UK Immigration: Detention & Bail
Get Expert Legal Assistance
24-Hour Legal Team +44 (0)20 3384 4389
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.
At UK Immigration Solicitors, we understand the importance of safeguarding this right. If you or someone you know has been detained, we are here to help. Our dedicated team is committed to assisting you and will strive to secure your release from detention as promptly as possible.
Our Legal Services Include:
- 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.
- Engaging an experienced and highly skilled Barrister to represent you before the Tribunal.
- Providing a clear explanation of the further options available to the detainee if the Immigration Judge denies bail.
UK Immigration Detention Centres
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 | Morton Hall, Lincolnshire |
Campsfield House, Oxfordshire | Tinsley House, Gatwick |
Colnbrook, Middlesex | Yarl’s Wood, Bedfordshire |
Dungavel House, South Lanarkshire | Pennine House, Manchester |
Harmondsworth, Middlesex | 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.
Speak to our assessment team now to confirm your eligibility and options for free on +44 (0)20 3384 4389.
Further Information
Reasons for detention
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.
Time limits for detention
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
Ways to get out of 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.
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, 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.
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 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
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 conditions.
Who can be a Financial Guarantor/Supporters?
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 | If you do not comply with the conditions of your release | If you are granted permission to stay within the UK or are removed from the country |
Your financial supporter will not be required to give money to the Tribunal or to Home Office. | The Home Office or the Tribunal will take the appropriate steps to recover the money owed from your financial supporter. | Your financial supporter’s responsibility to you ends and they are no longer at any financial risk. |
If you comply with all of the conditions your of release |
Your financial supporter will not be required to give money to the Tribunal or to Home Office. |
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:
- 1. The judge believes that the detainee will go missing if released on bail.
- 2. The judge believes that the detainee will be removed very soon and granting bail would prevent this.
- 3. It the detainee has a criminal conviction, the judge may believe that the prisoner will re-offend and therefore refuse fail.
Rated excellent by our clients on:





How we work in 3 simple steps
Call us or submit your details online
You decide if you want our assistance
Why Choose
UK Immigration Solicitors?
We are professional Solicitors here to help you with your immigration needs
What is the benefit of using UK Immigration Solicitors?
Immigration rules are complex and subject to regular changes and revisions. This itself presents problems as it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of and have complied with any changes to the routes, processes and evidence requirements.
Failure to meet strict rules is likely to result in the application being refused which, in turn, is likely have an emotional and financial strain on you and your family.
It is our job to ensure we are fully aware of the latest immigration rules, policies and procedures. We don’t leave matters to chance. Once you become a client of ours, we explain our strategy and tell you exactly how we propose to get you the right result. We will pinpoint the positives and negatives of your circumstances and explain where issues may arise and what would need to be done to fix them. We provide step by step guidance and advice throughout the entire process professionally. Our vast experience allows us to foresee problems before they arise and pro-actively adopt a strategic action plan.
Our legal fees are always agreed and fixed with you right at the beginning of your case, so you have complete peace of mind and control over the costs to ensure there are no restrictions or unpleasant surprises.
There are many online agencies, advisors and marketing companies who claim to be immigration experts but, provide very little expertise.
Let us be very clear here, if you are paying for someone just to fill in the forms for you, you should think about how you can put that money to better use and avoid gambling with your future by using inexperienced and ineffective companies.
We are a fully regulated nationwide, multi award winning law firm that specialises in immigration. Having more than 60 years of combined expertise and having handled more than 8,000 cases we have unrivalled experience and expertise to ensure you get the right result first time around – Don’t take our word for it though, check out our reviews to see why our clients trust us with their futures. We are rated 5* across the board and 98% of our clients have confirmed that they would recommend us to others.
We have illustrated our typical scope of service below so you can understand what we do for you as paid of our service:
- Our immigration specialists carry out a free detailed assessment with you to understand your circumstances and needs.
- The collated information is then reviewed by a senior immigration solicitor who will have no less than 8 years’ immigration experience.
- Based on the information collected, the senior solicitor will then confirm what your options are and will also confirm if we are able to help you.
