After a protracted legal battle, the government has finally agreed to introduce a fee waiver for its bereaved partner concession (BPC), meaning grieving women will be able to access permanent immigration status without needing to pay thousands of pounds.
The BPC is a visa route that allows partners of British nationals/those with indefinite leave to remain (ILR) to secure ILR if the spouse/sponsor passes away. To qualify, 3 conditions must be met: the foreign national must be in the UK with leave to remain as a spouse/partner; the couple must have been living together and intended to live together permanently; and the sponsor must have died. This concession ostensibly exists to protect bereaved partners and allow them to stay in the UK.
However, since October 2023, grieving partners have had to pay £2,885.00 for this application. If they could not pay, they would be unable to secure ILR despite qualifying and could face losing their status and becoming subject to the hostile environment.
RAMFEL and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) have seen the harm this extortionate visa fee causes, with many grieving women either priced out of accessing the BPC or having to make extreme sacrifices, such as literally foregoing food for them and their children, to save the funds. Robert Jenrick, when serving as Immigration Minister, callously justified the fee and lack of fee waiver by saying that these women “benefitted” from the immigration system.
In June 2023, PILC issued judicial review (JR) proceedings on behalf of Lucy*, a woman who had lost her British husband, challenging the lack of fee waiver on grounds including gender discrimination and irrationality. The government initially sought to defend this, arguing that the case should not be heard in court.
After the High Court granted permission for the JR to proceed in December 2023, the government belatedly withdrew from proceedings and agreed to introduce a fee waiver. This was in February 2024, and seven months later the relevant amendments to The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 have finally been made. From 9 October 2024, grieving widows will be able to secure ILR even if they cannot afford the near £3,000.00 application fee.
RAMFEL and PILC are currently aware of five people who are eligible for ILR under the BPC, but who have been priced out of applying. The introduction of this fee waiver will make a huge difference to them, and likely hundreds of other people up and down the country in their hour of need.
The lengthy ordeal and protracted legal battle came at a cost though, with Lucy, the woman who brought JR proceedings with PILC, suffering considerable mental distress during her period in limbo. The delay had a knock-on effect on her two young children, who were already struggling to cope after the sudden loss of their father. This could and should have been avoided, and it is hoped that the new government pursues a more compassionate and sensible approach to administering the UK’s immigration system, reducing the need for expensive and ultimately unnecessary legal battles.
While the introduction of a fee waiver is welcomed, RAMFEL and PILC note that many other people remain priced out of applying for ILR because of the extortionate fees. This keeps people in insecure immigration status and forces them into debt and poverty. The new government must recognise the benefit to both individuals and wider society of allowing people to access permanent immigration status, and should be urgently looking to introduce fee waivers for further ILR application categories.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.
                                                                                                                                                                                   
RAMFEL’s Head of Campaigning, Nick Beales, stated:
“The introduction of this fee waiver is long overdue. However, the grieving women who brought this challenge should not have had to take the Sunak government to court for them to recognise how cruel this extortionate visa fee was.
Though this change will have a profound impact for those who have suffered the loss of a partner, many other people in desperate situations remain priced out of permanent immigration status. Labour should now be urgently looking to introduce fee waivers for other application categories to allow more people, including UK born children and young adults who know only the UK as their home, to secure their status here.”
​
Sarah Looney, Solicitor at PILC who represented Lucy, stated:
“The introduction of this fee waiver will end the discriminatory two-tier system of those grieving women who can afford to access the status they are entitled to, and those who can’t.
Our clients bravely fought against the government’s unfair system while grieving the loss of their husbands and navigating life as newly single parents. The government’s six-month delay in implementing the fee waiver further added to our client’s stress during this period.
While the introduction of a fee waiver is welcomed, many other people remain priced out of applying for ILR because of the extortionate fees. This keeps people in insecure immigration status and forces them into debt and poverty. PILC believes that the money in your bank account should not determine your ability to access what you’re legally entitled to and urges the government to introduce fee waivers for more visa routes.”
 
