Detention and Bail

If you have entered the UK unlawfully without leave to enter, overstayed and breached the terms of your visa or committed a criminal offence as a person subject to immigration control the UK Border Agency may have grounds to detain you. Average figures show that for the nearly 10,000 bail applications made last year in immigration detention cases approximately 22% were granted, 46% were refused and the remaining 32% were withdrawn before decision.

If you have been detained or have a family member or friend who is currently in detention we can assist you in making an application to the UK Border Agency for temporary admission or AIT Bail for release from detention. AIT Bail is a legal procedure available to detainees once they have been in the UK for seven days. Once an application for AIT Bail is made a detainee is required to appear before an Independent Judge at the AIT and a decision is made as to whether the detention should continue or the detainee should be released. Should you have justified grounds for your release, a fixed address and sureties who would offer to surrender an amount of money considered proportionate to their financial means, should you abscond, the Immigration Judge would be minded to consider your release.

Our immigration team of experts would advise you on possible avenues to regulate your stay in the UK during and after detention and guide you through the process of AIT Bail to secure your release from detention. It is important for detainees to recognise that the UK Border Agency must have justified grounds to initially and continually detain you otherwise failure to lawfully justify detention or a failure to correctly review detention may result in the detention being unlawful and the right for possible action against the UK Border Agency for damages. We further keep you advised of you bail condition after release, any bail renewal hearings and any other procedures that may follow your individual release.