fraud-based denaturalisation in the United Kingdom.

The statutory power to deprive a British citizen of their status on the basis of fraud was introduced in 1914. It is unknown how frequently this statutory power was exercised in previous years but it is thought to be seldom.

A further form of fraud-based denaturalisation emerged through case law. In the 1978 case of Sultan Mahmood [1981] QB 58, a man had adopted the identity of his dead cousin and later purported to register as a British citizen in that identity. The court held that the purported registration was a null...

10.02.2023 - New reported decision on fairness of hearings and durable partners who subsequently marry

As was established by the Upper Tribunal in the case of Elais (fairness and extended family members) [2022] UKUT 00300, the following legal points were adopted by court:

On the court hearings fairness issue:

1. In order to conduct a fair hearing, cross-examination should be facilitated by the judge without undue interruption.

2. Where a transcript or recording is available of a hearing at which it is alleged that the proceedings were unfair, it is less likely to be appropriate to seek an account from the judge as to what took place.

On the extended family member issue under the European immigr...

06.02.2023 - The unintended consequences of denaturalising bad guys

The power to denaturalise a British subject on the basis of their behaviour was first introduced by legislation in 1918. With some adjustments, the power remained broadly the same until as late as 2002. Essentially, only a person who had naturalised as British could be stripped of their citizenship and the main grounds for doing so involved disloyalty or disaffection to the Crown, assisting an enemy or proven criminal conduct. These powers were exercised against some German and allied nationals who had naturalised as British but fell into abeyance. The last denaturalisation under this legal re...

03.02.2023 - Kyiv visa application centre open again

The TLScontact Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Kyiv re-opened on 30 January 2023 for all applications for UK visas that need to submit their biometrics and passports before travelling to the UK.

The VAC will only be open for limited numbers of appointments per day, and may need to close at short notice for security reasons or because of unscheduled power cuts.

You will be able to keep your passport with you after submitting your biometrics.

Please note that if your application is successful, you will need to travel to Warsaw, Poland, to collect your visa to enter the UK. You will not be ab...





02.02.2023 - Bank of England Interest Rate raised to 4%

The Bank of England has lifted UK interest rates to 4%, the highest level in over 14 years, as it continues to battle inflation.

The increase from 3.5%, which was broadly expected by economists, puts more pressures on mortgage payers and businesses struggling to pay off their loans.

This is the 10th meeting in a row at which the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to raise UK borrowing costs. UK rates are now at the highest level since October 2008, when the Bank had only just started cutting rates in response to the financial crisis.

02.02.2023 - UK immigration policies breach human rights standards

In its 2023 World Report, Human Rights Watch found that the recent immigration and asylum policies introduced by the UK government breach domestic human rights obligations and undermine international human rights standards.

The report focuses on the Rwanda agreement and the Nationality and Border Act. But it does not forget other legislation adopted last year, such as the judicial review bill past in April 2022 which limits the right, amongst other things, to judicially review immigration tribunal decisions. It also highlights that, unlike most European countries, the UK has not legislated a s...

01.02.2023 - Immigration officers don’t have to corroborate your story

Procedural fairness does not require the Secretary of State to take steps to corroborate a person’s account before cancelling their leave for breach of conditions. So held the High Court in R (on the application of Pereira Campos) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3299 (Admin).

The facts

Mr Pereira Campos entered the UK as a visitor in November 2021, telling immigration officers that he planned to visit friends for 10 days. In February 2022 an enforcement visit to a residential address uncovered that he was working in the UK.

He was interviewed in his bedroom, where immi...

31.01.2023 - Tech Nation announces it will cease operations, including as endorsing body for visa purposes, on 31 March 2023

Tech Nation, a non-profit organisation that has been providing support to the UK's tech industry for the past 10 years, is shutting down due to a lack of funding from the UK government.

The organisation was previously backed by the UK government, but the funding has now been directed towards another program run by Barclays Bank.

The shutdown of Tech Nation is set to take place on 31 March 2023, while it searches for new funding channels. In the meantime, the organisation is open to anyone interested in acquiring its assets.

When Tech Nation was founded by the coalition government, the UK’s tec...

26.01.2023 - High Court casts doubt on British citizenship of children of EU citizens

In a judgment handed down last Friday, the High Court has cast doubt on the British citizenship status of children born in the United Kingdom before 2 October 2000 to EU citizens who did not at that time possess indefinite leave to remain. The case is R (on the application of Roehrig) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 31 (Admin).

The claimant was born in the UK on 20 October 2000. His mother was a French national who had been living and working in the UK since June 1995. Between 2006 and 2020, while the Citizens Directive was in force, an EU citizen living and working in...

24.01.2023 - Court of Appeal in Alam & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Is the case of Chikwamba still relevant? Yes, although only in very limited circumstances. This was the conclusion of the Court of Appeal in Alam & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 30.

For those who don’t know, the House of Lords held in Chikwamba v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 40 that only rarely will it be appropriate to dismiss an article 8 appeal on the ground that the appellant should apply for entry clearance from abroad.

After 15 years of legislative changes and case law, this is no longer true. In Alam Lady Justice Elisabeth La...

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