News Update – 17 April 2026
Over the past week, several important developments have emerged which are highly relevant to migrants and immigration practitioners. These include a stricter removals framework, increased regulatory oversight of advisers, and a renewed emphasis on maintaining the integrity of legal representation.
The Home Office has confirmed the closure of a further eleven asylum hotels, returning them to local communities as part of the Government’s stated commitment to end hotel use for asylum seekers. Ministers estimate an annual taxpayer savings of almost £65 million from this round alone, with overall asylum costs reported to have fallen by nearly £1 billion since the current Government took office. Hotel numbers have more than halved from a peak of around 400 to just under 190, and the department has moved up to 350 individuals into the recently reopened Crowborough military barracks, signalling a wider shift towards large, basic accommodation sites.
The announcement was accompanied by headline of updated enforcement figures. It has been reported that nearly 60,000 people with no right to remain have been removed since the 2024 election, while over 42,000 small boat crossing attempts are said to have been prevented through cooperation with France. Asylum decision-making is now reported to be at a 24-year high, with decisions outpacing new claims and net migration at its lowest level in five years.
Running in parallel with the Government’s enforcement narrative, there has been a significant BBC News undercover investigation. One of the investigations exposed what is described, as a shadow industry of advisers and law firms charging migrants (often those on expiring student, work or visitor visas) thousands of pounds to fabricate asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation. According to the BBC, an immigration advisor investigated had quoted up to £7,000 to bring a fabricated claim. Another unregulated adviser linked with a different solicitors firm, was recorded offering to assemble photographs, supporting letters, medical evidence and a fabricated same-sex partner account for £2,500.
A companion BBC report revealed a separate strand of the same investigation, in which a Birmingham-based adviser, allegedly offered to fabricate a domestic abuse claim for £900, exploiting the expedited settlement route designed to protect genuine victims. Minister for safeguarding Jess Phillips described the abuse of those protections as unacceptable and signalled that advisers facilitating such conduct could face imprisonment.
Separately, The Telegraph reported that an audio recording circulated by an alleged people-smuggling ringleader, identified as Abu Hussein Al-Iraqi, is being used as a how-to guide instructing migrants to impersonate members of stateless minority groups, in order to secure asylum, a further illustration of the organised character of claim fabrication highlighted this week.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood responded robustly, warning that anyone seeking to defraud the asylum system would be refused, have support withdrawn, and face removal, and that sham advisers facilitating abuse would feel the full force of the law. The Solicitors Regulation Authority confirmed it is urgently engaging with each regulated firm named in the reporting, with Jonathan Peddie, executive director of investigations, indicating that enforcement action will follow where duty breaches are established. The Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) similarly confirmed that it is reviewing the evidence and will pursue action against anyone providing immigration advice unlawfully.
The political response ranged from calls by Labour MP Jo White to suspend study visas for Pakistani nationals along the lines of recent restrictions on Afghan, Cameroonian, Myanmarese and Sudanese students, to reform UK’s pledge to introduce a strict liability offence, carrying up to two years’ imprisonment, for facilitating a false asylum claims.
The week also saw renewed scrutiny of the one-in, one-out returns arrangement with France, following an inspection report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor. The report revealed that of 38 migrants scheduled for removal from Stansted to Paris in January, only six were ultimately returned, with last-minute legal intervention accounting for the remainder. Many of those scheduled for removal reportedly struggled to secure representation within the narrow pre-flight window, with solicitors either declining instructions or not responding at all. Practitioners cited in the report pointed to a chronic shortage of immigration-qualified solicitors, sufficient to cover only around half of those in the UK asylum system, alongside concerns about the commercial viability of such work and the prospect of adverse media exposure.
Recent developments indicate that the Home Office will likely increase enforcement and removals, creating ongoing challenges regarding representation capacity versus removal timelines, along with closer scrutiny of advisory practices by regulators and the media. Immigration advisors are facing a crucial period as regulatory pressures intensify. There are increased expectations now from firms to carefully review their protection-based case files, ensure strong supervision of paralegals and unregulated introducers, and monitor updates from the SRA and IAA closely for their on-going immigration casework.
HJT’s upcoming in-person Immigration Law Update conference offers a timely opportunity for engagement. Presented by Mark Symes of Garden Court Chambers and Adam Pipe of No. 8 Chambers, which will be held on Wednesday 10 June 2026, in Birmingham from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
The conference will cover the new era of refugee protection, settlement proposals, the latest rule amendments, sponsor licence revocation and toughened requirements, possible changes to the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chambers, and a substantial survey of recent case law spanning compliance, deportation, detention safeguarding and trafficking damages.
Beyond the content, it offers a valuable opportunity to network with peers and talk through the practical challenges of the current climate. To book your place, visit here
For enquiries or assistance with booking, contact enquiries@hjt-training.co.uk or call 07544 164692.
