The judgment is R (NN) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 1003 (Admin).
Victims of human trafficking are entitled to £65 per week, accommodation at a safe house and a support worker. But this support ends 45 days after a “conclusive grounds decision” that they are definitely a victim.
Mr Justice Julian Knowles has ordered that support for all confirmed victims carry on beyond 45 days. The Home Office “shall not restrict support for victims of trafficking under the Victims of Modern Slavery Contract by reference to the date of a Conclusive Grounds decision or the length of time the support has been provided.
If the judicial review succeeds at full hearing, this temporary extension of support could become permanent.
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/1003.html

One of the requirements for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants extending their visas in the UK is to show they have invested £200,000. The important case of R (Sajjad) v SSHD [2019] EWCA Civ 720 is about the ways in which entrepreneur migrants can do this.
The Secretary of State argued that there were only two permissible methods of investing funds for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants that the investment has taken one of only two permissible forms: investment by way of a director’s loan, or investment by way of purchase of share capital which is a direct contradiction of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) guidance.
It is advisable for any Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants who are considering injection of funds by way of ‘direct cash investment’ as permitted by the relevant guidance to instead invest by way of director’s loan or share issue.
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2019/720.html

Section 117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 requires a court or tribunal to hypothesise that the child in question would leave the United Kingdom,
Following an earlier judgement in case of JG (s 117B(6): “reasonable to leave” UK) Turkey [2019] UKUT 72 (IAC), It is endorsed by the Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v AB (Jamaica) & Anor [2019] EWCA Civ 661 and Lord Justice Singh, with whom King and Underhill LJJ agreed, held that “I respectfully agree with the interpretation given… to section 117B(6)(b) in JG“.
It is a hope, for the innocent children caught up in the immigration system and for their parents, that the Upper Tribunal’s child centred approach prevails.
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2019/661.html

Claims for compensation under the Scheme will be considered for two years until 2 April 2021, and then after this for six months if there are exceptional circumstances for missing the deadline.
Claims must be made on a prescribed form, and then sent by post or email. The Home Office has set up a free post option for submitting the form and evidence, and will reimburse reasonable expenses for sending in documents where this is not available.
Applications for compensation under the Scheme are free.
Eligible individuals can claim under a number of different categories and Successful claimants can expect (i) an apology and (ii) financial compensation.

www.gov.uk/guidance/windrush-compensation-scheme

The Court of Appeal has reiterated that a migrant can be regarded as a “persistent offender” for the purposes of deportation law even if he or she has not committed a crime for some time. The case is Binbuga (Turkey) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWCA Civ 551.

Lord Justice Hamblen held that the “overall picture” is what counts when it comes to persistent offending, rather than the “current position”:

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2019/551.html

In R (SRI Lalithambika Foods Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 761 (Admin), Charles Bourne QC dismissed the claim and explained in detail precisely how the sponsor failed on every allegation. Most importantly, he provided a useful steer on how to save your sponsor licence:

1. Sponsors must keep records which are comprehensive, accurate and clear. Just as importantly, they must produce those records when asked to do so.

2. A response to a suspension letter is likely to be the last effective opportunity to deal with any concerns.

3. If it fails to do so, then disputing the facts in judicial review proceedings is inherently unlikely to remedy the omission, because the Court primarily reviews a decision on the basis of the information available to the decision-maker.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/761.html

The Withdrawal Agreement, finalised by the UK and the EU is a deal,
grounded in reciprocity, which secures the rights of over three million EU
citizens in the UK and around one million UK nationals in the EU, so they can
carry on living their lives as before.

UK nationals, their children and other existing close family members can return to the UK under current rules until 29 March 2022.
After 29 March 2022, such family members will be able to return to the UK by applying through the applicable UK Immigration Rules.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/792675/Citizens__Rights_-_UK_nationals_in_the_EU.pdf

The Home Office UKVI have published policy guidance for innovator and start up visa categories.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/start-up-and-innovator-endorsing-bodies-guidance

The Home Office has announced that seven Service and Support Centres are now open to cater for particularly complex immigration cases. Appointments are free, and experienced UKVI staff will provide a face to face service and help people throughout their application.

The centres are located in Belfast, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihul

www.gov.uk/government/news/dedicated-support-centres-for-complex-cases--2

Home Office Right to Rent evictions exempt from the Equality Act
The High Court has found that enforcement of the “Right to Rent” scheme involves discrimination on the grounds of nationality, but it is lawful because of an exemption in the Equality Act 2010.
Nationality discrimination is an inherent part of immigration enforcement, so the Equality Act 2010 contains an exemption for discriminatory acts which are done by the Secretary of State for the Home Department or an authorised official.

