This month Barry is away and so his colleague Andrew Jones has stepped up and stepped in to co-host with Sonia, and frankly made it all look rather easy. March was a busy one, and Sonia and Andrew rattled through a lot. There were some big decisions in the asylum world, including Wethersfield and an important one on asylum support and withdrawals. Sonia attempted to explain an incredibly complex trafficking case in under 60 seconds and gave Andrew the two most depressing cases of the month, one involving the ongoing separation of a family in the UK and France and another where a man won his spouse appeal, but only after his spouse had died.

It was statistics galore with the 2024 figures now out for both for trafficking cases and the tribunals. There was also a statement of changes last month, along with some fee increases taking effect in April that practitioners should be aware of. We also covered the latest deprivation decision, this one from the Supreme Court. That’s not even all of it!

Asylum (01:05)

High Court confirms ability to challenge lawfulness of withdrawal decision in asylum support appeal

High Court finds that three men were unlawfully accommodated at Wethersfield

Court of Appeal says exclusion of those with deportation orders from trafficking concession is lawful

Children with pending asylum claim can be removed from the UK to be reunited with their parents

Inspector’s report finds penalty scheme for deterring clandestine entry is still lacking

Ten years after the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, safety is more elusive than ever

Home Office wrong to exclude kidnapping victim from trafficking protections

The Home Office is leaving thousands of Afghans in limbo in the UK

Increase in Home Office refusals sees number of asylum appeals soar in latest tribunal statistics

Statement of changes (19:16)

Statement of changes HC 733: visa regime imposed on Trinidad and Tobago and help given to some care workers

Family (20:43)

Man unlawfully denied spouse visa wins appeal too late

Inspection of fee waiver applications notes improvement in processing times, concerns about decision quality

Nationality (28:03)

Supreme Court adopts “nuanced” approach in deprivation of citizenship appeal

Home Office to reconsider Windrush compensation rejection after court loss

Procedure (32:52)

Increases to most Home Office fees from 9 April 2025

Increase to court and tribunal fees from 1 April 2025

eVisa ‘grace period’ allowing travel with an expired biometric residence permit extended to 1 June 2025

New sanctions for failure to comply with biometric regulations in eVisas changes from 27 March 2025

Court of Appeal upholds decision to refuse extension of time to woman deprived of British citizenship

Unlocking the potential of pro bono costs orders

Home Office decision to “correct” grant of indefinite leave made in error held to be lawful

Points based system (37:49)

No duty for Home Office to carry out impact assessment before revoking sponsor licence

National Audit Office recommends more is done to tackle exploitation in the Skilled Worker route

Human rights (41:06)

Home Office concede that Dutch man was wrongly excluded from UK in case of mistaken identity

Updated (42:17)

How does absence from the UK work under the EU settlement scheme?

How to claim asylum in the UK

Briefing: How to make a change of conditions application and remove the ‘no recourse to public funds’ restriction

The 180-day absence rule doesn’t apply to people with a spouse or partner visa