Until 1st April 2013, unaccompanied children in the UK could access legal aid in relation to asylum or immigration applications subject to financial eligibility. On 1st April 2013, the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”) came into force, and removed most non-asylum immigration matters from the scope of legal aid. This meant that children who had established significant private and family life in the UK during a period of long residence, or because of their particular life circumstances, could no longer access legal aid to obtain advice and representation in relation to an application to remain in the UK on that basis.

Although LASPO provided for an ‘Exceptional Case Funding’ system, this was complicated, and impossible for children to navigate alone.

An estimated 120,000 undocumented (or unresolved) children live in the UK, many of whom are entitled to British citizenship or a right to remain (Nando Sigona and Vanessa Hughes (2012) No way out, no way in: irregular migrant children and families in the UK. Oxford: ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford).
MiCLU is committed to improving the lives of migrant and refugee children via access to justice, legal and policy work. Our report Precarious Citizenship sets out our findings from our research into the experiences of 52 undocumented children and young people represented by MiCLU during 2012 – 2016. The findings were stark. Undocumented children and young people largely had no choice in the decision to bring them to the UK:

However, they had to deal with the consequences:

The loss of legal aid in immigration cases was a cruel blow for undocumented children and young people, and MiCLU understands that the implications of being unable to regularise their status has the potential to blight young lives.

MiCLU is therefore proud to be part of Kids in Need of Defense UK.

How does it work?

By training teams of pro bono lawyers to provide advice and to prepare applications for leave to remain on behalf of children, we seek to try to regain the ground that was lost when legal aid was removed, to increase access to justice for undocumented children, and to ensure that each child receives high quality, tailored advice and representation.

MiCLU’s supervising solicitor provides training to the pro bono lawyers, prepares template documents for use in the cases, provides close supervision throughout the life of the case, and mentors the pro bono legal teams as they work on applications and submit them to the Home Office.

Referrals come from frontline agencies direct to the MiCLU team, and suitable cases are then placed with legal teams at each pro bono partner.

Pro bono lawyers feel confident in their knowledge, and supported to provide the same high quality service to pro bono clients that they provide to their more traditional client base.

We embed a child-centred approach to running these cases, ensuring that the needs and best interests of children are central to every step, and are at the forefront of the evidence the legal teams gather in support of these applications.

Referral agencies feel confident that they are referring service users into a high quality programme which will lead to the best possible application being submitted to the Home Office.

Clients are offered a lifeline – free legal advice from a dedicated team which combines the resources and quality of a corporate law firm, with the knowledge and understanding of the sector offered by a law centre.

At present, we are accepting referrals of cases in which a child (under 18) has spent 7 years of their life living continuously in the UK, and for whom removal to their country of origin or nationality would be unreasonable (‘7 year applications’).

Where the child or family are unable to pay the Home Office application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge, the application will include an Appendix 1 (FLR(FP)) application for the fee and the health surcharge to be waived on human rights grounds.

Where appropriate, the application will include a request that any leave to remain is granted without a condition prohibiting access to public funds.

We are also excited to announce that we have recently expanded our scope of work to include citizenship applications. Please click on the bottom tab for information regarding referrals relating to citizenship.

As in all of MiCLU’s work the project supports children first and foremost. This means that referrals into the project can only be made where an application directly benefits a child, so there must be a child who needs to regularise their status. Applications for other family members may be included where it is in the best interests of the child to do so.

While the US Kids in Need of Defense project supports asylum-seeking children who are at a high risk of detention or removal, in the UK children in asylum proceedings still fortunately have access to legal aid.

Applications for leave to remain under paragraph 276ADE(1) of the Immigration rules, or ‘7 year applications,’ enable those under 18 who have been resident in the UK for 7 years to gain leave to remain on the basis of their close personal connections to the UK.

This form of application is not currently eligible for legal aid and is distinct from citizenship applications which can be made via CELC’s Kids in Need of Defense hub, Coram Children’s Legal Centre’s Children’s Pro Bono Legal Service, and PRCBC.

As such, this kind of application will form the central component of MiCLU’s work with Kids in Need of Defense UK while the organisation embeds expertise within our pro bono partners.

Further application types are intended to be added as the programme becomes more established, and as demand requires. At present demand for ‘7 year applications’ is high.

We prefer to receive referrals via frontline agencies with whom we have an existing relationship as this ensures that referrals are targeted, and that children and their families are able to access additional sources of support whilst they are waiting for their cases to be taken on.

If you work at a frontline agency which has different referral arrangements with MiCLU in relation to referrals to Kids in Need of Defense UK, please follow the arrangements particular to your own organisation.

For members of the public, and other agencies, please read the notes on our referral form carefully and send it with any attachments to: MiCLU7yearcases@islingtonlaw.org.uk.

Please ensure that you include your telephone contact details so that we can contact you in order to make further queries if necessary, or to notify you of an appointment if appropriate.

During times of high demand we will operate a waiting list system. Although we will prioritise cases in which prompt action is required, we cannot commit to taking on cases with urgent deadlines as our services depends on the availability of pro bono legal teams.

Please note that Kids in Need of Defense will not take on any cases for which legal aid is available or which we believe would be better served by an application for Exceptional Case Funding. We will advise you if we believe that this applies to your referral.

If you think you may be entitled to British citizenship, or if you know someone who might be, Kids in Need of Defence UK (KIND UK) provides free legal advice and representation to children and young people who are looking to apply for British citizenship.

If you would like to make a referral to KIND UK, please complete the referral form which can be found here. All referrals must be made through the KIND UK website, so please do not contact someone directly. Once you have submitted the referral, you should be contacted within two weeks’ time.