Bail / Detention
If you have been detained in a removal centre or prison for a period of at least 7 days by the UK Border Agency or under the Immigration Rules and require bail or are facing removal, we will be there to assist you to be released on bail. We understand that you and your family will be frightened and distressed. You can count on us to work with the Home Office on your behalf, ensuring your case is heard and any issues properly addressed. Our solicitors have an excellent reputation for obtaining release from detention, organising bail and successfully halting Home Office deportations. We are well-known for fighting hard for our clients and ensuring that their legal and human rights are protected at all times.
There are four ways to get out of detention.
- Home Office bail
- If your main immigration case is successful
- Release by the High Court
- Bail from an Immigration Judge, which is also called Tribunal Bail.
You can apply for bail to the Home Office as many times as you want and even when you are applying for Tribunal Bail. You should receive a decision from the Home Office within 10 days of making the bail application.
The Home Office bail is considered on paper only. Under Tribunal Bail you will be able to have a hearing in front of an Immigration Judge. All immigration detainees have a right to make a Tribunal Bail application if they have been in the UK for at least eight days. The advantage of applying for Tribunal Bail is that the Judge, who is an independent person, will look at your detention to see if the Home Office arguments are strong enough to keep you in detention. You cannot apply for Tribunal Bail if you have already had a bail application within the last 28 days and your circumstances have not changed significantly.
In order to make a bail application to court you need to have financial sureties. A financial surety is someone who promises the court that he or she can make sure that you keep in contact with the authorities if you are released from detention and who will pay money if you run away.
To have a chance of succeeding in the bail application you will need at least two people who are prepared to stand as sureties, and you will also need an address where the Immigration Service can be sure you live. Your sureties must be of good character, have secure immigration statuses and be in a position to ensure that you will not abscond. They must also be able to afford to pay large amounts of money to the authorities, should this be necessary.
We will need to have full details of the financial surety on the bail application form and explain their relationship with you. The financial sureties should be legally in the UK and should show financial standing. There is no fixed amount for the financial support, but it has to be an amount that will be proportionate to his or her income and savings. The money should belong to the surety and usually need to provide bank statements for at least three months. The money will only be taken from the financial sureties should you not comply with the bail conditions.
In immigration cases, it is also important for us to show, in principle, why it is not necessary for you to be detained and why the reasons for your detention are inadequate.
Please note that if you are granted bail, it will usually be subject to certain conditions which may require you to report to a Home Office reporting centre at regular intervals, or to remain living at the same address.
From the beginning to the to endwe are able to assist with the bail application and we help clients navigate the complex process. Accordingly, please do not hesitate to get in touch for expert advice if you require assistance in understanding these requirements and if you would like to know more about how to apply for bail.
Asylum application
There are parts of the world where individuals are at risk of serious harm because of their religion, race, political opinions, gender or sexual identity. If you are in the UK and you fear harm or a violation of your human rights in your home country, you may be able to seek asylum here. We can guide you through the UK’s complex asylum and human rights system.
An asylum seeker is a person who claims to be a refugee but whose claim hasn’t been evaluated yet. A Refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside his country of nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear is unwilling, to avail himself of the protection of that country.
This person would apply for asylum on the grounds that returning to his or her country of origin will lead to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality or political belief. Someone is an asylum seeker as long as the application is pending. Given that not every asylum seeker will be recognized as a refugee, it is important to note the distinction between refugee and asylum seeker. A vital part of being recognised as a refugee is the legal process through which the UK Government will determine whether the application is successful or not. The process can be lengthy and complicated and we aim to help our clients through this journey. The UK asylum seeker system is complex and one of the challenges is to provide the evidence required to be granted protection.
We can help you to prepare your claim, complete your Preliminary Information Questionnaire, attend your asylum interview with you and prepare evidence and legal arguments on your behalf in support of your claim.
If your asylum claim has been refused, we can help. We can assist to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal and assisting clients to make fresh claims. If you have been granted asylum and wish to bring your family members to join you in the United Kingdom, we may be able to assist you in making a family reunion application.