The Prime Minister has been genuinely apologetic about the anxiety caused by threatening those of the Windrush generation with deportation.
The Windrush generation is are those who arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries to assist the UK with work shortages.
The Home Office has provided revised guidance updated on 17th April 2018 on the matter.
If you entered the UK before 1 January 1973 you are likely to be entitled to live in the UK permanently provided you have not been absent from the UK for two years continuously. You can apply for a ‘no limit’ Biometric Residence Card to confirm your status in the UK.
If you entered the UK after 1 January 1973 and you have no documentation about your status in the UK, you are likely not to have an automatic right to reside in the UK. You will then have to make an application to the Home Office based upon your long residence and/or the life you have established in the UK.
It has been noted by an unnamed Home Office worker that in 2010 landing cards had been destroyed by the Home Office and therefore further hindering the prospect of that generation from proving their lawful residence in the UK.
The Labour MP Mr Lammy said that in 2015 of the 12,056 deportations, 901 of the individuals were over 50 years of age and a third of them were to Jamaica. He has asked the Home Office to review all such cases.
Should you require assistance to confirm your status in the UK or if you know of anyone who has been deported from the Windrush generation, please contact our Head Office for legal advice.