ENDS

​Asylum seekers come to the UK seeking safety and a chance to rebuild their lives. Instead, they find themselves trapped in hotel accommodations that are not fit for long-term living. These facilities, originally intended as short-term solutions, have become overcrowded, unhygienic, and unsafe. The long-standing issues of vermin infestations, inadequate food, and poor hygiene conditions in these hotels have been well documented, and for years RAMFEL clients have complained about the pitiful standards in which they are housed. These images of unappetizing, inadequate meals are a stark reminder of how successive governments have failed these vulnerable people.

But now, these already dire conditions have been compounded by a new and terrifying threat—racist and Islamophobic violence. This terrifying violence was mostly tacitly, but at times overtly, encouraged by politicians from across the spectrum. Yes, Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman may be the poster boy and girl for the most extreme and dehumanising language, but make no mistake: with a few notable exceptions, the entire political establishment has failed to call out this rhetoric for what it is – racist, Islamophobic and dehumanising. In such an environment, and with people increasingly fed more and more misinformation through social media, the racist riots of early August were perhaps inevitable, with these hotels turned into targets for terrorist attacks.

The tragic irony is that those who fled war and persecution now find themselves once again in fear, not in the war zones they escaped, but in the very so-called “safe” country where they sought refuge.
​
The riots should have been a cause for reflection. All politicians should have taken stock and considered how their words, their actions, their silence, their inactions led us down this dark alley. Instead, the Labour government seems determined to repeat its predecessor’s mistakes: more so-called deterrence, more harsh language, more detention without trial and still no mention of expanding safe routes to the UK.
​
Despite the Labour government’s desperately disappointing response, this approach does not reflect the values or will of the British public. When racist extremists threatened asylum seekers in hotels, people across the country stood up, flooding the streets to protect these vulnerable communities. The public has shown that they reject hatred and division, standing instead for compassion and justice.

This is why RAMFEL is calling on the government to end the use of hotels as accommodation for asylum seekers. These facilities are unsafe and isolating, and now they’ve become targets for hate. We need real solutions: community-based housing, faster processing of asylum claims, and an end to the hostile environment and politics of division that pits people against each other.

At the heart of this crisis is a failure of political leadership and a growing disconnect between successive governments and the public’s desire for compassion and justice. We must make it clear that the current approach is not acceptable. Just as we all stood up to protect people in hotels and migrant communities, we must continue to push for policies that reflect the values of dignity, safety, and compassion.

We support the newly released briefing written by Homeless Link and NACCOM, which explores the key drivers of and potential solutions to, homelessness amongst migrants.

Read the briefing here.

The briefing outlines the key drivers of migrant homelessness and what policies the new Government should implement to create a society with a home for everyone. It is supported by over 70 organisations working in the fields of homelessness, housing, and migrants’ rights.

Some of the key  solutions to preventing migrant homelessness are:
​
1. Recognising and addressing the impact that restrictions on public funds have on homelessness. 
2. Stopping the flow of homelessness from the asylum system.  
3. Expanding access to quality free immigration and welfare advice.  
4. Taking a cross-departmental approach to tackling all forms of rough sleeping and homelessness.
5. Repealing the Illegal Migration Act 2023 at the earliest possible opportunity

Our hearts go out to the innocent lives taken in Southport. It is a shame that this weekend, the attention has been taken away from the families affected and the heroic acts of protection.

What we've seen are race riots, not protests. The Prime Minister is right to condemn this violence. But it needs to be called what it is, terrorism. Caused by state racism in Britain and media misinformation.

Years of racist and Islamophobic anti-migrant policies and media coverage that have aimed to divide, have led us to this point. We have been shouting about this for years, but now it is clear. The way we talk about migration needs to change.

To the people who have been attacked, mosques that have been targeted and families who have nearly been burned alive. We hope you see the love that the rest of the country has for you. We need to do better.

We urge all politicians to reject the tactics and language that led to this event.

