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Dele Olawanle

Welcome to this edition of the legal perspective. I have been getting positive feedbacks from many angles on the educative nature of articles in this column. What has often amazed me is that what I thought was known or should have been known by immigrants were either not known or misunderstood.

I travel around the country speaking at conferences and churches on immigration and other areas of law. I have often found out that some people who have lived in the UK for many years do not know what to do to regularize their stay in the UK. Some do not even know that they could instruct lawyers to act on their behalf, as they believe that Solicitors are agents of the Home Office. Some are even scared to the point that even when they see solicitors, they are not confident enough to tell the truth as they believe that the information given could be used against them. I have this to say to people in the latter category: Your solicitors owe you a duty of confidentiality and you should be free to discuss your case with them.

I want to deal specifically this month with what I'll call the 'banana peel' for many immigrants. This is the issue of committing criminal offences and being under the impression that because one has indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom or because one has become a British citizen through naturalization, one is immune from being deported from the UK. The simple answer is: on the face of it yes but in reality, no. Let me explain.

Children brought into the UK at an early age.

Let's take a hypothetical situation of an immigrant. He was born outside the UK and he came to live in the UK at the age of 5 having been brought in by his parent. He is now 25 years old and has indefinite leave to remain in the UK. He has had all his education here and has worked in the UK. In every respect apart from the fact that he was not born in the UK, he regards himself as British. But along the line, he has committed a string of criminal offences: at the age of 12 he was cautioned for using drugs; at the age of 13, he was cautioned for assault. At the age of 14 he was sentenced to a young offender's institution for theft. At the age of 18, he was sentenced to 3 month's imprisonment for theft. At the age of 21 he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for dealing in class A drugs. This hypothetical person has crossed the boundary and falls for automatic deportation at the end of his sentence because he was sentenced to a prison term of more than 12 months. You see, his criminal record will be taken into account. Never mind the fact that he spent his formative years in the UK, had all his education and close relatives here or has his wife and children who are British citizens here. It does not matter; he is likely to be deported.

Another hypothetical case could be an immigrant who has never committed any criminal offence but was convicted for an offence and sentenced to a prison term of over 12 months for his first offence. He is likely to be deported.

I used the story of someone who has lived in the UK from an early age to paint a deeply compassionate situation. If he had little or no chance of remaining in the UK due to the offences committed, someone who spent the majority of his life in his home country before moving to the UK has less chance of being allowed to stay in the UK.

Anyone reading this article should not take this article lightly as many people with a similar history have been deported. Some were granted refugee status years ago but the situation in their country has changed since they were last granted the status and they have been deported. Do not take the fact that you were granted indefinite leave or you have naturalized as a British citizen for granted. You might be deported if you commit a criminal offence or if you are sentenced to a prison term of 12 months or more. It is that serious.

Immigrants with no status

If you came into the UK having been granted entry clearance to come to the UK and you have remained in the UK having overstayed your leave, getting a criminal record could prevent you from being granted Indefinite leave to remain in the UK. It could also prevent you from being granted leave to remain in the UK.

If you came into the UK as a visitor and you overstayed or you came in as an illegal entrant waiting to be granted leave to remain or settlement in the UK, the easiest way to prevent yourself from being granted leave to remain or settlement is to commit a criminal offence or to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of up to 12 months. In the former, you are not likely to be granted settlement and in the latter you are likely to be deported.

As a practicing solicitor, I have seen these increasing trends and have witnessed some pathetic situations in the last year. Some were habitual criminals and some got into the mess through naivety.

It is high time for immigrants to know that things are no longer the way it used to be and therefore do their best to comply with the law.

To be forewarned..

Dele Olawanle

Dele Olawanle is the Principal Solicitor at Del & Co. Solicitors in North London. He also presents "The Legal Panorama" and "The Winning Mentality" on TV every week. Also, you can visit: www.delsolicitors.co.uk or www.pastordele.com for TV schedules.