LondonDeportation Lawyer UK
By Danielle Cohen
Immigration Law Solicitor
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Danielle Cohen has over 20 years of experience as a lawyer and a reputation for offering professional, honest and expert advice.
The Immigration Rules relating to Deportation cases
The new Rules in paragraph 396.2 and 397 contain the provisions for deporting someone. It states that “It will only be in exceptional circumstances that the public interest in Deportation is outweighed”.
Paragraph 398, 399 and 399A then sets out circumstances in which the UK Border Agency may accept that Deportation would be contrary to Article 8 and may grant the person 30 months leave to remain. Those circumstances apply where a person has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for at least 12 months but less than four years. One of facts that will affect whether or not a person will be deported is whether the person is a parent of a child under the age of 18 years and the child is a British citizen or has lived in the UK for at least seven years and it would not be reasonable to expect the child to leave the UK and there is no other family member in the UK who can care for the child.
It is obvious that the new Immigration Rules make it very difficult for family life to be maintained if a case is to be argued without specialist immigration advice. A person facing deportation, who has a partner but no child has to put forward whether or not the partner is a British citizen or has indefinite leave to remain or refugee leave and whether the person not the partner, has lived in the UK lawfully for a continuous period of at least 15 years and there are insurmountable obstacles to the couple’s family life continuing outside the UK.
The third situation is where a person has lived in the UK continuously for at least 20 years and has no ties to the country to which he would be deported or a person who is aged 25 years of age and has lived continuously for at least half of his or her life in the UK and has no ties to the country to which it is deported.
The rules make no provision for other cases and it is important to argue why a person’s deportation may still be contrary to Article 8 and of the best interests of children, even though the requirements of the Rules are not met. The new UK Immigration Rules can and should be challenged and it is likely that these arguments will be reported in many cases because the Rules set out general thresholds which cannot properly reflect the significance of private and family life or the interests of children in all cases. If you need further information about the effect of Article 8 on Deportation cases please contact one of our immigration lawyers.