Immigration Bail Applications for Detainees

If you have been detained by the UK Border Agency or under the Immigration Rules and if you have been in a removal centre or prison for a period of at least 7 days, you will be able to apply to be released on bail.

There are four ways to get out of detention.

1. Home Office bail
2. If your main immigration case is successful
3. Release by the High Court
4. 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.  The application for Home Office bail is free and you should use form 401.

Form B1 is the form that is used for Tribunal Bail applications.  The Home Office bail is considered on paper only and so by completing the B1 form you will be able to have a hearing in front of an Immigration Judge.  You should receive a decision from the Home Office within 10 days of making the bail application.

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.

We will need to have full details of the financial surety on the bail application form and explain their relationship with you. It is best to use two financial sureties. The financial sureties should be legally in the UK and should show financial standing. It is best to take instructions from the financial sureties so that they will be able to explain to the Immigration Judge how they have come to know you and how they can encourage you to keep in touch with the authorities.
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 we usually 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.

Vincent and his team of immigration solicitors & lawyers in London will be able to help you to prepare your application for bail. 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.

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.