Inaccurate information gives false hope to people seeking asylum, overstayers and irregular migrants seeking status.

If you have received a questionnaire from the Case Resolution Directorate at the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA), it is most probable that your case has been identified as a "legacy case" or a "case resolution" case - and definitely not a part of any new 'amnesty'.

The Case Resolution Directorate has sent out thousands of questionnaires. If you are a "legacy case" and have not received a questionnaire yet, you may do at some point in the future. You cannot request a questionnaire - you have to wait until they send you one.

The questionnaire is not a benign document - the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) may make decisions based on the information you provide in the questionnaire, which may be to grant you status or to speed up your removal from the UK.

If you get a questionnaire, we strongly insist that you seek legal advice before completing it. The Legal Services Commission has confirmed that legal aid funding is available for this.

STILL ONGOING: The Family ILR Exercise (AKA Family Amnesty 2000/2003), announced by the Home Secretary on 24 October 2003, allows certain asylum-seeking families in the UK to stay. To qualify, the main applicant of the family unit must have applied for asylum before 2 October 2000 and must have had at least one dependant aged under 18 (other than a spouse or civil partner) in the UK on 2 October 2000 or 24 October 2003.

Please do not call/email NCADC asking if there is a new 'amnesty' - there is definitely not.

Strangers Into Citizens:

90 MPs have signed EDM 1371 "for the one-off regularisation of long-term irregular migrants through a pathway to citizenship":
 http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33150&SESSION=885

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Message below from The Refugee Council

Case Resolution (Legacy cases)

Update on case resolution: Q&A now on Home Office website:
Case Resolution is not an amnesty [August 2007]

There is now a Question and Answer document on the Border and Immigration Agency website which explains how they are dealing with Case Resolution cases.

Note in particular that this is not an amnesty. The Refugee Council is hearing disturbing reports that people may be being misled about this and even tricked into completing photocopies of the
questionnaire, in the mistaken belief that this will get their case dealt with, and for which they have been charged. This Q&A makes it clear that this is not an amnesty and there is no point in completing photocopies of the form - only those that the Home Office has sent will be valid.

Background: In July 2006 the Home Secretary announced that all asylum cases outside the New Asylum Model will be resolved by June 2011. These cases, formerly known as legacy cases and now called case resolution, are being dealt with by the Case Resolution Directorate at the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA).

The Home Secretary has outlined the priorities that will determine how BIA deals with these cases:
"We will also deal with the legacy of older cases that have yet to be fully resolved. We plan to do this within five years or less. We will prioritise those who may pose a risk to the public, and then focus on those who can more easily be removed, those receiving support, and those who may be granted leave. All cases will be dealt with on their individual merits."

All these cases will eventually receive a letter and a questionnaire, the purpose of which is to update information held by the Home Office in order to decide what action is appropriate. If you fail to return
the questionnaire a decision will be made on your case using any information you have previously provided and any other written evidence you have submitted in support of your case.

In the week commencing 2 July 2007 the Home Office sent out a total of 6,000 letters and questionnaires to families with children in accordance with its priority to address cases in receipt of support.

*Home Office briefing: Case Resolution Programme - FAQs
 http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/asylum/caseresolutionprogammefaqs/