SECTION 3C LEAVE AND HOW TO PROVE IT
What is section 3C leave?
If you make an in-time application to extend your limited leave to remain, your leave (and the conditions attached to it, such as your right to work or right to claim public funds) is extended automatically under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, until the application and any appeal is decided. However, the Home Office does not routinely provide people with proof of that. That has caused people on section 3C leave real difficulties if they are asked by employers or landlords for example, for proof of their status or their right to work or rent, and they are unable to do so.
The RAMFEL & Adjei case establishes that people on section 3C leave have a right to digital proof of their status, so that they can demonstrate that they have this status and these rights to others, including their employers, landlords, the DWP, the DVLA and so on. The judgment by Mr Justice Cavanagh on 7 June 2024 gave the reasons for that. You can read that judgment here. On 27 June 2024 the court made an order declaring that the SSHD’s failure to do this was unlawful. That means that they now have to put that right. The Order and reasons given by the court are here. The SSHD asked for effect of the judgment to be paused while they tried to pursue an appeal but the Judge refused this.
What does this mean for you?
If you are a person on section 3C leave, you should now be able to obtain a digital way of proving that status from the Home Office.  You can do this when applying to extend or vary your existing leave or applying for indefinite leave to remain. We hope that this will mean you can show employers, universities, landlords and others who may need to check your immigration status what your status is and what rights you have attached to it.
How can I obtain this proof?
We have no information yet about how the Home Office intends to implement this judgment. We suggest that individuals make requests for digital proof of their 3C leave status (such as an eVisa) to the Home Office by either: 

1. Requesting it in a letter that is submitted to the Home Office with your fee waiver or the main immigration application to extend your leave to remain/apply for indefinite leave to remain.  Or
2. If you have already made your application, by writing to the team in the Home Office which is processing your application. We have prepared a template letter, which can be accessed here.

If you do not receive a response within that timeframe and you are unable to prove your section 3C leave status, you can contact RAMFEL or the lawyers at Bhatt Murphy solicitors who represented RAMFEL and Ms Adjei to see if they can help:

RAMFEL – [email protected]
Janet Farrell – [email protected]
Fiona O’Brien – [email protected]

Please note, we will be updating this page as we obtain more information so please do check back for developments.

Have a listen to the 'Migrant Moods' podcast on Spotify, to hear young migrants reflecting on this win!

Keir Starmer is the new Prime Minister and we will have a Labour government for the first time in 14 years. Like many, we were underwhelmed with Labour’s manifesto pledges on immigration and asylum, but we hope they prove us wrong.
One thing is certain, they are inheriting an almighty mess, with chronic processing delays, never-ending backlogs, rampant maladministration, poor decision-making, staff shortages and unnecessary bureaucracy. This of course affects the people stuck in the system the most, with lives put on hold, livelihoods threatened and the ability to truly establish yourself in the UK, if you manage to make it here, massively undermined.
Even if the new government has the best of intentions, it will be a huge amount of work to even begin fixing this mess. Here though are six quick fixes they can take in their first 100 days in office.
1. Introduce a fee waiver for the bereaved partner concession
The last government charged grieving widows of British citizens nearly £3,000.00 to stay in the UK. Nothing better evidenced how obscene UK visa application fees have become than pricing grieving widows, primarily women, out of immigration status.
After RAMFEL’s client and the Public Interest Law Centre took the government to court to challenge this, they eventually conceded and agreed to introduce a fee waiver for this concession. However, this was not done before parliament dissolved for the election, despite 11 MPs writing to former Home Secretary James Cleverly urging him to push this through.
This fee waiver needs introducing now. 
2. Start processing asylum claims again
The Illegal Migration Act effectively introduced a refugee ban, with the government no longer processing asylum claims. The people affected are now in permanent immigration limbo, never to be removed but also never given visas and allowed to work. The Refugee Council estimate that at the end of the year, 115,000 people will be in this position.
Labour committed to abandoning the inhumane Rwanda scheme, and they must start immediately processing the paused asylum claims fairly and efficiently. Otherwise, yet another backlog will develop, government expenditure on housing people who aren’t allowed to work will balloon and most importantly these people will be unable to start rebuilding their lives.
3. Give people on 3C leave proof of their status
In case you missed it, RAMFEL recently won a landmark case potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people. This concerned the government’s failure to provide proof of immigration status to people on “3C leave”, leaving them at the mercy of Theresa May’s “hostile environment”.
This is really simple: the new government should immediately comply with the High Court’s judgment and issue people on 3C leave digital proof of their status.
4. Commit to simplifying and expanding the family reunion process
​The family reunion system as it stands does not offer a meaningful or effective safe route for the majority of refugees with strong UK family ties. Our report, Safe Routes to Nowhere, sets out five clear steps to start fixing these problems and greatly reduce the need for those seeking safety and family reunification to undertake dangerous journeys to these shores.
The new government should immediately commit to making the family reunion scheme more accessible and expansive and then start the process of overhauling and improving the existing framework.
5. Commission a review of the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) policy
The NRPF policy pushes families into destitution. It is cruel and punitive and massively reduces families’ future prospects, either by forcing parents to make extreme sacrifices or work hours greatly exceeding the standard 35 per week. This harms the children involved just as much as the parents.
The courts have found the policy unlawful 5 times in the last 5 years. Rather than continued tweaking each time it is found unlawful, the government should review the policy’s impact on those on family and private life visas and the broader impact on local authorities and British society.
6.Grant refugees the right to work whilst their claims are processed
81% of the public support granting asylum seekers the right to work, yet the previous government refused to allow this. Not only is it popular with voters, but it makes fiscal sense when the UK has staff shortages in many sectors and is spending millions a day housing asylum seekers who have no way of supporting themselves.

