News
A case owner at the Border Agency office in Cardiff has claimed that asylum seekers are mistreated, tricked and humiliated by staff working for the Agency. The whistle blower has said that officials at the Cardiff office have expressed fiercely anti-immigration views and take pride in refusing applications.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/02/border-staff-asylum-seekers-whistleblower
From 22 February 2010, any applicant who applies to study in the UK under Tier 4 of the points-based system must have a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from their prospective sponsor. Applications that are supported solely by visa letters will only be considered if they have been lodged and paid for on or before 21 February 2010.
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/aboutus/newsroom/?view=News&id=21698048
The home secretary has announced that the number of student visas would be cut by tens of thousands under new rules making it harder for people to enter the UK. Those seeking to study in the country will have to speak passable English, while students enrolling on short courses are banned from bringing in dependants.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/feb/07/student-visas-cuts-points-system
Cases
Two cases in the Court of Appeal. In PB and Others v SSHD the appellants raised whether the law required the secretary of state to issue removal directions at the same time as refusing applications for variation of leave to remain. The Court found that it had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal of this kind from the AIT and suggested that judicially reviewing the failure to issue removal directions was the appropriate remedy. In CD (Jamaica) v SSHD, the Court of Appeal found that the AIT had erred in its approach to a withdrawal of a concession by the secretary of state that if the appellant could establish that he was the member of particular Jamaican gang he would be at risk.
Three applications to the Admin Court arising out of immigration detention. In R (on the application of T) v SSHD (2010) QBD (Admin), Sir Michael Harrison found that the detention pending deportation of a Zimbabwean overstayer, with numerous criminal convictions, who suffered from a mental illness, was inappropriate as the medium risk of re-offending and low to medium risk of absconding that he posed did not amount to exceptional circumstances that justified his detention. Whilst in R (on the application of Said) v SSHD (2010) QBD (Admin), Wyn Williams J found that detention, pending deportation, for a period exceeding two years was nevertheless justified and lawful in the light of the immigration history, the risk of absconding and the risk of committing further offences. R (on the application of Abdullah) v SSHD (2010) QBD (Admin) detention become unlawful from the point where the Home Secretary's officials had recognised that, because of the difficulty in obtaining travel documentation, there was no realistic prospect of him being deported in the foreseeable future.
Events
On Monday 15 February from 10:00 to 17:00 hours, at Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincolns Inn Fields, HJT Training hold a conference "Shedding the Single Tier: The New Immigration Appeals System 2010". Speakers include Mark Ockelton, Deputy President of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. see
http://www.hjt-training.co.uk/Home_Conferences_Immigration_Conferences.html