This outcome is an unsurprising product of current equality legislation, which has minimal impact on how the Home Office exercises its immigration functions.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/452.html

The Court of Appeal has rejected a challenge that the time limit for bringing an administrative review only starts when a decision is physically received by an applicant.
The Secretary of State would never know when the time limit for bringing an administrative review had come to an end. That would defeat the whole purpose of the tight 14-day time limit for making an administrative review application

The Court of Appeal held that the rules should be interpreted

"as including not only actual, physical receipt, but also receipt at the applicant’s correspondence address. Any other interpretation of the rule would be completely unworkable."


www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2019/389.html

The High Court has suspended the Home Office’s removals policy with immediate effect. The decision means that the system of giving migrants “removal windows” within which they can be removed from the UK without warning will be halted for at least the next few weeks.
The claimant is a charity, which facilitates the provision of independent medical advice and representation to those detained in immigration removal centres as well as conducting research into issues affecting those in immigration detention
Medical Justice said in a press release that 69 removals have been cancelled with immediate effect as a result of the injunction. The substantive judicial review challenge will be heard in June or July.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2010/1925.html

Section 117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 requires a court or tribunal to hypothesise that the child in question would leave the United Kingdom, even if this is not likely to be the case, and ask whether it would be reasonable to expect the child to do so.

The Upper Tribunal seems to be suggesting that the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in KO (Nigeria) [2018] UKSC 53 is that the assessment under section 117B(6) does not have to take account of the parent’s immigration history.

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2019/72.html

The government has today (7 March 2019) brought forward a number of changes to the Immigration Rules, which further demonstrate its commitment to attracting leading talent, whilst also cracking down on abuse.

The rules will provide skilled business people access to two new visa routes to set up businesses in the UK. The Start-up visa route will be open to those starting a business for the first time in the UK, while the Innovator visa route will be for more experienced business people who have funds to invest in their business.

Both routes will see endorsing bodies and business experts – rather than the Home Office – assessing applicants’ business ideas. This will make sure that the routes are focussed on only the most innovative, viable and scalable businesses.

Alongside these new routes, the Home Office is also bringing forward reforms to the Tier 1 (Investor) route. The reformed route will better protect the UK from illegally obtained funds, whilst ensuring that genuine investors have access to a viable visa route. Applicants will be required to prove that they have had control of the required £2 million for at least two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds.

The Home Office will also extend the salary exemption in the Tier 2 (General) visa so that the NHS and schools can continue to attract and hire experienced teachers, nurses and paramedics from overseas. The salary exemption applies to all nurses and paramedics, medical radiographers and secondary school teachers whose subjects are in maths, physics, chemistry, computer science and Mandarin.

A two-year scheme, which will allow up to 20 nurses from Jamaica to come to the UK to gain vital experience in NHS hospitals as part of an exchange scheme, has also been announced.

The government has already supported and relocated over 1,000 brave Afghan interpreters and their families, so they can rebuild their lives in the UK. However, in recognition of their support for the UK’s armed forces, the Home Office is bringing forward rules changes so that eligible partners and children of interpreters still in Afghanistan can relocate to the UK at a later date.

Commenting on the changes, Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:


“My priority is making sure that talented business people continue to see the UK as an attractive destination to develop their businesses. This will help create more jobs across the country and ensure our economy continues to thrive.

“In addition to welcoming those who wish to contribute to our economy, we also recognise our duty to support the vulnerable. That is why I am proud that we are extending our commitment to the brave Afghan interpreters and their families so that they can rebuild their lives here, together, in safety.

“However, what we will not tolerate is those who seek to abuse our system and that is why I am bringing forward new measures which will make sure that only genuine investors, who intend to support UK businesses, can benefit from our immigration system.”

Other changes to the rules include:

The list of countries which benefit from the streamlined documentary requirements, found in Appendix H, has been updated to include Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Oman, Peru and Tunisia. This change will not only benefit students, who will be able to apply for visas through a more streamlined process, but also help to ensure that the UK’s world-leading education institutions remain competitive internationally.

We are increasing the initial period of leave granted to those who qualify for Stateless Leave from 30 months to 5 years, making it easier for those who are genuinely stateless and not able to live in any other country and cutting unnecessary bureaucracy. Also, to deter those who seek to abuse the system to benefit from stateless leave, changes are being made to the rules to make sure that only those who are genuinely entitled to stateless leave can qualify. This makes clearer that an individual is required to show that they have tried to obtain a nationality or right of residence in another country that they could reasonably expect to be entitled to, before benefitting from stateless leave. The government is clear that we will not tolerate those who seek to play the system to remain in the UK.

This government remains committed to bringing net migration down to sustainable levels, but also recognises the need to attract people who bring benefits to the UK and enable employers to have access to the skills they need.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1919-7-march-2019