News and updates

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

Retirement announcement

7th May 2020 By Diana Baxter

In these troubling and uncertain times, it is with mixed emotions that we announce the retirement of our Senior Partner and namesake, Wesley Gryk.

After 25 years at the helm, and in celebration of his 71^st birthday on 12 May 2020, Wesley will be retiring as Senior Partner at Wesley Gryk Solicitors LLP. Fortunately, he will continue to share with us his wisdom on an ongoing basis as an unpaid Consultant.

12 May 2020 will, undoubtedly, be a bittersweet day for the firm as we celebrate the achievements of our founder, who built the firm from scratch into the leading law firm that we are today (see here for a memoir of the early days).

In the past 25 years, Wesley has assisted numerous individual migrant and refugee families from across the world to navigate the bureaucracy of the UK’s immigration system, while more widely championing and promoting the rights of migrants in the UK. His legacy lies not only in the clients he has advised, but also in the generations of immigration solicitors / barristers he has trained along the way and who continue to uphold his exceptional standards of legal advocacy across the field of immigration law. In this period of state overreach, it is more pertinent than ever that we uphold this legacy in striving to maintain the rule of law, civil liberties and human rights.

Wesley’s achievements have been well documented by the Law Society in its recent Minority Report. Wesley is known for his exceptional commitment to his clients, his formidable knowledge across the broad spectrum of immigration law, and for his compassion. In particular, Wesley should be proud of his achievement with respect to the rights of LGBT+ migrants and the role he played in achieving recognition of same-sex relationships in immigration law.

We are not just Wesley’s firm, but also his ‘family’. And like many families right now, we are separated – unable to mark this momentous occasion together with the grandeur it so demands. And with the same commitment that Wesley has shown over the last 25 years to ensure our clients can be together in safety with their families, we will keep battling on remotely as his legacy and in anticipation of coming together again later this year (or perhaps more realistically early next year!) to give Wesley the send off he so truly deserves.

Thank you, Wes.

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.

Home Office advises employers to prepare for new immigration system

15th April 2020 By Dmitri Macmillen

The Home Office at the end of last week unveiled a promotional brochure aimed at employers seeking to sponsor migrant workers for the first time. This comes against the backdrop of the government’s intention to end the free movement of EU nationals by 31 December 2020, and in its own words, implement a new points-based immigration system for foreign workers from 1 January 2021. As EU nationals arriving in the UK as of 1 January 2021 will fall within the scope of this new system, many employers may soon need to understand how to sponsor foreign workers when previously there may not have been a need for them to do so.

The brochure briefly summarises some of the key features of the government’s policy statement outlining the new points-based immigration system, which we covered in a previous blog. These include the skill, salary and language requirements for foreign workers applying after 1 January 2021 to come to work in the UK, as well as how points are ‘awarded’ to a migrant in order for them to make a successful visa application. The brochure likewise adds that EU nationals will, as of January 2021, be able to apply for the Global Talent route and that an unsponsored route for highly skilled workers, together with other initiatives for scientists, graduates (including a new Graduate Immigration Route for international students completing a degree in the UK as of the summer of 2021) and NHS workers, will be rolled out too. At a time, however, when the key role of ‘lower-skilled’ workers is underscored like rarely before, the Home Office’s insistence in this brochure, as on previous occasions, that there will not be a an immigration route for those who do not meet the skills or salary threshold for the skilled worker route, is at the very least poorly timed.

The brochure further encourages employers who do not currently have a sponsor licence to consider applying for one now if they believe they will want to sponsor eligible foreign workers, including ones from the EU, as of early 2021, as well as briefly mentioning some of the current requirements and procedures employers will need to satisfy in order to become sponsors. As the government intensifies its preparations for a much-changed immigration system, further information on changes to these requirements and procedures are likely to be made known in the coming months.

If you require advice as either a worker, or an employer wishing to become a sponsor, please contact us on contact@gryklaw.com or on +44 20 7401 6887.

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