Bail & Detention
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A bail application can be made by those who have been put in detention. If you wish to make a bail application it is important to obtain expert advice. This is because you cannot apply for bail if you have already made a bail application within the last 28 days and, in addition, if your circumstances have not changed.
- 1 For how long can one be detained by the Immigration Authorities in the UK?
- 2 How many Immigration Detention Centres are there in the UK?
- 3 What are the requirements for making a bail application in the UK?
- 4 What happens after an Immigration Bail Hearing?
For how long can one be detained by the Immigration Authorities in the UK?
There is a power to detain in the interests of maintaining effective immigration control. However, there is a presumption in favour of Immigration Bail and whenever possible, alternatives to detention should be used. Detention is usually appropriate to remove an individual or to establish their identity, basis of claim, or when it is believed that the person will fail to comply with any conditions attached to the granting of immigration bail. The Home Office has discretionary power to detain a person at any point in the immigration process: upon arrival; upon presentation to an Immigration Office in the UK; once a decision to remove has been issued ; following an arrest by police officer, or after a prison sentence. The detention of an individual must be reviewed at least every month and detention beyond this period must be authorised by certain levels of seniority within the Home Office. There is no upper time limit on how long a person can be detained.
What is immigration bail in the UK?
You can apply for immigration bail if the Home Office is holding you on immigration matters. You are likely to get bail if you have a place to stay and you have a “surety”, who is a financial condition supporter. You might not get bail if you have broken bail conditions in the past or if have a criminal record and there is a risk that you will re-offend. If you have been refused bail in the last 28 days you will not get another hearing unless your situation has changed significantly. Therefore, it is important to apply for bail in one of the two main ways. Firstly, you can apply to the Home Secretary of bail at any time after your arrival in the UK. Secondly, you can apply to the First Tier Tribunal if you arrived in the UK more than eight days ago. You might be automatically referred for a bail hearing if you have been in detention for four months or more. If you wish to apply to the Home Office for bail, you need to complete form BAIL401. You can apply for independent First Tier Tribunal, and that will be decided by an independent Judge at a hearing and the form is B1.
How many Immigration Detention Centres are there in the UK?
As at 1st April 2019 there were seven detention centres in the UK.
Brook House
Colnbrook
Dungavel
Harmondsworth
Morton Hall
Tinsley House
Yarl’s Wood.
There are also short term holding facilities which are in Manchester (residential) and Larne House.
What are the requirements for making a bail application in the UK?
The Home Office Adult at Risk in Immigration Detention Policy sets out conditions which indicate that particular people should not be detained. Examples of such people are those suffering from mental health conditions or impairment; those who have been victims of torture; those who have been victims of human trafficking; those pregnant or suffering from a serious physical disability; those aged 70 or over; and trans-sexual or intersex people.
If you are detained you will either get in touch with a legal aid contracted firm, and you should approach them on a Duty Advice Scheme. Alternatively, you can have the assistance of a private firm. In general there is no legal aid in the UK for immigration matters, apart from some cases involving trafficking. If you cannot find a lawyer to help you, you can apply for bail yourself, and an organisation called BID have produced a handbook which can help you with this. The conditions of release on bail are usually a specified address or having financial condition supporters and a requirement to report regularly at a Police Station or Reporting Centre. Sometimes people are released on the condition that they will be fitted with an electronic tagging device. Successful bail applications will include a particular address to live at on release. The sureties will be people who put up a sum of money guaranteeing that you will keep to the bail conditions. If the person being released does not keep to the conditions, the surety will be liable to lose the money. Usually no money is handed over once someone agrees to be a surety, but if bail conditions are broken, the money will be taken from their Bank account. The amount of money put up should be a significant amount. The bail application form has space for two supporters although it is not a requirement. Usually the surety will need to attend a bail hearing and provide ID, proof of address, occupation, financial status and immigration status. You don’t need to be a British citizen to be a surety.
What happens after an Immigration Bail Hearing?
The bail hearing will consider release accommodation, financial conditions, the likelihood that the applicant will abscond, the immigration history, the family and community ties and factors relating to the health condition. It is important that you read the bail summary which will be provided by the Home Office in case there are any errors, and the bail summary should be available to you or to your legal representative. Grant of Immigration Bail does not prevent your subsequent detention, however, once you are successfully granted Immigration Bail you will be released from detention and will have to abide by at least one condition which is usually the reporting condition. Many of the bail hearings are done via video links.
How we can help people like you
Once we have taken your instructions, we can apply for Tribunal Bail. We also specialise in making bail applications for release by the High Court. The benefit of applying for Tribunal Bail is that you will get an independent First-Tier Tribunal Judge to look at your detention and to determine whether the Home Office arguments to detain you are justifiable. Those who are not applying for Tribunal Bail will have to trust the Home Office to review the detention.
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