My name is sultana and I’m from Afghanistan.

I’m very happy to have 2 brother 1 sister and both my parents, I lived a  peaceful life back in my home country, I had a beautiful house, and my dad had a TV shop, we lived a good life.

This was until my brother, dad and sisters life became in danger, and  we had to evacuate Afghanistan because of the fear of the Taliban. With lots of pain, hopelessness, we left Afghanistan. With lots of stress, effort and pain we arrived to Iran, and then progressed to turkey, where we spent 6 nights on a boat stranded on sea until we reached Italy, every night of this journey we feared death, until we arrived. From Italy we travelled to France. From France we took a boat to the United Kingdom, and when we arrived, when we saw the kindness of the government and the people of the UK, we felt as if all the pain and stress we had finally came to an end. 

Afterwards, with support of RAMFEL,  they helped us to get a home to live in and helped us a lot, we really required this support from them. As of now we live a very good, happy life. My dads only wish was that me, my brother and my sister could live in a peaceful country and complete our studies, and to have high standards and hopes for our future. Now we have a very good life in the UK, I go to school for 4 days a week, and I’m very busy with my studies. It’s a big favour on us that the UK government  and RAMFEL has helped us.

My future hope is that I become a paramedic to serve patients here in the UK. And finally, I would like to thank you RAMFEL and its colleagues for having a huge positive impact to changing our life for the better and helping us so much, and spreading their kindness to us.

As we approach the general election, RAMFEL calls for a crucial culture change in our approach to immigration. Current policies are unashamedly cruel, hindering people who have come to the UK from working, learning and ultimately reaching their potential. This is bad for the individuals directly affected, but also for wider society.
 
Our manifesto is a bold call for all political parties to realise that immigration is a positive thing that benefits the UK. We call for the abolition of discriminatory policies, the removal of barriers that exclude rough sleepers, and the implementation of compassionate measures that allow everyone to thrive.
 
It’s time for a fair and humane approach that values every individual in our society.
 
Pledge 1: Scrap the Rwanda Cash for Humans Deal and Repeal the Illegal Migration Act
The outgoing government’s fixation on sending refugees to Rwanda, a country the UK Supreme Court ruled is unsafe, should be a source of national shame. Thankfully the UK public favour a welcoming, flexible and fair asylum system – everything this government has sought to undermine.
 
The next government must scrap the Illegal Migration Act, which effectively banned people from seeking asylum in clear breach of the UK’s international laws, and scrap the inhumane Rwanda deal once and for all. They must then start processing asylum claims again and let these people safely rebuild their lives in the UK.   
 
