Being deprived of one’s liberty is one of the greatest difficulties anyone can face, particularly where one has not committed any criminal offence.
Anyone subject to immigration control can be detained by immigration officers.
Unlike the rest of Europe, there is no statutory time limit on how long someone can be held in immigration detention in the UK. However, the law does state that detention can only be lawful as long as it is proportionate to the objective, i.e. removal from the UK. If there is little or no prospect of an individual being removed, it is likely that his or her detention is unlawful.
All detainees have the right to apply for bail either from the Secretary of State or from the Immigration Tribunal.
If successful, the Home Office will usually release the detainee with conditions, such as a requirement to live at a particular address and to report to the Home Office on a particular date.
If a detainee applies to the First-tier Tribunal for bail, a hearing will take place before an immigration judge.
It is very important to persuade the judge that you have a suitable accommodation at which you will be permitted to reside and that you have friends or family members willing to act as sureties for you. This essentially means that they will appear before the tribunal and promise to ensure you abide by your bail conditions and agree to pay the tribunal a certain amount of money if you abscond or stop reporting.
“Excellent and professional service. Great communication and constant updates at every level of the legal process. I highly recommend Fahad Ansari and his entire team at Riverway Law to anyone who needs their service.”
Spatty, Crawley
Bail application
Our experts will visit you in detention and assist you in the preparation of your bail application. We will liaise with your friends and family members to identify suitable sureties and explain their obligations as sureties to them. We will advise them on what paperwork they need to provide to the tribunal. We will represent you before the tribunal at your hearing.
We will also study all your documents and advise you as to whether we believe your detention is lawful or not. This may necessitate issuing judicial review proceedings in the High Court challenging the legality of your detention and seeking compensation for you in the form of monetary damages.