- We will offer you an Agreed Fixed Fee quotation for us to handle your entire case until initial conclusion without obligation.
- If we have officially taken your instructions, we will create a client file for you and collect detailed initial information.
- We will then ensure you receive a personalised one-to-one legal consultation with a senior immigration solicitor who will take your full instructions by exploring your circumstances in detail and advise you on the best way to meet your objectives. The solicitor will explain the relevant legislations and provide you with advice on the steps that we would need to take to get a successful result.
- The senior solicitor who carried out your legal consultation will then send you detailed written legal advice explaining everything that needs to be done and which documents will be required as part of the process. We will tell you about any problem areas and formulate a strategy to overcome/mitigate these.
- We will carefully review any documents that you have provided in support of the application. These documents are then validated and formatted to ensure that they meet the UKVI specified evidence requirements. Where they do not, we will explain what needs to be done to address the issues.
- Where required, we will prepare any necessary written legal arguments or representations that are required to support your application and gain an approval. Often, we may be required to make discretionary submissions.
- We will complete a draft application and share this with you to ensure that all parties are happy with the representations that will be submitted to the Home Office.
- We advise you on what application processing routes are available. In some cases, there are fast track or premium processing routes available. We may be required to book a Home Office appointment on your behalf. Will also be able to confirm typical processing times for any processing centre in the world. We explain all options, routes and fees comprehensively allowing you to make the best choice.
- We lodge the application on your behalf using our secure authenticated processes. Whilst your application is pending, we continue to ensure you receive maximum legal protection and ensure that your rights and allowances are upheld throughout the processing stage. We ensure that you are aware of and remain compliant with the immigration rules and regulations during this period. We will also keep you updated on the progress of your matter.
- If any follow up work is required in response to any queries raised by the UKVI, we will also deal with these as part of the comprehensive service.
- We secure a decision on your matter and further advise you on the relevant implications of that decision. If required, we will also confirm if any secondary applications are required and brief you on the necessary process and procedure for those also.
Why should you use Immigration Solicitors to help me?
Here are just some of the reasons to choose us:
- We are the UK’s #1 Immigration Specialist Law Firm
- We are a fully SRA regulated law firm so you are working directly with our in house legal team
- No agencies, middlemen or outsourcing
- We have achieved 99% success rate across all application types
- We have a 24 hour helpline that operates 7 days a week – 365 days a year
- We have multiple offices across the UK but 90% of our clients are not required to visit in person
- We have more than 60 years combined immigration expertise
- Our team have handled more than 8,000 cases
- We offer a free initial assessment which will explain your options and check your eligibility for your chosen route
- We operate a 100% Agreed Fixed Fee model with all fees fixed and agreed before work is started
- 98% of our clients would recommend us to family & friends
- Our average rating is 4.6/5 across major review platforms (based on over 2000 reviews).
What is Free Needs Assessment?
The assessor will establish why you are calling and what you are looking for assistance with. The assessor will ask you a series of questions to determine your circumstances in relation to your objectives.
The assessment is 100% private and confidential. As we are a private law firm, we work with our clients to overturn Government decisions daily. We do not share any information with any third party.
Although the assessor will be a trained immigration specialist, they are not solicitors and therefore will not give you detailed legal advice or guidance.
If you want to establish what your options are and the best way forward for you, your assessor will collate the necessary information and then speak with one of the resident senior solicitors at the firm to determine what your options are, if and how we could assist and confirm whether we would be prepared to take your case. If we can assist, you will be provided with an Agreed Fixed Fee quotation which is a single legal fee to cover the firms cost of representation agreed from the outset and binding for all parties.
The free assessment is no obligation and you are merely given clarity on your position and options to move forward.
If you have a complex matter or require legal advice regarding a specific issue, you will most likely require a legal consultation.
This is a separate service and is chargeable at the prevailing rates.
Please note, UK Immigration Solicitors are a private law firm and are not part of the Government. We do not accept legal aid instructions. Although we are happy to assist genuine callers, we are not a directory service and sadly are unable to provide you with Government telephone numbers.
To get started you can either call us on 0203 384 4389 or complete the assessment form and one of the team will call you
What do you want to do next?










