What is the UK’s immigration policy for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire?

Following the tragic fire on 14 June 2017 at Grenfell Tower, on 5 July 2017 the UK government announced a dedicated Grenfell survivors’ policy, which provided for a temporary 12-month immigration amnesty for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire to regularise their immigration status.

On 2 January 2023 the policies were updated for survivors applying to settle in the UK. A policy to provide peace of mind to survivors about their immigration status following a profoundly traumatic event like the Grenfell Tower fire has of course been welcome. However, it does show the Home Office, even in a situation where there are extremely compelling and compassionate circumstances, seeking to make vulnerable people jump through numerous hoops in order to reach settlement. It is unclear why individuals could not have been granted settlement at the outset or at least have been granted a single period of leave to remain for five years rather than requiring multiple applications, generating additional work for the Home Office and creating considerable uncertainty for survivors.

We will now look at how the policy has developed over the last five years.

What was the temporary 12-month immigration amnesty granted in 2017

The Grenfell survivors’ policy was introduced to recognise the fact that some foreign nationals directly affected by the fire had concerns about their immigration status whilst others had permission which was about to expire, and so they were reluctant to engage with authorities either to seek help or provide information.

In the initial 2017 policy, ‘survivors’ meant foreign nationals either with no immigration status/uncertain status or with limited leave to remain, who on the date of the fire were residents of Grenfell Tower (lawfully or unlawfully) or alternatively who were living close to Grenfell Tower and were significantly affected by the fire because they were displaced from their place of residence which was destroyed or made uninhabitable by the fire (the Home Office anticipated that this would extend to residents of Grenfell Walk). The Home Office agreed to not conduct immigration checks on survivors for a period of 12 months.

The policy also included:

• ‘No recourse to public funds’ condition lifted.  Any survivor in the UK with valid leave on another basis had the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition lifted where the existing leave was subject to that condition, or was allowed to switch to 12 months’ leave as part of the five-year route to settlement under the Grenfell survivors’ policy.
• Dependants.  Dependants of those who were eligible to apply for leave under this policy could be included in an application, if they were ordinarily residing with the qualifying individual on the date of the fire and providing they did not fall into one of the categories excluded from the policy.
• Relatives.  A Grenfell relatives’ policy was also introduced to enable relatives of those directly affected by the fire to remain in or come to the UK for up to six months, to support their family members and to support the work of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry.
• Discretionary grants.  Both the survivors’ policy and the relatives’ policy provided for discretionary grants of leave outside of the Immigration Rules on the basis of exceptional compassionate and compelling grounds.

How was the initial Grenfell survivors’ policy extended?

On 11 October 2017, the government announced that those who qualified under the Grenfell survivors’ policy would be able to apply for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) after five years’ lawful residence in the UK. Survivors were asked to come forward no later than 31 January 2018.

Individuals who were eligible under the policy were granted permission to stay for an initial period of 12 months. Within 28 days of the end of the 12-month period, individuals could apply for a further two years’ permission. They would then be able to apply for another period of two years before being eligible to apply for settlement, after five years’ lawful residence.

On 26 June 2018, the Grenfell relatives’ policy was updated to allow relatives with Core Participant status in the Public Inquiry to extend their stay for successive periods of up to six months at a time in order to participate in the Public Inquiry on an ongoing basis.

How many people applied under the Grenfell survivors’ policy?

According to Home Office statistics published on 27 February 2020, 19 people came forward for an initial 12 months’ leave outside the rules under the survivors’ policy. Of those, 15 people were granted 12 months’ leave and four people were refused. Those refused under the policy failed to meet the eligibility qualifying criteria. Of the 15 people who were granted the initial 12 months, 12 applied for a further two years, all of whom were successful. Those that did not apply for further permission were either granted permission under another immigration route or did not qualify due to failing to meet the required criteria. No survivors came forward after the closing date of 31 January 2018.

What is the Grenfell Tower Survivors’ settlement policy published in January 2023?

The first survivors to be accepted onto the five-year route to settlement are now reaching eligibility to apply (applications can be submitted up to 28 days before the five-year qualifying residence period is complete).

Accordingly, on 2 January 2023, the Home Office published the Grenfell Tower Survivors’ settlement policy. Settlement is open to those survivors who have either completed five years’ continuous lawful residence in the UK or switched into the Grenfell survivors’ route to settlement.

The settlement policy covers a wide range of topics including, for example, dependants and out-of-time applications.

Of particular interest is the provision that any child born to the main applicant in the UK after 14 June 2017 who is not a British citizen can be added as a dependant on the SET(GT) application form and, if successful, will be granted settlement in line with and at the same time as their parent.

The guidance is due to be reviewed on 1 May 2023.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have any queries on the above issues or any other immigration matter, please contact a member of our immigration team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katie Newbury is a Partner in the immigration team and has over 10 years' experience across a wide spectrum of UK immigration matters, with particular expertise in applications made under Tier 1 of the Points Based System and complex personal immigration matters.

Tom Surr joined Kingsley Napley in October 2019 as a paralegal in the Criminal Litigation department and was promoted to Head Paralegal in March 2020. He worked on matters including criminal defence and police investigations, white-collar and financial crime, international crime and extradition, and investigations.

Tim Richards joined the immigration team as a professional support lawyer in June 2019. He is a solicitor with extensive experience in corporate and private client immigration matters and is responsible for the immigration team’s knowledge management and development.