Immigration Bail Application

What Is Immigration Bail?

An individual who has been kept in detention by the Immigration authorities of the UK requires the services of an Immigration specialist for legal advice. This is because of the fundamental human right he/she possesses on freedom from arbitrary arrest and incarceration, which is enforceable under the law in the United Kingdom as contained in the 1998 Human Rights Act. The request for release of an individual from this detention made to either the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) or the Immigration Judge is known as the Immigration Bail.

Temporary Admission/Bail Application to the CIO

We offer deliberation as to how a detained individual can be freed. First of all, it is beneficial to communicate verbally with the immigration service, after which the case for the release of the detained individual on Temporary Admission (TA) will be made to the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO).

It is important that all related information be made available to the Immigration Service because it carries out a frequent review on detentions. Related information includes; the detained person’s health, the state of his/her family, or advantageous conditions that should be given thought to (like the availability of a new address etc.)

In a situation where the detained person is freed, he/she is usually mandated to abide by the following conditions:

1. Reside at a clearly identified address
2. Report to the Police Station or Immigration Service
3. Guarantors

These conditions can be differed by making an application to an Immigration Officer or Immigration Judge.

Bail Application To Immigration Judge

It is possible in the case of new arrival for an application for bail to be made in all kinds of Immigration cases once seven days after the date of arrival in the United Kingdom has elapse. The application is to be made to the Chief Immigration Officer, or to an Immigration Judge at Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. In a situation where temporary admission of bail is refused the detained person, he/she is permitted to make an application to an Immigration Judge at Asylum and Immigration Tribunal for bail.

The detained individual may be release on bail by the Immigration Judge on similar conditions as might be imposed by the Immigration Officer which will usually include making an appearance before the Judge at a later date usually for the full appeal hearing.

It is however important to note that the burden of proof at the bail hearing that gives grounds to detention presumably to the advantage of bail is sustainable to balance of probabilities on the Secretary of State. The Judge is expected to give a logical decision although not in writing.

Sureties/Recognisance

These are individuals who stand in as possible guarantors that the detained individual will answer to his/her bail.

There are two spaces for guarantors on the Bail Form with no criteria insisting that they are a pair. It is however important that the details of these guarantors including their addresses be made available to the Immigration Judge and Immigration Service/Home Office so as to enable easy investigations through the UK police computer. It required that the Secretary of State be notified two days prior to this reason.

Individuals who have been convicted for crimes previously, whose status in the UK is unclear and their address has been linked to absconding cases in the past would likely be rejected as guarantors.

It is however expected that the guarantor attends court hearings as it is less possible the bail be accepted if he/she does not attend. He/she is required to make available evidence of Identification, address, financial standing, immigration status (preferably British or on an Indefinite Leave to Remain) including also the proof of address obtainable to the detailed individual. Guarantors who live with or near to the person applying for bail are usually preferred by the Immigration Judges because of the perceived control that the guarantor will have over the applicant. He/she (the Guarantor) is however expected to give details of the relationship shared with the applicant stating further the kind of contact they had shared and if they plan to maintain it in time to come.

The guarantor is bound to loose partially or the entirety of his/her recognizance if the person applying for bail runs away or do not act in accordance with the conditions of bail. Huge amounts of up to £5000 are commonly required by the Immigration Judges (or CIOs). However it is necessary that the guarantors are suitable by ensuring that the bail applicant will keep to the bail conditions as well as answer the bail so as to satisfy the Immigration Judge.

When Is A Bail Application Most Likely To Succeed?

Although it is tough to give a straight answer to this, few general direction exist:

• In a situation whereby an individual’s removal from the United Kingdom is not about to happen, it is difficult to give grounds to the immigration detention in progress thereby improving the likelihood of the bail application’s success.
• In a situation whereby an individual’s transfer to some countries is impossible due to empirical or other reasons, his/her detention will usually be illegal thereby making the bail application likely to succeed.
• An individual is not permitted to be detained if he/she is a survivor of torture.
• In a situation of minors who are unaccompanied, it is mandated that he/she do not be detained for more than a short period of time in the best interest of the child.
• In the case of families, it is not permitted for them to be held for long periods of time before they are removed.