https://freemovement.org.uk Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law Tue, 21 Jan 2025 09:13:28 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-Goose-logo-32x32.png https://freemovement.org.uk 32 32 https://freemovement.org.uk/new-court-of-appeal-guidance-on-the-correct-test-to-be-applied-to-s-403-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-court-of-appeal-guidance-on-the-correct-test-to-be-applied-to-s-403-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals https://freemovement.org.uk/new-court-of-appeal-guidance-on-the-correct-test-to-be-applied-to-s-403-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/#respond Tue, 21 Jan 2025 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=218897 In Chaudhry v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 16, the Court of Appeal has confirmed the correct test to be applied in appeals against decisions of the Secretary of State to deprive a person of citizenship pursuant to section 40(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981 (where citizenship was obtained […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/new-court-of-appeal-guidance-on-the-correct-test-to-be-applied-to-s-403-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/feed/ 0 https://freemovement.org.uk/independent-chief-inspectors-report-on-deprivation-of-citizenship-shows-a-high-number-of-stalled-cases/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=independent-chief-inspectors-report-on-deprivation-of-citizenship-shows-a-high-number-of-stalled-cases Wed, 17 Apr 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=207144 The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report ‘An inspection of the use of deprivation of Citizenship by the Status Review Unit’ contains some interesting points around the high number of Albanian decisions, proposed solutions for what happens to a person after deprivation and some fairly troubling use of spreadsheets. Also, at the time […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/court-of-appeal-rejects-shamima-begums-appeal-against-the-deprivation-of-her-british-citizenship/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=court-of-appeal-rejects-shamima-begums-appeal-against-the-deprivation-of-her-british-citizenship Mon, 26 Feb 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=204862 The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from Shamima Begum challenging the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s decision that the deprivation of her British citizenship was lawful. I recommend reading Colin’s write up of that SIAC decision. This decision is Begum v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 152. Background Ms […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-british-citizenship-without-advance-notice-is-lawful-says-upper-tribunal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deprivation-of-british-citizenship-without-advance-notice-is-lawful-says-upper-tribunal https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-british-citizenship-without-advance-notice-is-lawful-says-upper-tribunal/#comments Fri, 22 Dec 2023 12:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=200858 The Upper Tribunal has held that it is lawful for the Home Secretary to deprive a person of their British citizenship without notice, in this case because of a concern that the second nationality would be renounced. Renunciation would have meant that deprivation of British citizenship would be at risk of being held unlawful as […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-british-citizenship-without-advance-notice-is-lawful-says-upper-tribunal/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/guidance-in-begum-on-deprivation-decisions-is-not-restricted-to-national-security-cases/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guidance-in-begum-on-deprivation-decisions-is-not-restricted-to-national-security-cases Fri, 03 Nov 2023 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=196898 The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has concluded that the guidance given by the Supreme Court in Begum v Special Immigration Appeals Commission & Anor [2021] UKSC 7 on how deprivation decisions should be made is not limited to cases involving national security, it also applies where a person has been involved in serious and […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/court-of-appeal-upholds-deprivation-of-citizenship-decision/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=court-of-appeal-upholds-deprivation-of-citizenship-decision Thu, 12 Oct 2023 08:18:40 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=195180 The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision made the Home Secretary to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the basis that it was obtained by dishonest concealment of a material fact. Namely, that the appellant did not disclose what appeared to be an ongoing relationship between he and his wife in Pakistan […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/tribunal-must-consider-home-office-decisions-in-full-even-when-not-explicitly-relied-on-by-representative/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tribunal-must-consider-home-office-decisions-in-full-even-when-not-explicitly-relied-on-by-representative Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:00:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=190908 Can a judge ignore part of a Home Office decision if their representative doesn’t mention it in court? No, said the Court of Appeal in Shyti v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 770. The case The appellant, Mr Shyti, was challenging a decision to deprive him of his British citizenship. […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/upper-tribunal-provides-guidance-on-correct-approach-in-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=upper-tribunal-provides-guidance-on-correct-approach-in-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals https://freemovement.org.uk/upper-tribunal-provides-guidance-on-correct-approach-in-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/#comments Mon, 22 May 2023 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=189116 The Upper Tribunal has given guidance on the correct approach in deprivation appeals. The headnote to this case, Chimi (deprivation appeals; scope and evidence) Cameroon [2023] UKUT 00115 (IAC), says: Background Ms Chimi was born in September 1977 in Cameroon. In 2000 she moved to France and formed a relationship. In 2006, with the help […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/upper-tribunal-provides-guidance-on-correct-approach-in-deprivation-of-citizenship-appeals/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/security-tribunal-finds-shamima-begum-was-trafficked-but-she-loses-anyway/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=security-tribunal-finds-shamima-begum-was-trafficked-but-she-loses-anyway https://freemovement.org.uk/security-tribunal-finds-shamima-begum-was-trafficked-but-she-loses-anyway/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:06:43 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=180018 Shamima Begum has lost the latest round in her legal battle against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship and exile her abroad. