News and Updates

Coronavirus: travellers to England required to self-isolate for 14 days

8th June 2020 By Andrew Jones

Starting from today, Monday, 8 June 2020, most travellers coming to England will need to self-isolate for 14 days and complete a ‘Passenger Locator Form’ so that the government can contact you if anyone you travelled with falls ill with COVID-19.

The government says that it has introduced these new rules to reduce the chance of a ‘second wave’ of coronavirus in the UK.

These new restrictions apply to most people travelling to England from outside of the Common Travel Area (the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). If you are traveling from within the Common Travel Area, but were outside of it within 14 days of arrival, these rules apply to you, too. They apply equally to British citizens and foreign nationals.

Within 48 hours of departure, travellers need to complete a Passenger Locator Form. The form asks for your personal and travel details as well as where you will be staying for the first 14 days in the UK and an emergency contact in case you fall ill. The form can be found here. Travellers should print off a completed copy of the form or have it accessible on their mobile phone to show the Border Officer on arrival. Failure to do so can lead to a £100 fine and you may be refused entry (if you are not a British citizen).

Once in England, arrivals must self-isolate for 14 days. The rules on this are very strict, and much stricter than the current government guidance for those who are already here. If you are required to self-isolate, you cannot go out in public, go to work or go to school. You cannot leave your home for exercise or to walk your dog. You should not go shopping, even for essentials, and instead should arrange for these to be delivered. There is no “reasonable excuse” exception, not even in situations regarding childcare.

The only exceptions are:

If you are legally required to go somewhere (e.g. to take part in legal proceedings or a child moving between homes as part of a custody agreement);
You require urgent medical care;
To attend the funeral of a close relative;
To access basic necessities or essential public services and there are exceptional circumstances why these could not be delivered to you;
You needed to stay in safe overnight accommodation before travelling to the location where you would be self-isolating for the remainder of the 14 days; or
There is an emergency

Failure to follow these rules can lead to fines of up to £1000, or even up to £3200 in some circumstances. Migrants should be aware that they would be required to disclose these fines in applications for leave to remain and could see an application for British citizenship refused if it is made within three years from the date of the fine.

The full government guidance can be found here.

There is a long list of people who are exempt from these rules, which can be found here. These exceptions would not apply to most people coming to England, but does include diplomats, foreign representatives and other consular staff, those employed by the military, those who are only transiting and do not leave the airport and those (either living in the UK or outside of the UK) who travel in and out of the country at least once a week for work.

Please note, these rules only apply to England, as the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments have control over their own public health measures. At the time of writing, there were no regulations in place requiring quarantine for those living in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the issues above, we can help. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com

European Update: The Good and the Bad

28th May 2020 By Alison Hunter

On 14 May, the government issued a new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. And once again it included changes to the European Settlement Scheme. Some were small in nature and a tidying up exercise to deal with small omissions or inconsistencies. However, there were two important substantive changes.

The good news is that protection has been extended to those in durable relationships to ensure that if their relationship with a European national breaks down due to domestic violence, they should be able to remain in the United Kingdom in their own right. This comes into force from 4 June 2020.

From 24 August 2020, the rule changes will also allow for dual British and Irish nationals born in Northern Ireland to rely on their Irish nationality to bring dependants to reside with them in the United Kingdom. This allows for a less onerous set of rules to be applied to them, ensuring there is no need for them to fulfil stringent financial requirements, which apply to British people sponsoring their family members.

This was however swiftly followed on 15 May 2020 with some far less welcome news: the new naturalisation guidance clarifies that European citizens who did not hold comprehensive sickness insurance while they were students or self sufficient, or were not exercising a Treaty right during the qualifying period for naturalisation, can be considered to have been in breach of immigration law. This means that if a European national is applying to naturalise having obtained settled status they will still need to show that they fulfilled these requirements during the five year period (or three year period, if married to a British Citizen) before making the application. Unlike under the European Settlement Scheme, where residence in the United Kingdom on its own is sufficient to ensure a grant of status, a successful naturalisation application may need to go beyond mere residence for the qualifying period, if an applicant did not hold pre settled or settled status for part of the period. Home Office caseworkers now have to check whether applicants can be considered to be in breach of immigration law and can request further information to reassure themselves that such time spent in the United Kingdom was ‘on a balance of probabilities’ in accordance with the law. I should add that the guidance also states that it will be possible for caseworkers to waive the requirement on a discretionary basis but without giving any further guidance as to when that would be deemed appropriate.

Given the £1330 fee attached to a naturalisation application, applicants should ensure that they really do qualify before making this payment to the Home Office as only £80 (the cost of the citizenship ceremony) would be reimbursed if the application were refused.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the issues above, we can help. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com

The EU Settlement Scheme: an Update

27th April 2020 By Alison Hunter

As the press reported last week, the Home Office has announced that it has received 3.4 million applications from people seeking to stay in the United Kingdom after Brexit under the EU Settled Status Scheme. The government estimates that the number of EEA and Swiss citizens eligible to remain in the United Kingdom lies between 3.4 million and 3.8 million. Are they thinking ‘job done’?

The Migration Observatory report about the EU settlement scheme clearly sets out the flaws with the way the government is producing data and counting applications made. The Home Office has a very crude system of just counting every application. However, there are very basic problems:

It is not known how many people are eligible to apply and how many still live in the United Kingdom.
One person may have applied for pre-settled status and settled status – this counts as two applications.
There are people who have applied to the scheme but have left the United Kingdom.

