1. Abolition of family visit appeals.
(i) The Crime and Courts Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 28 May. Its main purpose is to establish the new National Crime Agency, but among its other miscellaneous provisions are two which are intended to make changes in the immigration appeals system. The important one of these two is Clause 24, the purpose of which is to abolish the right of appeal against refusal of a visa for a family visit. Such visas are granted for six months and applicants are required to show that while in the UK they will have enough money to support themselves without working and without recourse to public funds.
(ii) At present a person whose application for a visit visa has been refused has a full right of appeal. The right was removed in 1993 but was restored in 2000. Provision was made in the legislation for charging for the bringing appeals, but this was later abandoned. There were 49,000 such appeals in the financial year 2010/2011 at a cost of £29 million.
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