Joe
Your brief commentary is far more sensible than the actual article you forwarded.
For practical purposes, "illegal" and "undocumented" denote the same thing, and whatever the original status of the person(s) concerned, both attract liability for arrest, and, detention, as well as to removal (administrative expulsion), or, deportation (judicial expulsion) from UK.
Clearly, there are no radical new rules or proposals speaking directly to current overstayers, i.e., those without valid visas, or those who entered the country in the back of trucks among other such methods, i.e., the undocumented immigrant. As far as these so-called "illegal" immigrants are concerned, the law as it stands treat them as liable to expulsion from the UK. There is some potential for either a limited, or fullscale amnesty for so-called "illegals", but with the political climate so inhospitable for the current government, such an explosive and vote-losing measure may not come for some time. This is not to say that the situation is totally hopeless for the "illegal", but getting out of the status requires taking some risk.
For example, as of 2004, an overstayer like a student cannot marry a person settled in the UK without leaving the country to apply for the requisite fiance, or spouse visa, a clearly different policy from that of the United States. There are numerous other routes to settlement, i.e., permanent residence, and eventual citizenship - such as the ten year "long residence" rule that particularly favour students - but the article you forwarded concerned only the so-called "illegal", and I therefore restrict my comment to that category. There is a fourteen year "long residence" rule for the so-called "illegal" immigrant (see below for the text of the 10/14 year rule as set by the UK Border and Immigration Agency), and arduous as it is, people do qualify for settlement under this category.
You are right in suggesting that outside a blanket amnesty, immigration is highly "case specific". As you accurately stated, the Gambia High Commission (GHC) is "not a legal department", and the office is in no position whatsoever to help dissect intricate immigration issues..
Mr Mbye spectacularly misdirected his enquiry, and the GHC properly ignored him.
LJDarbo
Requirements for indefinite leave to remain on the ground of long residence in the United Kingdom
276B. The requirements to be met by an applicant for indefinite leave to remain on the ground of long residence in the United Kingdom are that:
(i) (a) he has had at least 10 years continuous lawful residence in the United Kingdom; or
(b) he has had at least 14 years continuous residence in the United Kingdom, excluding any period spent in the United Kingdom following service of notice of liability to removal or notice of a decision to remove by way of directions under paragraphs 8 to 10A, or 12 to 14, of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 or section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Act, or of a notice of intention to deport him from the United Kingdom; and
(ii) having regard to the public interest there are no reasons why it would be undesirable for him to be given indefinite leave to remain on the ground of long residence, taking into account his:
(a) age; and
(b) strength of connections in the United Kingdom; and
(c) personal history, including character, conduct, associations and employment record; and
(d) domestic circumstances; and
(e) previous criminal record and the nature of any offence of which the person has been convicted; and
(f) compassionate circumstances; and
(g) any representations received on the person's behalf; and
(iii) the applicant has sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, unless he is under the age of 18 or aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application.
--- On Thu, 24/7/08, Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: New UK Immigration Rules Scare Gambian, Other Immigrants
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, 24 July, 2008, 3:11 PM
Culled from the Point.
In situations like this, I would suggest Gambians to seek legal advise and we
have folks like Lamin Darbo, Sanusi, and am sure others that can provide the
needed counsel. The High Commission is not a legal department. This is no
different from change of immigration laws in the US. If one wants to be
deported to Gambia, rely on the Gambian Embassy in DC. The same applies in the
UK. The community needs to seek advise from legal practitioners and
individually, folks need to consult these or other legal minds for case specific
issues. However, if we are more concerned with sutura to our detriment as a
community, well, we will just have to live with the consequences. Many of our
communities in the US have done that and end up having to deal with sudden mass
arrests and the chaos that results. Lamin, Sanusi, etc., how do you see the
situation?
Chi Jaama
Joe
New UK Immigration Rules Scare Gambian, Other Immigrants
Edit Display Settings
or
Edit Article
africa » gambia
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Certain illegal immigrants and undocumented foreigners currently living outside
the ambit of the law in Britain, including some Gambians, are currently trying
to digest the new proposed rules and regulation by the British government
regarding the possibility to earn certain status in the country such as becoming
British citizens.
The debate has been raging from all angles and has taken the form of highly
charged public debates sometimes, not only on both television and radio but also
in national newspapers and tabloids. However concerned individuals are advised
to contact qualified legal practitioners for further information and not to rely
on second hand accounts regarding the issue.
Those Gambians scared of deportation have personally contacted this
correspondent to investigate their current dilemma in order to know exactly what
progress they are required to do to help them secure the necessary status. This,
they believe, will save them from being embroiled or entrapped in any kind of
dispute with the law of their host country.
As a matter of urgency, this correspondent contacted the Gambian High
Commissioner in London to shed light on the plight of his countrymen who are
desperate to hear from their own representative. Unfortunately the Gambian High
Commission is either still reluctant or refused to comment on the matter.
Neither the phone calls nor emails to the High Commission have been responded to
or even acknowledged. Latest correspondence to the High Commissioner read:
“Your Excellency, we tried to contact you over the phone twice but
unfortunately could not succeed. However your Personal Secretary advised to
email you regarding our enquiries. We want to confirm whether or not your office
received any information relating to Gambian illegal immigrants in the United
Kingdom threatened with deportation from the country following the new
immigration rules that is expected to take effect soon. If so what is your
message to those Gambians affected? Also what sort of help can your office offer
to help regularise the status of these illegal immigrants? Thanks for your
expected cooperation and quick response.’
There was another follow-up to my queries but to no avail.
Nonetheless some of the government proposals seen by this correspondent
regarding citizenship include a probation period of at least 12 months if the
foreigner takes part in community activities such as volunteering, charity
fund-raising, running a sports team or playgroup, or working as a school
governor. According to an official Green Paper this type of community work may
even be made compulsory.
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, recently outlined that she wanted to end the
situation where foreign nationals “languish in limbo” by living here but not
adapting to the “British way of life.” The remark sparked debate amongst the
British public. “I would want to see a larger proportion of those that are
here moving to full British citizenship,” said Ms Smith.
Such an eventuality apparently worry many Gambians living in Britain, most of
whom are law-abiding and very hard working. A well-known Gambian solicitor who
spoke to this correspondent challenged the Gambian High Commissioner to give
some advice to Gambians regarding the situation. The solicitor suggested that
“the High Commissioner could use his diplomatic protocols and credentials and
liaise with the Home Office to see how best he could obtain clear information
regarding the issue and advice his people on such matter rather than just
keeping quiet.”
One of the most radical changes is that full access to sate benefits such as
jobseeker’s allowance and income support assisting people to have access to
financial help while actively searching for a job will no longer be granted
after a person has been in the UK for five years, while illegal immigrants shown
the exit door and remove from the country.
By Alhagie Mbye, London, England
_________________________________________________________________
Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live Messenger.
http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_video_072008
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web
interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to:
http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
__________________________________________________________
Not happy with your email address?.
Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
|
