FLR(O) for failed asylum seekers

Hi

I have been supporting two long-term failed asylum-seekers, and am looking for any advice.

One lady is from Ethiopia, claimed in 1999, her case was not considered until 2004, has been fully refused since 2005, but had permission to work, and so is self-supporting. She has never been required to sign with Immigration, and is now not in touch with them.

The other lady is from Yemen, claimed in 1999, fully refused, permitted to work, self-supporting, signing monthly. At her last signing, she was asked a bunch of questions about her family background and her living situation. A couple of years ago, we heard that there were very few returns to Yemen because of "documentation" issues, but now she is worried that they are getting ready to remove her.

Both the women are single and without dependents. There appear to be no substantial grounds for making fresh asylum claims.

It has been suggested to me by an immigration solicitor in another case that an application for FLR(O), although without any particular grounds, would probably gain an extra couple of years, by which time there might be an amnesty/legacy case resolution. I am a bit doubtful about this.

Can anyone tell me if this might be worthwhile? And does anyone know if in practice forced returns of single females to Yemen are taking place? Of course any other advice at all will also be most welcome.

I might say I am very impressed at the standard of advice in this forum!

If they are worried that they are about to be removed then the only thing to do is apply for leave to remain on compassionate grounds. But what compassionate grounds are there? CHildren? Family? Friends? Any family back home? More info is needed.


Victoria

OK, the Ethiopian has her husband's English family here, unfortunately she was widowed before coming to the UK; the family are supportive. The compassionate grounds could also include the fact that she was already a refugee in Yemen before she applied for asylum in UK. She has been outside Ethiopia for about 15 years, except a brief visit with her husband about ten years ago - I think this visit was material in her asylum case being refused.

The Yemeni lady has no family in the UK, but has a lot of supporters here, has never received NASS support. Her employer was willing to apply for a work permit for her, but it appears that this could only be processed from a country where she was legally resident.

Does anyone know how we might find out about the state of play for removals to any given country? Of course the Home Office will claim that in principle returns are possible to any country, whereas we know that in practice they are next to impossible for countries like Somalia, Eritrea, Palestine.....

Someone I have been helping from Ethiopia, she was in prison for using a false document to get work, it seems that they tried to pressure her to go to the Ethiopian Embassy to apply for her passport, she refused, a year later she is still at liberty in spite of being a "foreign prisoner" prioritised for removal.

But the Ethiopian lady I am asking about now, she travelled with her own passport, so although it has long expired, documentation for her removal may not be a problem. Likewise the Yemeni lady.

Thanks for your help.

The Home Office should have alist on their website of countries to which there are no forced removals. We all know the situation in countries such as those you mention, but the Home Office don't really care about that.

Victoria

Hi

I can't find such info on their website, as their official position is that they can return anyone to anywhere, apart from Zim and Arab Iraq.

However, I just had a chat with someone at our local immi office, it seems that for Yemen there are still documentation issues - if the applicant has no valid passport, including if the came on a correct passport which has now expired, removal is "difficult", in other words they won't bother. I need to check back with my client to see if her Yemeni passport is still in date - after eight years here there's a good chance that it isn't, so she'll most likely just wait on until she's amnestied or gets to 14 years.

If anyone does have access to the list of countries to which there are no forced removals, PLEASE pass it on. It can save a lot of sleepless nights (although of course the situation can change overnight).

Thanks

JIM

Arab Iraq and Zim are the only ones on the official list, and I doubt that you will ever get anyone to confirm that there are others - they will only say that each case is decided on its merits.

Rather than sitting it out, why not try an application on compassionate grounds?


Victoria

Ok, compassionate grounds, would I do that on FLR(O), or SET(O), or just by way of further representations? Sorry if I sound a bit green!

Thanks

JIM

Depends if you are applying for further leave or ILR.

Victoria

OK, SET(O) it is then, I guess. Neither of these applicants have access to legal aid, so we will be submitting the applications ourselves. Any frther advice or guidance would be helpful.

Thank you Victoria for taking the time, I realise that this forum is mainly concerned with HSMP/Work permit/family issues rather than asylum. Still, any imput from other members would be welcome as well!

I will post again with up-dates.

Thanks again

JIM

jimquk wrote:OK, SET(O) it is then, I guess. Neither of these applicants have access to legal aid, so we will be submitting the applications ourselves. Any frther advice or guidance would be helpful.

Thank you Victoria for taking the time, I realise that this forum is mainly concerned with HSMP/Work permit/family issues rather than asylum. Still, any imput from other members would be welcome as well!

I will post again with up-dates.

Thanks again

JIM

Why would they be applying for ILR if they've only been here (legally and illegally) 8 years? Shouldn't they be applying for FLR or Discretionary leave? There doesn't seem to be any reason why they would qualify for ILR, since they don't meet the residence requirements (to me).

The best bet would be DLR or FLR.
Anyone concur?

They can apply for ILR - there is a chance, although I don't know how likely it is. They would need to pass the Life in the UK test though.

Victoria

Hello again Forum

It appears that the lady from Yemen is safe from removal for the time being as she has no valid passport and the Yemeni authorities do not accept travel documents issued be the UK for removal purposes. Of course, this could change in the future.

The Ethiopian lady however is in danger of removal if and when Immigration catch up with her. If we submit a FLR(O) for her citing compassionate grounds, which do exist, how long might it take for a decision to be issued? The thing is that the compassionate grounds were aired during the asylum process, so part of the purpose of this application would really be to buy her more time, hoping that her passport would expire making removal difficult/impossible, and that eventually she would come into the "legacy case" exercise and be in effect amnestied.

Thanks for any guidance you can offer.

JIM

If the Yeminite lady has applied for (and be refused) asylum, she'll almost certainly have been served with illegal entrant papers. This means that the 14 year rule won't kick in, those papers stop the clock.

I will check whether the Ethiopian case (claimed 1999, refused 2004?) might benefit under some of the recent Court of Appeal legacy decisions.