Sonia L

On current fee levels I calculate that 5-year entry clearance, then 5-year extension (each with IHS), then settlement fees, would come to £16,649 for a single person. For a family of four (including partner and two children) it would be £58,267. (3)

Of all the people you could defame, I wouldn’t pick a judge

At Labour’s conference, Keir Starmer promised his government would “fight with everything we have” against those pushing racism and the idea of two-tier Britishness.

Now it is the clear and stated policy rationale of his government that the racists were correct and must be appeased.

If you will be directly affected by the government's planned proposals to change asylum protection, join us on Wed 26th November 11-12noon for a solidarity hub to share your concerns. ow.ly/yf4O50XvUEV

Not us

and the publication she wrote for is a legal resource for immigration lawyers, not a campaign organisation advocating open borders. We are happy to correct the record.

Pleased to confirm that normal service has resumed and we are no longer "a campaign organisation advocating open borders", as exciting as that makes me sound...

Even under the Conservatives they didn't apply the changes to settlement/length of leave in the Nationality and Borders Act or the automatic inadmissibility of asylum applications to people already in the UK, let along people already recognised as refugees.

There was particular controversy on Thursday over the potential disparity between the treatment of working spouses and non-working partners under the proposals. The planned rules make spouse’s applications separate and stipulate that all applicants for settlement must earn at least £12,570 a year. The proposal raises the possibility that a high-earning spouse might receive settlement in three years while their stay-at-home partner might never be eligible. Sonia Lenegan, a leading immigration lawyer, said: “It looks like there’s no exemption for stay-at-home parents.” A Home Office official indicated that aspect of the proposals would be subject to consultation, meaning it could change in future.

And this in the FT: www.ft.com/content/9b91...

Honestly amazed I managed to be coherent about anything yesterday

Andrew Sparrow Sonia Lenegan has posted a good analysis of the earned settlement plans at Free Movement, a blog covering immigration law. This is her conclusion. The paper is fairly explicit that the target here is the number of people on health and care visas. So it is low earners and our carers who the government is proposing to force into additional expensive applications and a longer period of instability before they are able settle, contrary to the rules under which they made the decision to uproot their lives and move to the UK. I am aware that there is a view that people who are already here but have not yet reached the point where they are eligible for settlement are fair game, and some will argue that their inclusion means these changes are not retrospective. But I think that it is important to remember that many if not most of these people will have had a choice about where to move. They chose the UK, based on rules which would allow them to settle after five years. Changing those rules on them now is simply unfair and transitional arrangements are essential.

Just got a google alert for this from yesterday's Guardian politics live blog (my full piece is here: freemovement.org.uk/home-secreta...)

Tinkering with ECHR definitions will not help the government The proposed changes to Articles 3 and 8 in asylum cases will achieve little or nothing

Tinkering with ECHR definitions will not help the government

The proposed changes to Articles 3 and 8 in asylum cases will achieve little or nothing

By me, at @newstatesman1913.bsky.social

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

A few weeks ago this Reform rising star went on LBC & said young people were being paid too much,citing his experience in hospitality.

So we looked into his companies & found 3 tribunal judgments for failure to pay wages, holiday pay & provide contracts
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Mahmood used the term "Boriswave", which was created and popularised by the online hard right, to describe that group

The policy is designed to target people who arrived on the relaxed health and care worker visa and created what Home Office insiders call a "bulge" moving towards settlement

While telling parliament that the new policy was about "fairness" and making settlement "a privilege" that must be earned, home secretary Shabana Mahmood's speech hinted at the government's more immediate concern - the huge number of post-2021 arrivals about to qualify for indefinite leave to remain

The consultation paper makes clear that citizenship is also in their sights and that they intend to make changes there after the settlement ones have been done (via the rules). People should apply now.

This q was asked but not explicitly answered in the Lords. However yesterday's consultation refers to a "starting point" of 20 years for refugees which indicates the proposals apply to them. The matter of this applying to people already here is a consultation q

hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2025-1...

- Appendix Long Residence client: apply now
- Client stuck on Life in the UK test, otherwise looking at an extra 20 years: study like you have never studied in your life and keep taking those tests

Doing a very stressful audit of my clients this morning, to figure out who will be impacted and how, and whether anything can be done now

"NHS leaders, senior doctors and the GMC warned that the increased denigration of and abuse directed at migrants in the UK was a significant reason for the rise in foreign medics leaving."

Judges have become ‘human filters’ as AI in Australian courts reaches ‘unsustainable phase’, chief justice says Stephen Gageler warns the speed of AI’s development could be outstripping people’s ability to ‘comprehend its potential risks and rewards’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The chief justice of the high court says judges around Australia are acting as “human filters” for legal arguments created using AI, warning the use of machine-generated content has reached unsustainable levels in the courts. Stephen Gageler told the first day of the Australian Legal Convention in Canberra on Friday that inappropriate use of AI content by litigants self-representing in court proceedings, as well as trained legal practitioners, included machine-enhanced arguments, preparation of evidence and formulation of legal submissions. Continue reading...

Judges have become ‘human filters’ as AI in Australian courts reaches ‘unsustainable phase’, chief justice says

Earned Settlement plan when implemented will be done via secondary legislation (the rules). There will be no parliamentary scrutiny prior. Once done, it'll be v.hard to politically reverse. It's a watershed moment and will define immigration policy for at least a decade.

It’s a mass deportation plan by stealth. So many reasons that medium-skilled workers won’t be able to stay 15 years to get ILR. End of the lower going rate, end of the immigration salary list, jobs being downgraded to low-skilled etc.

Home Secretary announces major asylum and other changes in new policy paper: "Restoring Order and Control" - Free Movement Following a plethora of media briefings and coverage over the past few days, the Home Secretary has officially published her policy paper on "Restoring Order

This is an excellent summary of this week's UK asylum announcements from Free Movement. freemovement.org.uk/home-secreta...

2) No one should be punished for failing tests that didn’t yet exist. Don’t make any retrospective changes to routes to settlement people are already on.
3) We don’t accept that settlement has to be “earned”.

We will do everything we can to ensure our communities have their say.

Home Secretary opens consultation on "earned settlement" - Free Movement The consultation document is called “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement”. The consultation is open

The government have revealed their plans for so-called "earned settlement". Their proposal is of a labyrinthine and draconian system that doubles, triples or quadruples routes to settlement, and embeds discrimination. We must stand against these plans.

freemovement.org.uk/home-secreta...

Yes.

VERY funny that Labour are being pointlessly cruel and haemorrhaging support from their base and yet none of what they're offering is ever going to be enough for the people whose approval they're seeking, WHO could have predicted it

if someone can show me where the automatic settlement and citizenship exists, can we have our fourteen grand in fees back please

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The title of the statement has been updated to A Fairer Pathway to Settlement - which makes more sense given what has been being briefed

Thank you!!