Where control orders are concerned protocol is always tricky.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal after an Administrative Court (AC) hearing to determine whether the Home Secretary can revoke control orders imposed on two individuals (the appellants known only as CB and BP) was ended prematurely.

The AC’s decision to end court proceedings was based principally on practicality; in light of the appellants’ changed circumstances, the control orders were in effect redundant so there was no good reason to continue proceedings. The Court of Appeal, delivering a judgment bolstered by the Master of the Rolls, thought differently. The AC went beyond its remit by ending the proceedings without reaching a judgment. This left the appellants without an avenue to hold the executive to account – which is unacceptable in a democratic society.

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The UKBA has announced that, as of the 6th of April 2012, the Tier 1 (Post-study Work) visa route will be abolished. At the same time, a new category will be launched: Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur). Although there are some similarities when meeting the requirements, the new graduate entrepreneur scheme is not strictly a replacement of the post-study work route.

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The Upper Tribunal (UT) dismissed an appeal concerning alleged misconduct by a First-Tier Tribunal judge, not so much for a lack of evidence against the judge but more as a result of a failure to adhere to procedural rules and poor decision-making by the appellant’s representatives.

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The High Court has upheld a TPIM (Terrorism Protection and Investigation Measure) and has ruled that a control order is valid in a case concerning a terror suspect and his alleged involvement in ‘terrorist related activities’ (TRA). There was a particular concern that the respondent (the suspect known only as BM) would travel to Pakistan to engage in TRA if not kept under the restraint of a TPIM.

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The Court of Appeal has held that a notice of a decision to cancel Indefinite Leave to Remain must not only be made in writing, but also contain clear advice on how and on what grounds one can appeal the decision. Those with an ‘in-country’ right to appeal should have that right made known to them in the notice of the appealable decision; otherwise the notice will be invalid.

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The Court of Appeal has approved a “notwithstanding” test when examining whether the circumstances of relatives of settled people live in are “compassionate circumstances” or not. This means the court will ask whether the relative lives, in their country of origin, in compassionate circumstances even though they receive financial support. This is the test that will be used in dependent applications where a relative living outside the UK who is mainly dependent financially on UK settled relatives wants to come and live here as their dependent.

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These are the top five pieces on the blog. Three of them are brief guides to some of the most commonly asked about types of immigration – spouse and civil partner visa, Indefinite Leave to Remain, and Citizenship. We also have our 48 top tips for making an application. And we have the predictions we made about immigration law in 2012 – see if we got it all right!

British Citizenship and Naturalisation explained

Settlement and Indefinite Leave to Remain Explained

I want to bring my spouse/civil partner to the UK

48 Tips for Stronger Visa Applications

What’s going to happen in immigration and employment law in 2012?

Revocation of a deportation order is not implied in an application for entry clearance.

Anyone who is subject to a deportation order, and who wants to apply for entry clearance, must apply to have the deportation order revoked before they apply for entry clearance. They cannot make an entry clearance application and then rely on the Nationality, Immigration and Appeals Act 2002 on appeal: that does not allow new applications to be brought. 

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