Pledge 2: Fix the broken family reunion system
Our recently released report, "Safe Routes to Nowhere," outlines several recommendations to fix the broken family reunion system.
The government must simplify the application process by removing the requirement to attend Visa Application Centres in countries where none operate, similar to the approach taken for Ukrainians after Russia's invasion. This could be applied to conflict zones like Sudan, Gaza, and Afghanistan. The definition of "family member" should be expanded to better recognise the family dynamics for those separated by conflict. The government’s focus should shift from refusing to approving family reunion applications. Additionally, investing in Home Office decision-makers is crucial to ensure quicker processing, as existing delays force people to flee and take dangerous journeys. Finally, legal aid for all family reunion applications should be immediately restored, as legal representation is a prerequisite whilst existing rules remain in place.
This will reduce the need for dangerous journeys. Ever more extreme and cruel deterrence measures do not.

Pledge 3: Give Asylum Seekers Permission to Work whilst their claims are processed
Granting asylum seekers, the right to work while awaiting decisions on their claims makes fiscal sense, is popular with the general public and is unquestionably the right thing to do. There is no rational basis for maintaining the ban on asylum seekers working.
Allowing them to work reduces reliance on state support, fills labour shortages in key sectors, and helps maintain their dignity and purpose. Polling shows that 81% of the public support granting asylum seekers the right to work. As our Palestinian client Leila stated, "For someone like me, who was an active member of society and had a job and a professional life, it is unbearable to be forced into unemployment and isolation."

Pledge 4: Introduce Fee Waivers for Indefinite Leave to Remain Applications
Did you know an indefinite leave to remain application costs £2,885? This must be paid up front in-full, and if the person can’t afford it they will be priced out of secure and permanent immigration status even if they otherwise qualify. Those priced out include parents of British children, grieving widows and people who have lived in the UK for decades.
Fee waivers for indefinite leave to remain applications must be introduced. Applications currently cost several times the actual processing cost, preventing people from securing permanent immigration status, which traps them in a cycle of renewing visas and unable to truly establish themselves in the UK. RAMFEL and the Public Interest Law Centre's landmark victory this year will allow bereaved partners the option of a fee waiver, preventing them from paying £3,000 to secure their status whilst grieving the loss of their loved one. This option should be extended to all applicants, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to secure permanent status regardless of their financial situation.

Pledge 5: Allow People on the 10-Year Route to Settlement to Access Higher Education
People on the 10-year route to settlement are currently prevented from attending university, as they are treated as international students, meaning they must pay international fees and cannot access student loans. This is despite the fact many have lived in the UK for decades and/or have clear family ties with British children and spouses. They are not international students, they are clearly British residents and this country is their home, yet they are denied the opportunity to achieve qualifications and improve their future prospects. No one benefits from this.
Whilst the 10-year route remains in place, the next government should grant people on this-route access to student loans and consider them home students. Denying people on this route access to higher education limits their prospects, forcing them into jobs with low wages. Allowing access to student finance would enable them to greatly enhance their employment prospects and better support their families. Investing in education and training for these individuals benefits the UK by increasing the skilled labour force and promoting economic growth, which should always be a priority for any UK Government.

Pledge 6: Reduce the 10-Year Route to 5 Years
Those in the UK on the basis of their family/private life, such as parents of British children, currently must wait 10 years before securing indefinite leave to remain unless they meet stringent (often unrealistic) financial requirements. This is split into 4 separate visas, each 30 months in length, and every time the visa is renewed it costs close to £4,000.00. If a person applies even one day late, the 10-year clock may restart, trapping many people in what is effectively a never-ending cycle of visa renewals.
Simplifying the path to settlement by reducing the 10-year period to 5 years would make a huge difference. This change would decrease the number of visa renewals required, freeing up resources at the Home Office as they would have far less applications to process. People would also secure indefinite leave to remain more swiftly, facilitating stability and aiding their ability to truly settle and thrive in the UK.

