Sadat Sayeed and Maha Sardar of the Garden Court Immigration Law Team has produced guidance in partnership with LexisNexis.
The Practice Note, ‘Duty of disclosure in immigration applications and interviews’, looks at the extent of the duty of disclosure, whether in an immigration application form or interview, where there are no relevant questions asked by the Home Office.
In circumstances where there are one or more aspects of the applicant’s immigration history or otherwise which, if known to the Home Office, could lead to the refusal of the application or the cancellation or curtailment of their existing leave, what is the extent of a deception by omission, or silence?
The Practice Note also looks at the relevant duties imposed on legal advisers and the consequences.
The question of the extent of any positive duty of disclosure is a fundamental consideration for applicants and immigration advisers alike.
The issue initially came to the foreground with the substantial revision of the general grounds for refusal regime in 2008, which introduced into the immigration rules a number of additional grounds for mandatory refusal (including on deception grounds) and a linked sliding scale of re-entry bans.
When completing a proposal form for a protection product, the applicant has a duty to disclose all facts relevant to the application, particularly in relation to health. Failure to do so can allow the life company to refuse to admit a claim and cancel the policy from inception on the grounds of non-disclosure.
Read the full guidance here by subscribing to LexisNexis.
Individuals and organisations can instruct our immigration law barristers directly for advice and representation relating to their immigration law needs. Garden Court’s Immigration Team is recognised as the pre-eminent set of barristers in the UK for immigration law advice. We have been awarded the highest ‘Band 1’ status for immigration law advice by the independent Chambers Bar Guide rankings. You can be assured your case will be handled with unrivalled levels of expertise.
To contact the Immigration Clerks, please email immigrationclerks@gclaw.co.uk.
