Legacy Cases- UPDATED UK BORDER AGENCY WEB PAGE 

The UK Border Agency has updated its guidance page on older asylum cases, known as “legacy” cases. It now states that despite the case resolution directorate (known as CRD) completing a review of all legacy asylum cases, a small number of cases have been reviewed but not yet concluded. Such cases may include those where:

The UK Border Agency state that applicants who have been previously informed that their case is dealt with by the case resolution directorate awaiting a decision on their case, will now be overseen by the CAAU. Further, according to the UK Border Agency, such applicants should receive an update as to the progress of their case by end of August 2011.

The CRD will be responsible for cases which were not included within the original CRD review due to the quality of data at the time an asylum application was made, further the new unit, CAAU, will now consider any such cases. Cases where applicants were untraceable and thus placed in the controlled archive will also be dealt with by the CAAU where contact has been re-established.

The CAAU contact details are as follows:

By Post:                Case Assurance and Audit Unit
Department 87
PO Box 306
Liverpool
L2 0QN

By email:  CAAU_enquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk

Appeal fees- Update

The Ministry of Justice has proposed a number of potential changes to the fee system of appeals. This essentially means that appellants will be required to pay for an appeal against the decision of the UK Border Agency. The main points raised are summarized below.  Full information can be found in the consultation paper click here.

Essentially, the first point raised refers to the fact that where an applicant lodges an appeal against the UK Border Agency and it appears that the decision they made was unreasonable at first instance taking into account all the evidence provided, then the appellant will be entitled to a refund as it would be unjust to expect an appellant to pay for a rectification of an incorrect decision. The consultation paper states that appeals hold a success rate of approximately 30-40% (across a range of appeal categories) and it is recognised that appellants may introduce new evidence at appeal which was not available at the time the initial decision was reached. Thus, the consultation paper seeks to introduce a discretionary power for judges in a case in order to award costs to recover any appeal fees against the UK Border Agency. This is where the incorrect decision was made despite the appellant providing all the relevant evidence at the time of the initial application. Appeals where new evidence is provided will not receive a cost award.

It is stated that appeal fees will be held at the cost of £80 for paper appeals and £140 for oral appeals. The new fees will not apply to appeals lodged at the Upper Tribunal. There will be exceptions for appellants who are in the excluded list. This includes appellants eligible for legal aid, in receipt of section 98 support, deportations of illegal entrants and EU nationals, as well as humanitarian cases. In addition to this list, appellants under the Detained Fast Track will also be exempt from the fees and those in receipt of section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

The fees will be subject to continuous review and are likely to coincide with the UK Border Agency visa application fees review which takes place throughout the year.

Where a request for a paper hearing has been made and the Judge directs it to be more appropriate for an oral hearing, the appellants will not need to pay additional costs. Likewise where an oral hearing is requested and the Judge decides to use a paper hearing instead, a refund will be available.

Methods of payment:

Appellants would be able to pay by bank transfer, wire transfers, debit/credit cards as well as online. Payment can be made on behalf of the appellants and there is no need for personal payment. The appellant must however, ensure that he holds the sufficient funds to pay for the charges.

Dependants:

It is stated that due to the Tribunal having to incur administrative charges for each case, dependents and children will be liable to pay separate fees, even in linked cases.

Implementation Date:

The intended implementation date of the proposed fees is October 2011.

Further information on this is expected in the near future.

6 Union Street

Liverpool

Merseyside

L3 9AF

The telephone number to book appointments will also change to the following: 0151 213 2411

In order to cancel appointments, applicants will need to call the new cancellation line on 0151 213 2413

The UK Border Agency recently made changes to their Enforcement Guidance and Instructions which can potentially affect those people caught within the legacy backlog. The amended guidelines provide for consideration to be given to ‘residence accrued’ as a result of UKBA delays. The guideline states that where a delay is particularly significant, it can be considered as a contributory factor to grant leave (see case of Court of Appeal judgement in HB (Ethiopia) & others v SSHD [2006] EWCA Civ 1713).

Initial in time applications

Applicants who have made in time applications and who have been subject to a delay of 3-5 years as a result of UKBA can expect Home Office caseowners to place significant weight on this fact as a contributing factor.

Family cases

Where families have resided in the UK for a considerable period as a result of UKBA delays, Home Office caseowners are expected to place significant weight on this when considering the application. A three year delay period may be considered significant although this is more likely to be a delay of 4-6 years. Caseowners are especially expected to consider dependant children under the age of 18 who have been residing in the UK with their families and who have been subject to a delay of between 4-6 years.

Other cases

Where UKBA has contributed to a significant delay in other cases, the period considered to be ‘significant’ can be 4-6 years although it is more likely to be a period of 6-8 years.

Regard will be had to the personal conduct of applicants including their character, conduct and employment records along with the usual considerations as follows:

·         Age

·         Length of residence in the UK

·         Strength of connections to the UK

·         Personal history, character, conduct, employment records

·         Previous criminal records/nature of convictions if any (as above)

·         Compassionate circumstances

·         Any representations received on the applicants behalf

The relevant changes can be found in full at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/enforcement/detentionandremovals/chapter53?view=Binary

Consequences of changes?

At Ergen and Sharif, we are hopeful that the new changes will deliver more positive responses for applicants in the legacy backlog. Applicants who feel that they may fall within the new changes should contact us for a case specific evaluation.

Applicants who feel that they have exceptional circumstances so that their case should be prioritised should also contact our lawyers to discuss the best way to progress their case with UKBA.

Our lawyers can be contacted on 0207 569 3035 or alternatively at info@ergensharif.co.uk

 Date: 12 / 10 / 2009

 

 

Relaxation of Immigration Rules to allow 40,000 asylum seekers to stay in the UK

It has recently been reported that the Home Office may be granting indefinite leave to remain for some 40,000 asylum seekers in the UK who would not ordinarily be eligible for settlement. The 40,000 asylum seekers are said to be among the 450,000 legacy cases which were originally expected to be cleared by 2011 although this remains doubtful.

Home Office Ministers having realised the difficulties in returning some applicants from poorer countries such as China, Iran, Somalia and Zimbabwe where there are serious human rights abuses, have decided to ‘secretly’ relax the rules in order to allow these asylum seekers leave to remain in the UK.    

Minister of State for Border and Immigration Phil Woolas has confirmed that ‘There is no amnesty’. He stated that the guidance was issued in a bid to aid case workers and to avoid drawn out court battles. He maintained that law breakers would not be granted leave to remain in the UK and that each case would be considered on its individual merits.   For  the government response please click here.

The Home Office confirmed that changes to the Immigration Rules (specifically rule 395C) were made in August of this year.

Date: 9^th October 2009

 

Lin Homer , the chief executive of the UK Border Agency told the MPs that the UK Border agency have so far examined 197.500 cases of the 450,000 Legacy cases and there has been a 32 per cent approval rate on Human Rights grounds.

Date: 01:09.2009