Because of the Coronavirus public health crisis, there have been some temporary changes to the asylum and immigration process. This includes to the asylum substantive interview, further submissions, visa extensions, appeal hearings, reporting requirements and detention.

The UK government has introduced new regulations under which they can rule that an asylum claim is inadmissible. This means the Home Office does not have to consider the claim in the UK if they rule that another country – a “safe third country” – should in fact be responsible for your asylum claim.

As the end of the Brexit transition period approaches, we’ve updated our “EU Law” page in the Right to Remain Toolkit.

This page now looks at applying to the Settled Status scheme if you’re an EEA national and in the UK before 11pm on 31 December 2020.

Yes, well. It’s been quite a year.

Aside from, well, everything we’ve had a busy year recruiting new members of our Management Committee, appointing new roles within the Committee AND we’ve had three fab new staff members join us. That’s been a lot of zoom calls.

Lisa reviews Deporting Black Britons, by Luke de Norona. Through the stories and lives of four men, de Noronha explores the human impact of the UK’s deportation policy (and Jamaica’s compliance with it) and thematic aspects of state racism.

The organisation BID have produced a new self-help leaflet to help people without a lawyer appeal against deportation on the basis of the family life with a child in the UK.

The leaflet explains the meaning of ‘the best interests’ of children in deportation appeals.

You may have heard that we are hard at work at making our unique guide to the UK asylum and immigration system – the Right to Remain Toolkit – more accessible.

We would like your views on its name!

Please help us by doing this very quick survey – just three questions …

This week, the Immigration Health Surcharge increased from £400 to £624.

Read more about the surcharge – and who is exempt from paying – in the Entering the UK section of the Right to Remain Toolkit. We’ve updated the Toolkit to reflect these changes.

We are very excited to see that Remi Weekes’ horror film, His House, will be hitting Netflix and cinemas from 30 October. We helped to develop the script!

Last year, we wrote on the blog that the Home Office policy of “removal windows” had been suspended after a challenge by the organisation Medical Justice.

The Court of Appeal has now ruled on the matter. Find out what they said.