Immigration Service

Our Immigration service is an important part of our Advice Service and have support some of the most vulnerable women in London. All the women were supported with complex, insecure immigration status, and No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). We provide advice and support to women who are eligible to make applications under the Domestic Violence rule, under their human rights, EU law as well as making applications to change the conditions of their visas in order to get Recourse to Public Funds.

We work with migrant women and EEA Nationals with No Recourse to Public Funds who have experienced domestic abuse and sexual violence and cannot get access to legal aid, including; women exiting prostitution, sexually exploited and trafficked women, women who are at risk of homelessness or are homeless and women needing refuge accommodation and other community advocacy services.

The criteria for the service is as follows:

• Service users are provided advice first about their immigration rights and advised to think about the advice before an appointment (if eligible) is made to the service user.
• Please note that the DDVC is not for all service users who have Leave to Remain. If someone is eligible for the DDVC the advisers will inform the service users of this, but it is up to the service user about how they want to proceed with their immigration case, not professionals.
• The service was intended for those people who are not eligible for legal aid or cannot obtain assistance from a solicitor – those that are eligible for legal aid including those doing the DDVC/SET DV and ASYLUM will be advised which law centres/firms they can get assistance from (especially if the referral is not appropriate for my service).
• Please remember that currently the capacity of the service is very limited – so I would kindly ask that you remember this – We don’t want to have to keep closing my service and I understand that every service user’s case that is referred to the service is urgent/important – but if a case is taken on, appointments are limited – so please only make a referral if you know your service user cannot seek alternative legal advice or assistance.
• The service does not pay for disbursements – any external costs to obtain additional evidence such as medical reports; country expert reports, etc; will not be funded by the immigration service.
• Please note that my services is not for male services users.
• The service is not for historic Sexual Violence (SV) + Domestic Violence (DV) cases – there must be recent incidents – no more than 6 months.
• The service is not for benefits advice – it is for assisting service users to regularise their stay in the UK or get information about their immigration rights/entitlements. For those wanting benefits advice should speak to The Citizen’s Advice Bureau or a benefits adviser.

There are a number of staff who are trained to complete the DDVC applications in-house please check with your in-house managers.

External referrals must be made via a referral form and sent to the Advice team. Service users can self refer via the Advice line.