Latest revision: 18 July 2007

Depending on the location and demography of your constituency, immigration will play a larger or smaller part of your casework load. Immigration falls into two separate parts, dealt with by two different Government departments:

• Visa applications (i.e. applications for temporary admission into the UK) are made in the applicant’s country of residence, whereas most

• Applications for Leave to Remain or for Settlement are made in the UK.

A useful way to think of it is that those who are overseas need to apply for visas and therefore deal with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and those already in the UK need to apply for settlement and therefore deal with the Home Office (HO).

[This guide does not deal with asylum casework.  We aim to cover this topic in a later guide.]

Visa Applications

Individuals who want to come to the UK for a specified time period, for example a family wedding, university education or a holiday to see family, make visa applications. It is not the job of the Caseworker to be involved in visa applications. They are made by the individual concerned in the appropriate Embassy/High Commission. You will normally only hear of an application if it is initially refused by the FCO.

Basically, the FCO needs to be convinced that the applicant will not attempt to stay in the UK beyond the designated time period and that the applicant can be supported during their stay by their sponsor without any recourse to public funds.  The sponsor in the UK will need to provide the applicable Embassy/High Commission with their bank details and details of property ownership to prove that the applicant will be provided for financially. The applicant should provide details of their bank, property, job and family, so as to show that the applicant does not desire to outstay their Visa and will return to their own country.

If an initial application is refused, the applicant will have the right to appeal the decision. However, it is advisable for an entirely fresh application to be made as the appeals process takes longer than a re-application. New applications are considered entirely on their own merits and not on the basis of previous applications. If the sponsor is not satisfied with the stated reasons for the refusal, then the MP can make representations to the Embassy/High Commission. Should this fail - and the MP is satisfied that the application is valid - then representations can be made to the Minister in the FCO (currently – May 2004 - Chris Mullin). Chris Mullin also holds a Visa surgery for MPs and appointments can be made by ringing the number on our list of hotline numbers.  See also our page on the UKvisas website.

'Leave to Remain' or 'Settlement' - what is the difference?

'Leave to remain' is not the same thing as 'settlement'.   'Leave to remain' means just that - permission from the Home Secretary (in the shape of IND) to remain in the UK and this could be either in a temporary capacity (eg student) or in one which leads eventually to settlement (eg spouse).

'Further leave to remain'.   This normally will take the form of an extension of stay, for example when someone admitted as a student marries a person settled here and seeks further leave to remain as a spouse.

'Settlement' is indefinite leave to remain; ie when the time limit attached to a person's stay is removed and they are therefore at liberty to 'settle' in the UK.   

Leave to Remain

The more common source of immigration casework is applications for Leave to Remain. These are either Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), or Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR - until recently known as Exceptional Leave to Remain – ELR). Applications will normally be either through having a spouse who has British nationality (or Leave to Remain), or family settlement. Most applications are straightforward but, in the nature of things, it is the complex cases which will arrive on your desk.  Involving a solicitor with expertise in this area will add considerably to costs but may be necessary in such cases.  The MP cannot do the actual application, but they can chase up cases at the request of the applicant or solicitor.  

Marriage applications can sometimes be very tricky.  If an overseas applicant wants to join their UK citizen spouse then proof must be given that it is a stable marriage and that it is genuine, i.e. the couple will live together.  This would entail providing marriage certificate, birth certificates of any children they have had, proof that the property the UK-based citizen has can house the applicant (i.e. not in a bed-sit), and proof that the applicant will be able to sustain themselves without recourse to public funds.

On occasion, marriage applications will serve as a secondary application, i.e. Leave to Remain was turned down, but in the intervening period the applicant has married someone with refugee status or UK citizenship or Leave to Remain.  This makes the application harder to prove, as it may appear that the marriage is solely to keep the applicant in the country, rather than a marriage of love.  It is to be proved in the same way as a regular marriage application, but the Home Office are very wary of such applications.

If an application is refused, a right to appeal will be offered. The appeal process can be long and arduous and it is normal for the solicitor to guide the applicant. An MP may well be asked to write a supporting letter for the Home Office’s consideration. The most common thing that you, as a Caseworker, will be asked to do is to find out the progress of the case. The Home Office always has a backlog and these backlogs can go on for a very long time. To chase up a case, you must phone the appropriate MPs Hotline - see our list.  You will need the applicant’s Home Office reference number and/or their Date of Birth so that the Hotline staff can find the case as quickly as possible. However, it must be stated that phoning the MPs Hotline does not guarantee that the case will be looked at any quicker; it should, however, establish whether the file has been mislaid.

If the application has been rejected and an appeal is in place, the applicant may well ask the MP to write a letter of support, much in the same way as a Visa application support letter. With all supporting letters, it is essential that the MP has all documents pertaining to the case. It may be that not all these documents are required, but they should give you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the background of the case. English will not be the mother-tongue of many applicants and there may well be communication problems with the applicant. In these cases, it is advisable to speak with the applicant’s solicitor or book the constituent a surgery appointment.

Immigration Appellate Authority

On occasion it will also be necessary to contact the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA). The IAA is an independent body that deals with all appeals, whether Leave to Remain or Visa. The IAA is normally contacted to check that all appropriate documents have been received, or to send a further letter of support for consideration. The IAA can be contacted on 0845 6000 877; this is a publicly available number.

Pointers

• You must consider every case on its individual merits.  Just because you find a person amiable or unpleasant must not cloud your dealing with a case.

• If a family is making an application (as opposed to an individual application), it is essential that all the applications are linked.

• If at all possible, advise the applicant to attend any appeal hearing.

Useful information forms

It is vital that you have relevant and accurate information to hand when dealing with immigration casework.  We offer four forms to help you collect this information and you are welcome to use or modify these to suit yourself:

• Visa for Visitor (PDF 9KB)

• Visa for Spouse (PDF 9KB)

• Settlement Visa (PDF 9KB)

• Extension of Stay for Spouse (PDF 6KB)

Relevant websites:

Click here for our brief guide to the Immigration Advisory Service (June 2006).

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) have some useful publications, including their Immigration, Nationality & Refugee Law Handbook;  details on the JCWI website.

LL/May 2004
Revised KL March and June 2006, July 2007

With acknowledgements to:

• Karen Lawrinson and Kat Sutcliffe for permission to use their information forms.

• Gabrielle Garton Grimwood, Immigration, asylum and nationality researcher, Home Affairs Section, House of Commons Library

If you have helpful experience to add in this area of casework please let us know, using our Feedback Form.