Pledge 7: Scrap the Criminal Justice Bill
RAMFEL has already successfully challenged government plans to refuse applications and revoke peoples’ leave to remain due to rough sleeping, yet it seems lessons have not been learned. The next government must abolish the Criminal Justice Bill, which criminalises rough sleeping and begging. This Bill, in its current form, discriminates based on appearance and subjective factors, pushing vulnerable individuals into more dangerous situations. It also particularly threatens refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.
The Bill will cause a panoply of offences linked to rough sleeping to be criminalised, meaning people who are already vulnerable could lose their immigration status or be denied the ability to regularise it, simply because they’ve been forced into rough sleeping. This is cruel and counterproductive as it will perpetuate the cycle of rough sleeping.
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Pledge 8: Remove Barriers That Prevent Rough Sleepers From Regularising Their Status Such as the 20-Year Threshold for Private Life / Long Residence Rules
Rough sleepers are excluded from regularising and retaining their immigration status due to unaffordable fees, inaccessible procedures, and unreasonable documentation requirements.  A lack of immigration status prevents access to employment and crucial services, driving many into destitution and increasing the risk of rough sleeping.

Currently, undocumented foreign nationals must be in the UK for 20 years before they can regularise their status. This arbitrary timeframe keeps people in immigration limbo and heightens the risk of rough sleeping, whilst serving no purpose.
If the next government is serious about ending rough sleeping, they must remove practical barriers that prevent foreign national rough sleepers from evidencing their status if they already hold status, or regularising their status if they are undocumented. For people in this position, there is often no prospect of them being removed from the UK, often due to logistical issues such as their country of origin being unwilling to issue the relevant documentation. Reducing the threshold from 20 to, for example, 10 years would allow more people to regularise their status, commence working, and avoid rough sleeping. This benefits everyone.

This poem is written by Estelle, and is her contribution to this year’s theme ‘Our Home’. Estelle works as RAMFEL as an immigration caseworker, but also has her own personal lived experience of the immigration system.

Our Home

Our home is a little house,
Not too tall, nor too small.
It is not shy nor loud,
It makes friends with the leaves and talks to the tree.
Our people are our pride and joy,
We are happy with what they have become.
Our home is your home, a home filled with love and joy.
A home with the same blood,
A home with peace and love.
A place where Mum is Queen and Dad is King,
A place where everyone is heard and seen.
Sharing laughter’s, smiles and hugs,
While enjoying tasty cuisine and drinks.
A home without heartrate nor discrimination,
We have been through wars and thorns but now we rest and enjoy our lives.
We are one family and gladly receiving praise through others testimony.
A home where no one is rich nor poor,
A home where no one is white nor black.
A home where no one is strong nor weak,
A home where equality leads.
A home where everyone belongs,
A home of refuge.

This poem is written by Basir, and is his contribution to this Refugee Week's theme, Our Home.
​Basir is a 23-year-old student currently on the verge of finishing CELTA Level 5, as well as Level 3 courses in IT and Interpreting.

Our Home

​From Adama's sun and Dire Dewa’s skies,
In Ethiopia's heart, my young spirit flies.
Where Oromia’s whispers and mountains greet,
A home of love, of warmth so sweet.

My father's boutiques, our bustling streets,
Mom’s soothing songs, and sibling feats.
But shadows came, with boots of might,
They shattered peace, turned day to night.

In the UK’s embrace, my journey led,
To dreams anew, and tears unshed.
A year and nine months, in the hotel’s tight space,
Government’s shelter, a resting place.

With humour bright, I took each day,
Though struggles came, I found my way.
Homeless nights for forty more,
Yet hope remained, and my spirit soared.

Now, books in hand, I chase the light,
Learning anew, my future is bright.
Though walls may shift, and roofs may change,
My heart knows home's a range.


From Ethiopia’s sun to London’s rain,
Through trials tough and joy from pain.
In this new land, I plant my seed,
A future rich, with love and deed.

I dream of a home where laughter rings,
Where warmth and peace, each day brings.
With friends and family, love's embrace,
A world united, one human race.

For homes not walls, nor roofs alone,
But where the heart is, love is grown.
From Ethiopia’s heart to UK’s shores,
My story’s woven, forever more.