Immigration Appeals Rules Change
The Immigration Minister Damian Green, continued his assault against civil liberties and the Rule of Law by removing the right of appellants in the Immigration Tribunal from relying on new evidence which comes to light after a decision has been made by the UKBA to refuse their applications for an extension of stay in the UK under the Points Based System of Immigration. The UK Border Agency and the Minister hailed the new rules as ‘An end to late evidence in points-based system appeals will help stop misuse of the system’.
From Monday 23 May, tribunals can no longer consider evidence submitted after an application has been made, in appeals relating to applications made in the UK under the points-based system. The UK Border Agency claims that statistics show that around two-thirds of appeals allowed by immigration judges are due to late evidence being submitted. The reality of course is that the Minister is merely trying to shore up the appeals system so as to make it even more difficult for applicants to seek redress to teh courts and rely on teh protection of the law. The applications process for the Points Based System is already fraught with complications, a lack of clarity and almost total confusion amongst the poorly trained staff of the UKBA leading to a huge number of refusals of otherwise worthwhile applications, usually based on weak grounds and lacking in legal clarity. However; the Minister has chosen, rather than providing training to the UKBA staff to help them to make more informed decisions, to curtail the appeal process for applicants making the UK even less attractive to prospective fresh talent from outside the European Economic Area.
Damian Green said:
‘For too long, the taxpayer has had to shoulder the burden of a system which allowed individuals to drag out their appeal by submitting new evidence at the last minute. The changes I am making today will put an end to this practice for good.’
We say:
‘For too long the UKBA has been wasting taxpayers money making unsubstantiated refusal decisions in immigration applications and disrupting the lives of legal migrants wishing to stay in the UK and share their talent and expertise to better our society and country. The changes the Minister is making are an affront to the Rule of Law, a travisty of justice and an erosion of the redress that applicants should have to access the courts to question the practices and policy of the UK Border Agency. You cannot criticise applicants for seeking redress to the courts to address and correct he errors of the UKBA staff.’
In our opinion the UKBA, supported by the Minister for Immigration and the coalition Government have in place a policy of immigration erosion designed to reduce the possibilities and opportunities for migrants from outside the EEA to stay in the UK. Time and time again we witness decisions being made by UKBA staff in relation to applications for stay in the UK which are either irrational, factually in error or simply clearly based on what can only be described as a covert policy of refusals. To cite a simple xample, an applicant submits an otherwise complete and comprehensive application for stay in the UK under the provisions of the Points Based System. Along with this application the applicant is required to produce a recent bank statement that does not predate the date of teh application by more than 30 days. The application is received by teh UKBA in time and within that 30 day limit. However the application is not considered for a further 3 months due to systematic delays and disorganisation in the UKBA. When considering the application the Immigration Officer considers the date of the bank statement as at the date of considering the application and not the date when it was received by the UKBA. The immigration officer concludes that the bank statement is more than 30 days old and refuses the application. The applicant is now faced with a situation where they either cannot start their course of study, in teh case of a student, or start their employment, in the case of a work permit applicant. The only recourse is to the courts and the Immigration Minister is actively trying to close that avenue of appeal. Don’t get us wrong, the example provided is not a figment of our imagination, these are the facts of a real case where we represented the applicant and luckily for our client, the court corrected the decision and allowed our client an extension of her stay.
If you have been the subject of an irrational decision by the UKBA, call our team of expert immigration lawyers now on 020 8401 7352 for a free 30 minute telephone assessment of your circumstances.