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission that heard her case concluded that she was a victim of trafficking, which was not something the Home Secretary who took the decision to strip […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/security-tribunal-finds-shamima-begum-was-trafficked-but-she-loses-anyway/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/deception-and-denaturalisation-seek-and-you-shall-find/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deception-and-denaturalisation-seek-and-you-shall-find https://freemovement.org.uk/deception-and-denaturalisation-seek-and-you-shall-find/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=178516&preview=true&preview_id=178516 In this blog post I am going to take a look at the second main way that the British state strips some citizens of their citizenship status. In a previous blog post I looked at behaviour-based denaturalisation. Here I’m looking at fraud-based denaturalisation. In contrast to the considerable literature addressing behaviour-based denaturalisation, fraud-based denaturalisation has […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deception-and-denaturalisation-seek-and-you-shall-find/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/bad-cases-make-bad-law-the-unintended-consequences-of-denaturalising-bad-guys/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bad-cases-make-bad-law-the-unintended-consequences-of-denaturalising-bad-guys Mon, 06 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=178406 The power to denaturalise a British subject on the basis of their behaviour was first introduced by legislation in 1918. With some adjustments, the power remained broadly the same until as late as 2002. Essentially, only a person who had naturalised as British could be stripped of their citizenship and the main grounds for doing […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-citizenship-has-legal-effect-even-if-later-withdrawn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deprivation-of-citizenship-has-legal-effect-even-if-later-withdrawn Fri, 20 May 2022 11:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=166631 When the Home Office withdraws a decision to deprive someone of their British citizenship, does the person get their citizenship back (prospective) or was it never lost in the first place (retroactive)? This was the deceptively simple question that the High Court grappled with in E3 & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/victim-of-brutal-domestic-abuse-loses-appeal-against-deprivation-of-british-citizenship/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=victim-of-brutal-domestic-abuse-loses-appeal-against-deprivation-of-british-citizenship Thu, 10 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=163880 A mother of three British children has lost her appeal against the decision of Amber Rudd to take away her British citizenship in 2017. The judgment of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) makes for very grim reading.  The woman, anonymised as “U3”, was born in the UK with British and Moroccan citizenship. Her dual nationality […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/stripping-people-of-british-citizenship-without-telling-them-is-definitely-illegal-for-now/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stripping-people-of-british-citizenship-without-telling-them-is-definitely-illegal-for-now https://freemovement.org.uk/stripping-people-of-british-citizenship-without-telling-them-is-definitely-illegal-for-now/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=162863 The UK government’s attempt to strip a British-Pakistani woman of her citizenship without telling her was unlawful, a split Court of Appeal has confirmed. Lord Justice Baker and Lady Justice Whipple held that the regulation allowing notice of citizenship deprivation to be placed “on file” is ultra vires the British Nationality Act 1981, which requires […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/stripping-people-of-british-citizenship-without-telling-them-is-definitely-illegal-for-now/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/british-citizenship-can-be-taken-away-if-criminal-offending-not-disclosed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=british-citizenship-can-be-taken-away-if-criminal-offending-not-disclosed https://freemovement.org.uk/british-citizenship-can-be-taken-away-if-criminal-offending-not-disclosed/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2022 08:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=162782 The Upper Tribunal has affirmed the continuing obligation to disclose material facts in applications for naturalisation as a British citizen, including facts which arise after submitting the application. The case is Walile (deprivation: self-incrimination: anonymity) [2022] UKUT 17 (IAC). Offence committed while citizenship application pending The facts in this case were particularly unpleasant. Mr Walile […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/british-citizenship-can-be-taken-away-if-criminal-offending-not-disclosed/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/how-many-people-have-been-stripped-of-their-british-citizenship-home-office-deprivation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-many-people-have-been-stripped-of-their-british-citizenship-home-office-deprivation https://freemovement.org.uk/how-many-people-have-been-stripped-of-their-british-citizenship-home-office-deprivation/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2022 11:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=162394 At least 464 people have been stripped of their British citizenship since the law allowing it was relaxed 15 years ago, Free Movement analysis shows. Home Office figures record 175 people being deprived of their citizenship on national security grounds, and 289 for fraud, since 2006. Before that, it had not happened since 1973. The […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/how-many-people-have-been-stripped-of-their-british-citizenship-home-office-deprivation/feed/ 4 https://freemovement.org.uk/court-of-appeal-tells-siac-to-pay-more-respect-to-home-office-on-national-security-matters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=court-of-appeal-tells-siac-to-pay-more-respect-to-home-office-on-national-security-matters Fri, 26 Nov 2021 10:25:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=161623 Secretary of State for the Home Department v P3 [2021] EWCA Civ 1642 is about how much SIAC should defer to the Home Secretary’s view about national security concerns. The answer is quite a lot, but not too much. The background to this case is the Supreme Court decision in Begum, which was decided after […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/government-to-deprive-brits-of-their-citizenship-without-telling-them/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=government-to-deprive-brits-of-their-citizenship-without-telling-them Thu, 04 Nov 2021 08:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=161171 The Home Secretary can take away anyone’s British citizenship when it would be “conducive to the public good” but would not make that person stateless. She can also take away naturalised citizenship if obtained by fraud, false representation or concealment of a material fact. The circumstances in which the Home Secretary has exercised this power […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-citizenship-for-fraud-after-begum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deprivation-of-citizenship-for-fraud-after-begum https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-citizenship-for-fraud-after-begum/#comments Mon, 27 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=160388 In Ciceri (deprivation of citizenship appeals: principles) [2021] UKUT 238 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal has applied the guidance given in R (Begum) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission [2021] UKSC 7 to deprivation of citizenship appeals on grounds of fraud. It does so in a way which inflicts maximum damage on the ability of appellants to challenge the […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/deprivation-of-citizenship-for-fraud-after-begum/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/after-deprivation-of-citizenship-comes-months-or-years-in-limbo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=after-deprivation-of-citizenship-comes-months-or-years-in-limbo Tue, 07 Sep 2021 11:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=159884