Not Just Advice – Legal Strategy That Works
If you or a loved one has been detained at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, or Birmingham, or held in an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) such as Harmondsworth or Yarl’s Wood, it’s vital to act immediately. Our experienced immigration solicitors specialise in bail applications, temporary release, and unlawful detention challenges. We liaise with detention staff and the Home Office to secure your release as quickly as possible.
Call 020 3384 4389 or request a free detention review. We’re available 24 hours a day, nationwide.
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Struggling With an Immigration Detention or Bail Case in the UK? Get Help Now
Freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment is a fundamental human right, protected under the Human Rights Act 1998, and is legally enforceable throughout the UK.
Requesting the Home Office to release the detainee on Temporary Admission (TA), taking into account individual circumstances.
In cases where the Home Office refuses to grant Temporary Admission, we will act upon the detainee’s instructions and lodge an application for Immigration Judge’s bail. Communicating with the sureties and guiding them on their role in facilitating the detainee’s release from detention. Preparing the bail bundle and ensuring it is sent to all relevant parties.
Quick Facts You Shouldn’t Miss
Who Can Be Detained
Anyone without current immigration status including overstayers, visa refusals, or those pending deportation can be detained.
Purpose of Detention
It’s not a punishment. Detention is used only to facilitate imminent removal or confirm immigration status.
Applying for Bail
You can apply for Home Office bail after eight days or Tribunal bail before a Judge, even if your case is ongoing.
Conditions of Release
You may have to live at a fixed address, report weekly, or provide sureties people who guarantee your compliance.
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee paid by most visa and immigration applicants for over six months to access the National Health Service (NHS). It is not required for British citizenship applications, as permanent residents contribute via taxes like National Insurance.
Having a friend or family member legally in the UK to vouch for you significantly improves your bail chances.
When applying for a Spouse visa, you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge to cover your healthcare costs while in the UK. Since February 2024, the surcharge has been £1,035 per year, following a 86% increase. For in-country application, it will be for 30 months and out-country application, it will be for 33 months.
If there’s no realistic prospect of removal or legal basis to detain you, the detention can be challenged and compensation claimed.
British citizenship applications are typically processed within six months. However, some applications may take longer, especially if more information or checks are required by the Home Office.
Common detention centres include Harmondsworth, Colnbrook, Brook House, Dungavel, and Yarl’s Wood.
This visa allows you to get married or register a civil partnership, but you cannot work, study, or live in the UK. You must use this visa solely to visit and get married.
Specialist solicitors can prepare bail bundles, liaise with sureties, and represent you at hearings or judicial reviews.
Detention is frightening
But with the right legal help, release is often closer than you think.
Our solicitors handle urgent bail applications, coordinate with sureties, and challenge unlawful detention discreetly, compassionately, and efficiently.
97.37%
Success Rate
37,573
Applications Approved
93.7%
Immigration Appeal Win Rate
4.9/5
Average Rating
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
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Evidence-based case preparation
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Home Office compliance checks
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Success rate optimisation
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Risk mitigation strategies
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
Work With Trusted, SRA-Regulated UK Immigration Experts
Your immigration journey is too important to risk on unqualified or unregulated help. Every case we handle is prepared by SRA-regulated solicitors who apply structured legal reasoning, precise documentation checks and full compliance with Home Office and UKVI rules.
Our accreditations are your assurance that you are working with a reputable, experienced and highly trained legal team. We combine decades of immigration expertise with strict professional standards to give you clarity, confidence and complete peace of mind — no matter which visa or application route you are pursuing.
UK Immigration Detention Centres Explained
The UK is home to several Immigration Removal Centres (IRC’s). These are also commonly referred to as Detention Centres. These facilities are similar to mainstream prisons and are used by the UK Government to place people who they suspect do not have a legal right to stay in the UK, or whose legal right to be in the UK is still to be decided, while they try to remove or deport them to their ‘home country’.
Although immigration detention is an administrative process, it can often seem like a criminal procedure. UK Immigration Solicitors assists detainees held at any of the detention centres listed below.
- Brook House, Gatwick
- Campsfield House, Oxfordshire
- Colnbrook, Middlesex
- Dungavel House, South Lanarkshire
- Harmondsworth, Middlesex
- Morton Hall, Lincolnshire
- Tinsley House, Gatwick
- Yarl’s Wood, Bedfordshire
- Pennine House, Manchester
- Larne House, Antrim
The UK Government believes that it is right to lock people up in order to make sure they do not go missing before they are removed from the UK. UK Immigration Solicitors is strongly against this view as we believe that detention is only warranted in extreme cases and that those awaiting Home Office removals/decisions should be treated with respect and dignity rather than contempt and suspicion.
Reasons for detention
There are various reasons why somebody may be detained for immigration purposes.
Common detainees include:
- Foreign nationals who have been stopped at the border from entering the UK.
- Foreign nationals who have been arrested in the UK, because they do not have a valid visa.
- Foreign nationals who have been in prison for a crime, and have finished the custodial part of their sentence.
- Foreign nationals who have claimed asylum or who have applied for permission to remain in the UK, and are waiting for a decision.
- Foreign nationals who have been refused asylum or permission to remain in the UK, and are waiting to be removed.
