News
The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Fast Track Procedure) (Amendment) Rules 2006 amend the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Fast Track Procedure) Rules 2005 to bring them into line with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005. More info
In response to concerns about the health of HIV positive asylum seekers being put at risk through dispersal, the National AIDS Trust has published guidance for healthcare and voluntary sector professionals who work with asylum seekers. The booklet, 'The Dispersal Process for Asylum Seekers Living with HIV', published in conjunction with the British HIV Association (BHIVA), includes a summary of recent changes to the policy for dispersal of asylum seekers, in response to pressure from the National AIDS Trust and other organisations.
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Immigrants contribute more to the British economy than pure numbers suggest, according to researchers linked to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. Their report, published today in the Bank's Quarterly Bulletin, suggests that the fourfold rise in net immigration in the past decade is helping to keep interest rates down and economic growth up by allaying the threat of inflation.
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More than 60 protesters opposed to dawn raids on asylum seekers gathered outside a Home Office immigration centre in Glasgow in early December. Positive Action in Housing said the protest, in Brand Street, Govan, was to prevent the vehicles used in four recent Sunday-morning raids from leaving their compound.
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At a meeting of the New Asylum Model stakeholders group on 29.11.06, the Home Office revealed their plans on how minors - both unaccompanied and those in families claiming asylum in their own right - will be processed through the 'New Asylum Model' (NAM) from April 2007. More info
Cases
In CT & Others (Highly skilled migrant - student switching) No Country [2006] UKAIT 00095 (06 December 2006) the Tribunal ruled that the purpose of the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme is to enable migration, and it is not contrary to the purpose of the relevant Rules to interpret the switching rules) restrictively. A person cannot meet the requirements of paragraph 135DB unless his current leave was granted in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 57-62: it is not sufficient to have merely leave "as a student". More info
In FO & ors (children: settlement, OM distinguished) Nigeria [2006] UKAIT 00089 (04 December 2006) the Tribunal noted that the Tribunal's remarks in OM about the Immigration Rules relating to the settlement of children are obiter, and are not to be taken as an authoritative interpretation of those rules. Thus, there is no requirement that when a child applies for a settlement visa, there must be presented a form of lawful consent from the child's carer or, failing that, a court order. Nor is there a requirement that a child coming for settlement here must be registered with the Social Services Department of the Local Authority where it is to reside. More info
In KP (Para 317: mothers-in-law) India [2006] UKAIT 00093 (06 December 2006) the Tribunal ruled that the relationship of mother-in-law is not within the wording of paragraph 317 on dependant relative applications. More info
In MA & Others (EU national; self-sufficiency; lawful employment) Bangladesh [2006] UKAIT 00090 (08 December 2006) the Tribunal ruled that an EU (EEA) national child cannot rely upon income derived from a parent lawfully working in the UK during a period of limited leave restricted to a specific purpose or who is on temporary admission and not prohibited from working in order to establish a right of residence based upon 'self-sufficiency'. Consequently, the parent/carer can derive no right of residence under EU law in such circumstances either. More info
In AW (Kenya) (R on the appication of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWHC 3147 (Admin) the Administrative Court ruled that it was not possible to import into section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 the power to provide for essential living needs, other than accommodation, given that the power in question is confined to a power to provide "facilities for the accommodation" of a failed asylum seeker.