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For the full list of updates on media news, reports and Home Office Guidance and Policy updates, see our Immigration News Update SEE BELOW
News
Hundreds of asylum seekers moved from hotels to army barracks, Home Office announces – The Guardian
Eleven “asylum hotels” in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been closed, as first reported by the Guardian, and more will close “in the coming weeks”. About 350 claimants have been moved to the Crowborough military camp in east Sussex, described by a spokesperson as “basic accommodation”. To view the full article, visit here
Migrant tricks Home Office into granting him asylum – The Telegraph
An Iraqi migrant falsely claimed to be a member of a stateless minority group in Kuwait during an interview with the Home Office. The man covertly recorded the interview and shared it with people smugglers, who used it to help coach other migrants wanting to start a life in Britain. The migrant follows a script in which he describes to an asylum caseworker how he was imprisoned and tortured in Kuwait as a stateless Bidoon. He then correctly answers basic pre-learned questions about the country as a test of his knowledge. To view the full article, visit here
Senior Jersey minister raises concerns with UK Home Office as passengers ‘wrongly denied boarding’ – ITV News
A senior Government of Jersey politician is urging the UK Home Office to help passengers, who she says are being “wrongly denied boarding” on some international flights. Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, the island’s Justice and Home Affairs Minister, has written to her counterparts in Britain to “express concern” and ask for their assistance. She states the issue has “caused considerable distress for those affected”, with ITV News hearing from one woman who says she was prevented from flying back to Jersey from Greece, via the UK, until she paid for extra documents that should not have been needed. To view the full article, visit here
Chris Mason: Ministers have to close asylum loopholes while protecting genuinely vulnerable – BBC News
At the heart of the arguments that rage around immigration and asylum are two of the most potent ideas in politics: fairness and control. A perceived absence of either, let alone both, is potentially toxic and particularly so around issues as salient and often divisive as how many people, and who, should be invited to live here and remain here – and on what basis. To view the full article, visit here
Reporter told to fake domestic abuse claim to remain in the UK – BBC News
A BBC investigation has found that legal advisers are encouraging some to make up abuse allegations. One of those advisers, Eli Ciswaka, encouraged a BBC reporter to make false allegations of domestic abuse – saying that he would fabricate the claim for £900, creating a story to tell the Home Office in order to secure the client’s status in the UK. To view the full article, visit here
Legal advisers help migrants pose as gay to get asylum – BBC News
A shadow industry of law firms and advisers is charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK, the BBC has found. In the first part of a major undercover investigation, we reveal how migrants whose visas are due to run out are being given fake cover stories and instructed in how to obtain fabricated evidence, including supporting letters, photographs and medical reports. To view the full article, visit here
Mahmood promises action against ‘sham lawyers’ abusing asylum system – BBC News
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised that “sham lawyers” who facilitate abuse of the asylum system “will face the full force of the law”. It comes after a BBC investigation revealed how law firms and advisers are charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK. To view the full article, visit here
Sri Lankan student could be deported from UK after one-day student fee delay – The Guardian
A Sri Lankan university student says her life has been ruined because a one-day delay in paying her tuition fees led to her being thrown off her degree course and put at risk of deportation. The university reported this delay to the Home Office and as a result she was unable to continue with her degree course, and her study visa has been terminated. She has applied for further leave to remain in the UK and is awaiting a Home Office decision. To view the full article, visit here
UK starts crackdown on EU citizens’ post-Brexit rights – The Guardian
UK ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the country. The Home Office said the crackdown was aimed at those who had received “pre-settled status” to remain in the UK before Brexit, a status that applied to anyone who had been in the UK for less than five years. To view the full article, visit here
Man in ‘Israeli embassy plot’ entered UK twice by small boat – The Times
A Kuwaiti man who arrived in Britain twice on a small boat attempted to break into the Israeli embassy in London armed with two knives in a suicide attack, a court was told. In a draft email to the Home Office earlier in 2025, he claimed to be a human rights activist who had been arrested by in Kuwait in 2011 and said his life and his family’s lives were being threatened if he continued his actions as an activist. To view the full article, click here
Lawyers refuse briefs for Channel migrant deportations – The Times
Immigration lawyers are refusing to represent migrants due for deportation to France under the one-in, one-out deal. As per report by Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, many migrants due for removal reported difficulties in securing representation. They were either unable to contact a lawyer, or the timeframe was too tight before their deportation to gather the evidence needed to build a case. To view the full article, visit here
Case Law
R (CGW) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 858 (Admin)
The High Court quashed a negative Conclusive Grounds decision concerning a Vietnamese national rescued by police from a cannabis farm. The reasoning was found to be a non sequitur, reciting the claimant’s account (which, if true, met the trafficking threshold) before concluding, without explanation, that the information was insufficient. The judgment confirms there is no minimum level of detail required for a positive decision, that determinations must rest on the totality of evidence including circumstantial factors, and that where credibility concerns arise the Defendant’s guidance and the Tameside duty require further inquiry before refusal. To view the full decision, visit here
Home Office Guidance and Documents Policy Update
Guidance Pakistan: country policy and information notes has been updated on 15th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance Ghana: tuberculosis test clinics for a UK visa has been updated on 15th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Caseworker Guidance: Powers and operational procedure has been updated on 15th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors, workers has been updated on 15th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Register of licensed sponsors students has been updated on 15th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance Syria: country policy and information notes has been updated on 14th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance Nigeria: country policy and information notes has been updated on 14th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Collection Archive: Immigration Rules has been updated on 14th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Caseworker Guidance: Permission to stay on a protection route has been updated on 14th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Caseworker Guidance: Educational Testing Service has been updated on 13th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Check if you can get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) has been updated on 9th April 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Written by Shareen Khan – Legal Content Writer, HJT Training
Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration advisors should consult the full decisions and official policy documents when advising clients on specific cases.