Following previous correspondence with the Home Office (which you can see in our previous posts here and here), Migrants Organise and the Helen Bamber Foundation received this response to our letter to the Home Secretary regarding the suspension of reporting conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The GOV.UK website has now been updated to provide clear confirmation that reporting conditions is temporarily paused: https://www.gov.uk/immigration-reporting-centres.
They have also provided email addresses for all the reporting centres which can be contacted if there are any issues. If a client has not received a text message, we would suggest emailing the relevant reporting centre to notify them and provide an updated contact details.
The Home Office however has also stated on the updated website, that some individuals may be asked to attend an “appointment”, apparently to provide details of their circumstances. We are still not very clear on how this would be implemented and what the impact would be. However, the penalty for missing an appointment can be severe, including termination of asylum support and criminal conviction. These appointments should really be used sparingly and the Home Office should also be flexible in dealing with issues with text messages.
If anyone has any experience with these appointments, and how they are being implemented, please share them or get in touch with brian@migrantsorganise.org.