What we do know is that the Home Office still has a backlog of 320,000 applications and that inevitably, the applicants who have not yet applied are likely to be the more difficult cases including, for example the citizens in children’s homes, victims of domestic abuse, third country national family members of EU citizens and people who are not able to provide the documentation required by the Home Office. We also know that 300 applications were refused by the Home Office in March 2020.

There is now of course the added problem of Covid-19 with a slow down in the processing of applications at the Home Office due to reduced staffing levels. The telephone line set up to assist applicants with the EU Settlement Scheme is not functioning as the Home Office was not able to provide a safe working environment for its case workers. This means that the only way to get in touch with the EU Settlement Scheme staff is by email. The delays in response time are significant and standard responses often appear to be being sent out without any specific information about individual cases.

Although it is still possible for EU citizens with passports which are chipped to make applications, non-EEA family members are unable to submit applications as the Home Office is currently not accepting passports. It is therefore not possible to provide identity documents either to the Home Office or to Sopra Steria, the company to which the Home Office has outsourced the initial processing of applications.

There are also some more complex applications which have to be completed on a paper form. The procedure is that the form has to be requested from the Home Office. Previously an applicant was required to phone in and outline their case before a paper form was sent out, which is now not possible. Paper forms can still be requested by email and are then sent to the applicant. The Home Office has reassured us that these applications are still being dealt with, although we know from experience that the delays before the Covid-19 lockdown were significant, and they are only likely to increase now. These applications would normally be sent back to the Home Office with original documentation but we have been informed by a senior case worker at the Home Office that only copies should be sent to the Home Office.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, further delays seem inevitable. There are also likely to be some difficulties ensuring that biometrics are captured as required for the Home Office going forward. One thing that has been stated categorically, is that the EU Settlement Scheme will not be extended beyond June 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you require assistance in connection with the EU Settlement Scheme or any other EU immigration matter, please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact@gryklaw.com.

Coronavirus Covid-19 Crisis and International Surrogacy Arrangements

26th March 2020 By Barry O’Leary

We frequently assist parents with the immigration and nationality matters which arise when children are born following international surrogacy arrangements.

We are aware that the coronavirus covid-19 crisis is causing difficulties for parents whose children are born overseas to surrogate mothers.

We have, with our friends at NGA Law, raised this matter with the Home Secretary. The Home Office have been in contact with us to look to find solutions for children who are born British and those who need to register as British Citizens.

I will update when I have further information but you are welcome to contact me on barry@gryklaw.com

Barry O’Leary is the author of the ‘International Surrogacy and British Nationality and Immigration Law chapter in “Surrogacy: Law, Practice and Policy in England and Wales.”

Described as “the Rolls-Royce of immigration and asylum,” Barry O’Leary is highly valued for his successes with family, partnership, international surrogacy and sexual identity cases. An interviewee says: “He’s a very experienced solicitor who does fantastic work across the board.” – Chambers 2020

“Barry O’Leary is experienced in applications based on partnership and family and in relation to international surrogacy arrangements, while he also handles asylum and human rights claims based on sexual identity.” – Legal 500 2020

Extend your visa if you cannot leave the UK because of coronavirus

25th March 2020 By Nath Gbikpi

This blog entry has been updated to reflect the guidance issued by the Home Office on 6 April 2020, asking individuals who cannot leave the UK because of coronavirus to submit an online form to apply to extend their leave.

On 24 March, the Home Office first published guidance for migrants affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

If your visa expires between 24 January and 31 May 2020

If your visa expires between 24 January 2020 and 31 May 2020, and you cannot leave the UK because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to coronavirus, you will be able to apply for an extension.

There are a couple of points to note, however:

Your visa will not be automatically extended. You must apply for your visa to be extended. The guidance previously asked that you contact the Coronavirus Immigration Team and provide your details and an explanation of why you cannot return to your home country. Starting from 6 April, you should complete and submit a form online, which you can find here. You should then receive an email to confirm your email address. Once you have confirmed your email address, the Home Office should, within 5 working days, confirm to you that your request has been received, and until when your visa has been extended.
This is a form for those who intended to leave the UK at the end of their stay here. If you always intended to extend your stay in the UK, you should submit the relevant form applicable to your route.

If you wish to remain in the UK long-term

Some applications would usually need to be made from your country of origin. For example, if you are in the UK as a student and wish to apply under the Global Talent category, you would usually need to leave the UK and apply for a Global Talent visa from abroad. Similarly, if you are in the UK as a visitor and wish to apply to remain on the basis of a relationship with a British citizen, you would usually need to leave the UK and apply for a partner visa from your country of origin.

The Home Office guidance confirms that, if your visa expires between 24 January and 31 May 2020, you will be allowed to make such application from within the UK. You will still be expected to pay for your application and show that you meet the relevant immigration requirements. At the moment, such application must be made before 31 May 2020.

If you have reporting conditions

The Home Office has also updated their guidance for those who are required to sign at a Home Office reporting centre on a regular basis. It states that:

Following Public Health England’s advice on coronavirus (COVID-19), the Home Office has decided that reporting as a condition of immigration bail should be temporarily deferred while it reviews how frequently people should report. You will receive an SMS text message soon with details of your next reporting date.

Still many unanswered questions

Overall, this is good news for many migrants in the UK, however a lot of questions remain unanswered. For example, we know that some people are struggling to take English language tests or Life in the UK tests because the centres are closed. We also know that some are worried about losing their jobs and not being able to meet the Immigration Rules of their applications. Others are worried about losing their jobs but not being able to access benefits. We urge the Home Office to issue guidance on this as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you are concerned about your immigration status in these uncertain and unprecedented times, please contact us on contact@gryklaw.com.