Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!
Last week, the new Immigration and Asylum Bill began its passage through parliament and is set to be debated on 13 July. It introduces the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority which will hear most asylum and human rights appeals, replacing the First-tier Tribunal, and makes changes to the application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, including narrowing the definition of family life. There are also measures to recover the costs spent on asylum support, meaning refugees who have sufficient means may be required to make monthly contributions towards the cost of their support, which is expected to amount to around £10,000. The bill also makes changes to the modern slavery framework. Our full coverage is here.
Many of these new measures seem punitive and impractical and have drawn significant criticism. A joint statement from Focus on Labour Exploitation, Anti-Slavery International and others warned that the bill’s approach to modern slavery will fail survivors and benefit traffickers, and the Refugee Council said the proposed cost-recovery measure ‘would only harm those who arrive on our shores with the least’. The Law Society urged the government to scrap the proposed new appeals body, which will see experienced immigration judges replaced by adjudicators without legal qualifications.
Separately, the government laid regulations extending right to work checks and civil penalties to gig economy and agency work, which will take effect in October 2026. This is framed as a clampdown on illegal working as a driver of illegal migration and exploitation, but in practice means even more rules for employers and landlords to grapple with.
Over on Free Movement, Daniel Rourke wrote a briefing on gathering evidence for applications for settlement for victims of domestic abuse. This is essential reading for practitioners handling these notoriously difficult applications, which depend largely on the quality of the evidence bundle.
We also published a guide to applying for a child student visa. Oska Paul wrote a piece making the case for a dedicated UK fishing visa, arguing that the current framework leaves workers in the sector exposed to exploitation.
Our guide on good character and criminal convictions in British citizenship applications was updated by Nath Gbikpi, and Pip Hague updated her post on how to apply for a global business mobility: service supplier visa.
For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.
Jasmine
What we’re reading
Cultural, linguistic and procedural barriers to access to justice in immigration and asylum tribunals, Public Law Project, 30 June 2026
Student Migration to the UK, Migration Observatory, 30 June 2026
UK universities to sponsor refugees under new asylum “safe routes” overhaul, the PIE Network, 30 June 2026
Immigration Bill: safety should never be for sale, The Scottish Refugee Council, 30 June 2026
UK: Imminent Immigration Bill is ‘politics as performance not problem solving’, Amnesty International UK, 30 June 2026
Immigration and asylum bill: why yet another attempt to overhaul the system won’t work, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
Increasing leave to remain timeframe for UK care workers ‘cruel’, say campaigners, The Guardian, 29 June 2026