Upcoming changes to the Immigration Rules put children’s safety and welfare at risk The Home Office have published a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules that are due to come into force at 11pm on 31st December 2020 – the end of the transition period following the UK’s exit from the EU. These changes…
Coram Children’s Legal Centre is deeply concerned by the recent reports of children being held in immigration detention facilities in Kent, after Kent County Council reached the limits of its capacity to provide safe care for any new children arriving in the area. Many children seeking safety in the UK do not have any family…
The Coronavirus Act 2020 has now passed through Parliament and received Royal Assent on 25th March 2020. We previously examined how the draft proposals will impact children with special needs and Education Health and Care Plans (EHC plans) and families going through the appeals process. The information below is intended to update our previous article…
Coram Children’s Legal Centre is delighted to announce the appointment of Rosalyn Akar Grams as the new head of our Legal Practice Unit. Rosalyn succeeds Noel Arnold, who held the position for the last seven years. Rosalyn is an experienced solicitor specialising in asylum, immigration and human rights cases and is an accredited supervisor under…
The Court of Justice of the European Union in this case considered the position of children placed under guardianship in the Algerian Kafalah system. The Court decided that such a child can be treated as a family member for the purpose of EU free movement law. SM, known as Susana in the UK courts, is…
Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) has today joined Citizens UK, Let Us Learn and others to call for the Home Office to stop making a profit on children’s immigration and citizenship applications, on the day the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) publishes his report on fees. CCLC welcomes the ICIBI’s report and…
This week the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) increased by 100% to £400 per year, despite concerns from Coram Children’s Legal Centre and others that this will have a severe negative impact on children and young people who have grown up in the UK but do not yet have settled status. What is the Immigration Health Surcharge…
Let Us Learn and Coram Children’s Legal Centre, working together on the ‘We Belong’ campaign, welcome today’s pledge from Labour to end the current ‘rip off’ of immigration application fees by reducing them to closer reflect the actual cost price of processing applications. As noted in the speech by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, many…
There are over half a million European national children living in the UK, 38% of whom were born here. Non-EU children currently struggle to regularise their immigration status in a system which is complex, expensive and for which there is no free legal advice. For the past year, Coram Children’s Legal Centre has been calling…
The government has issued guidance for legal aid caseworkers confirming that those representing unaccompanied and separated children should apply for legal aid via the exceptional case funding scheme, prior to LASPO amendment. This was confirmed following the Ministry of Justice announcement to reinstate legal aid for unaccompanied and separated children with immigration matters last month,…
CCLC immigration solicitor Sophie Freeman has been named Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year in the social and welfare law category.
UK government confirms legal aid available for victims of trafficking following court challenge Legal aid is vital for children and young people to realise their rights. However, legal aid was cut for a number of areas of law – the negative impact of which is explored in our recent report. One area where it was still available was for victims…