Immigrating with your family to the UK might seem like your best choice to give them the best chance at life. Getting to the UK as an immigrant does not, however, guarantee you a lifetime stay. Several issues can jeopardise your immigrant status and get you deported.
Deportation from the UK refers to the removal of a foreign national and his/her detention until the authorities have effected the act. A criminal conviction with a custodial sentence of more than a year and illegalities in your immigrant status are the common deportation causes.
Family lawyers here in London do not sound like your first choice when facing deportation. Having a family is nonetheless one of the cases where there will be no removal window effected for your deportation. With the right family lawyer who also handles immigration cases, you can use the lack of a removal window to get relief from deportation for you and your family.
The following are the types of relief the lawyer might apply for in your case.
Adjustment
You can get relief from deportation through an adjustment of your status in the UK to that of a legal immigrant. There exist several qualifications you have to meet for the modification of status. A family member who is a UK resident can, for instance, sign for the relief on your behalf in the family-based qualification.
You can also get an adjustment if you and your spouse have jobs of a specified category under the employment-based requirement.
Asylum
This is a type of protection for those who have fled their countries for one reason or another. Wars and the fear of persecution are among the common aspects that see most people seeking asylum. To qualify for asylum in the UK, you should have a criminal-free record of an aggravated felony and be classified as a refugee.
Moreover, the applicant should establish a legitimate fear of persecution and not an exaggerated or imagined one.
Protection under CAT (Convention against Torture)
You can apply for protection under CAT (a UN convention) if the government in your home country cannot protect you from getting tortured. It will not matter what the reason for your torture is unlike in asylum where you must prove persecution.
In this case, however, you will not get permanent residency status and cannot travel internationally. You are nonetheless free to live and work in the UK.
Cancellation of Deportation
This type of relief is open to citizens of EEA and those whose immediate family members are EEA citizens. The EEA {European Economic Area} is a political and economic union that comprises the 28 member states of the EU, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
Citizens of the EEA are allowed to live and work in member states as part of the union’s agreement.
You should not just resign to fate when faced with a deportation order. You should have more hope. The above forms of relief can prevent you from having to uproot your family and the life you have struggled to normalise in the UK.
Your first call should thus be to the best law firm in the UK when you get a deportation relief.
