THANKS TO LEGAL AID, I helped a teenage refugee get his real age accepted

I represented a teenage refugee from a war-torn country who claimed asylum in the UK.

My client was assessed by the local authority to be an adult, despite documentary evidence that he was a child.

THANKS TO LEGAL AID, I was able to successfully challenge the age assessment, and the local authority accepted my client’s claimed age. This meant he could go back to school and be looked after as a child.

THANKS TO LEGAL AID, I help young refugees get the support they need

I represent children on their own in the UK seeking asylum who are wrongly assessed as adults.

Wrongly classified as adults, children live in adult accommodation, have their asylum claim assessed as an adult and receive no age-appropriate support.

THANKS TO LEGAL AID, I am able to challenge age assessments so that young people are recognised as the children they are and receive the support they need.

THANKS TO LEGAL AID, we appealed a wrongful conviction

We represented a Somali man who had entered the UK as an asylum seeker

He pleaded guilty to possession of false identity documents, as his legal team did not advise him that a statutory defence was available. He later found it very difficult to get work, due to having this on his criminal record.

THANKS TO LEGAL AID, we were able to appeal his conviction and have it removed from his record.

Who will still fail the residence test? People who need to challenge poor decisions by the UKBA not to grant lawful residence.

“Today I met a woman who wanted to live in the UK with her British husband to care for their severely disabled British child. The family couldn’t afford the application fee so the UKBA refused to consider it. THANKS TO LEGAL AID, I got permission to have this decision reviewed by the court. The UKBA delayed a year before granting her leave to remain.

THIS CASE WOULD BE BARRED BY THE “RESIDENCE TEST”.

EXCEPTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH.”