There may be other reasons why you have been detained. The Home Office must tell you the reasons why you have been detained at the time of your detention. This is on a form called an IS91R. If you have not been given one, ask the Home Office to give it to you.
Ways to get out of detention
There are four main routes that can be used to get you released from immigration detention:
Home Office Bail – This is a paper based consideration only. Essentially, you are asking for the Home Office to reconsider its decision to detain you and are asking to be released on bail for Immigration detainees.
If your main immigration or asylum case is successful – If the Home Office have approved your original application and granted you permission to stay in the UK, you should be released from detention as the authority to hold you is no longer valid.
You should be aware however that if the Home Office intend to appeal this decision and feel that you will go missing if released on bail for immigration detainees, they may still keep you in detention whilst the appeal is heard.
Bail from an immigration judge (Tribunal bail) – If you have been in the UK for a period of at least 8 days, you have a legal right for Tribunal Bail. Tribunal Bail is the term given to the process of being released from detention by an immigration judge often subject to certain conditions. It is the immigration judge’s job to independently assess the Home Office’s arguments of keeping you detained are strong enough.
Release by the High Court
The High Court of Justice (usually known as the High Court) is one of the Senior Courts for England and Wales. Often, we challenge Home Office decisions at the High Court through the process of Judicial Review. If we are able to argue that the Home Office has detained you without following the law correctly, we may be able to argue that your detention is unlawful and therefore you should be released immediately.
It is important to note that the Judicial Review process only concerns the legality of the process as apposed to whether the outcome was correct. This is a particularly complex area of law and requires an experienced specialist to present a compelling application for Judicial Review.
Time limits for detention
Unfortunately, there is no specific time limit on immigration detention. Whilst some people spend a few weeks in detention, sadly we are increasingly seeing cases where detainees are held for long periods of time often running into years depending on complexity. This is quite often the case when detainees are assessed as posing a risk to the public or when there are complications in returning someone to their country of origin.
In particular, if you fall into the following categories, it is very important you seek immediate assistance:
- You have been made aware that the Home Office is intending to remove you from the UK.
- You are under the age of 18 and are having difficulty proving this.
- You are suffering from mental health problems
- You are a victim of torture
When bail isn’t the best option
Sometimes, it may not be advisable to make a bail application for you, for example:
- You are trying to get you out of detention through another route.
- You are waiting for a change in your case to be processed/notified (especially when you have already had a Bail for Immigration Detainees bail application refused)
- You are unable to provide financial guarantees or don’t have suitable accommodation.
- You have ‘Removal Directions’ (i.e. the Home Office has already notify you that you will be removed from the UK).
Financial Guarantor/Supporters
Although not a strict requirement, having a financial supporter will increase your chances of getting bail in most circumstances.
A financial supporter/guarantor acts to support your application for bail. This person volunteers to ensure that you meet your bail conditions and also promises an amount of money to the court which will be lost if you break your bail for immigration detainees conditions.
How much money must the financial supporter promise?
There is no minimum amount. Bearing in mind that the money will be lost if the detainee breaches their bail conditions, the financial supporter should not promise more money that they can afford to lose. This will vary between different people depending on their financial circumstances. The financial supporter must be able to show that the money is their personal funds and they can spend it as they wish. The money must also have been in a UK bank account for a minimum period of 90 days. If the financial supporter is unable to produce the last three months bank statements, payslips may be accepted as an alternative. If the detainee complies with their bail conditions, and the bail period comes to an end either because stay is granted or ultimately refused, the financial support will not lose the funds.
If you comply with all of the conditions of your release
Your financial supporter will not be required to give money to the Tribunal or to Home Office.
Who can be a Financial Guarantor/Supporters?
Anyone who is legally in the UK can act as a financial supporter. Generally speaking, financial supporters should be employed. However, if the supporter is not employed, they must be able to demonstrate that they have enough money. In order for the supporter to add credibility to your case, they must know you personally and be able to demonstrate that your belief and support of the bail for immigration detainees application is justified.
If you do not comply with the conditions of your release
The Home Office or the Tribunal will take the appropriate steps to recover the money owed from your financial supporter.
If you are granted permission to stay within the UK or are removed from the country
Your financial supporter’s responsibility to you ends and they are no longer at any financial risk.
Why bail is refused
There are three main reasons why bail is refused:
A financial supporter/guarantor acts to support your application for bail. This person volunteers to ensure that you meet your bail for immigration detainees conditions and also promises an amount of money to the court which will be lost if you break your bail conditions.
- The judge believes that the detainee will go missing if released on bail.
- The judge believes that the detainee will be removed very soon and granting bail would prevent this.
- It the detainee has a criminal conviction, the judge may believe that the prisoner will re-offend and therefore refuse fail.
Frequently Asked Questions FAQs
It’s when the Home Office holds someone without valid leave to remain while deciding whether to remove them from the UK.
Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants cannot be subject to arbitrary detention.
As each person’s situation, the court process, and the difficulty of the case determine, the length of immigration detention in the UK varies. This depends on things like current court battles, the availability of travel papers, and bail requests. It is best to talk to a lawyer to get the correct information about your case.
Yes. A solicitor can apply for Home Office bail or Tribunal bail and, if necessary, challenge unlawful detention in court.
There’s no fixed time limit, but detention must be reasonable and justified. Prolonged detention can be challenged as unlawful.
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