Briefing 1: The Need for Skilled Migrant Care Workers

Briefing 2: Skilled Migrant Care Workers and Families

Briefing 3: Settlement

Briefing 4: Unfair Changes to Immigration Rules

Briefing 5: Salary Levels

‘Dukot’ (Desaparecidos)

4th December 2010 at 7:30pm
Praxis Hall, Pott Street, Bethnal Green London E2 0EF (map)
(Filmshow is followed by dinner and dance to celebrate the early holiday season.)

Tickets at 10GBP inclusive of film, dinner and dance.
For enquiries, contact Kanlungan and/or CHRP.

If you are in the UK on a student (Tier 4) or work permit visa (Tier 2), you need to be aware and understand the recent changes in immigration law.

Since November 2008, the UK Border Agency have been implementing new policies concerning and affecting your immigration status. As a result, many migrants who are already in the UK to study or work have to satisfy the requirements of the Points Based System. Failure to do so may result to migrants becoming irregular or undocumented.

To shed a light on these issues and develop a community response, Kanlungan will hold a public forum to discuss the following:

1. understanding the Points Based System (Tiers 2 and 4) and its new approaches
2. Employers certificate of sponsorship
3. Where and how to get proper advice
4. What actions we can take

Please join us on this public forum on:
Saturday, 12th June 2010, 2:00-5:00pm
Praxis Training Room
Praxis Community Projects
Pott Street, London, E2 0EF (map here)
Tube: Bethnal Green (Central Line)

Speaker: Steve Symonds, ILPA (Immigration Law Practicioners’ Association)

For enquiries, contact us

Workshop on Deskilling of Health Care Professionals by Kanlungan

Vote for Migrants Rights!

The project aims to gather issues and opinions from different Filipino migrant community organisations and individuals in the UK, in the light of producing a consolidated migrant agenda of the country. A national consultation is planned to take place on 17 April 2009 in London, where selected delegates from different migrant organisations across UK regions will gather to unite on their issues and endorse our own agenda.

To visit the website go to: http://votemigrantsrights.wordpress.com

Calling all care workers with gaps in your visa!

When the government changed the work permit requirements for senior care workers in 2007-2008, many care workers lost their right to extend their visa. A campaign was launched by Kanlungan and other organisations against these changes and the Home Office responded by offering concessions to those who needed to extend their work visas.

However, some of you ended up having a “gap” in your visa. The gap is the period between the date when your first visa expired and your new visa (gained as a result of the concession) began. Recently, some of those who gained visa extensions through the concession have applied for indefinite leave to remain since they have worked in the UK for five years. However, we have heard that some of these have been refused because of the “gap” in their visa.

Kanlungan wants to support migrant workers who have lived in the UK for more than five years, but have not obtained indefinite leave to remain because of this visa gap. Kanlungan is ready to launch a legal challenge against this decision on your behalf. This legal challenge will argue that the decision to refuse your application for settlement on the basis of a gap in your visa is unfair because the gap was the result of changes in the regulations and not because you breach any immigration law.

The fact that the government offered a concession for carers who needed to extend their working visa is an admission that they made a mistake in the rule changes they made. It is therefore your right to be able to demand indefinite leave to remain on the basis that you have stayed in the country for five years.

If you want to demand your right to indefinite leave to remain on the basis of having stayed in the UK for five years, please contact us immediately. We need a certain number of these cases to be able to put the legal challenge on your behalf.

You need to be aware that waiting until you have more than five years residence will not compensate for the gap period, and delaying your application could mean you lose out on the opportunity to get ILR. The Borders, Immigration, and Citizenship Act 2009, which has now received Royal Assent, has removed the Indefinite Leave To Remain provision and replaced this with probationary citizenship which could mean up to another three years (on top of the previous five years requirement) to satisfy even more difficult requirements to gain citizenship.

The new law also states that if you have “gaps” in your visa or have not satisfied the citizenship requirements, you might be required to start another five years of temporary residency before they accept your application for probationary citizenship. The Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act 2009 will be implemented in stages. There will be a limited transitional measures that will be put in place in relation to applications for ILR.

To obtain permanent settlement, you must ACT now! Fight for your right to indefinite leave to remain! Contact KANLUNGAN immediately!!! ]]> http://www.kanlungan.org.uk/2009/call-senior-care-workers/feed/ 4 http://www.kanlungan.org.uk/2009/typhoon-ondoy-relief-fund/ http://www.kanlungan.org.uk/2009/typhoon-ondoy-relief-fund/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:53:27 +0000 admin http://www.kanlungan.org.uk/?p=118 Appeal for Financial Support for Victims of Philippine Typhoon Kestana (aka Ondoy)

Kanlungan would like to thank all donors to the Typhoon Ondoy Relief Fund. We have gathered a total of £798.13 which will be forwarded to Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC).

For the complete list of donors, click here.

Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) is a non-government organization that pioneered and continues to promote community-based disaster management in the Philippines. CDRC operates nationwide through a network of regional centers affiliated with the Citizens’ Disaster Response Network and through people’s organizations.

Saturday 31st October  11 a.m.  – 5.00 p.m.

@ Praxis (community centre) Pott Street, London E2 0EF

Tel: 020 7729 7985 
 Buses: 8, 106, 254 and 388
 Underground: Bethnal Green Station 
(Central Line)

Are you a former health care professional who feels deskilled and wants a change? This training will help you to gain support and advocacy to move in this direction. Taught by Sondra Cuban, PhD, of Lancaster University, you will start a portfolio of hidden but important skills and knowledge about advancement and advocacy in the UK that aims at collective empowerment for students in social care.  The goals are:

• To become aware of global deskilling and transnational care of migrant health care professionals and identify ways that this phenomenon has affected the livelihood of yourself, family and community.
• Information sharing about international, national, and local organizations to assist you, with a guest speaker who can advise on nursing.
• To trace your professional journey and share your story in video format so as to build your presentation skills in a supportive environment and raise public awareness about the situation of many Filipino health care professionals in the UK so as to change common misperceptions.
• To develop greater support systems for advancement and self-determination for your rights as students and people.
• To gain greater assertiveness skills for dealing with agency staff, tutors, administrators, employers, clients and colleagues surrounding abuse and discrimination.

This workshop will involve stimulating activities and include a packet of information with worksheets, including a skills audit and union organizing for the development of your portfolio. Other ideas for future collaboration and actions will also be explored. Please bring some precious items, from your present and past life, including any poems, certificates, music, photos, etc.. to share.

As part of an Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) study, you will be paid £10 for your participation in the training, including, the completion of a short assessment on your experiences, and an additional £10 for a phone interview 3 months after the workshop is over. Video and consent forms will need to be completed at the beginning of the training.

For further information on the content of the training, please contact, Sondra Cuban at: s.cuban@lancaster.ac.uk or 07590698804. For administrative questions, consult Jamima Fagta at Kanlungan at: jfagta@googlemail.com or 07538797963

To download invitation, click here

Mr. Steve Symonds of ILPA gave a concise yet clear sharing on naturalisation provisions in the new act covering subjects on probationary citizenship; active citizenship, which could vary the length of the probationary period; and other new or amended requirements before a naturalisation application: absences in the UK, continuous employment, family association and qualifying leave.

Moreover, Symonds also stressed prospects to further influence how or whether to implement the Act, which is envisaged to be commenced by the UK Government in July 2011 with impending UK General Elections set next year playing a major factor. Meanwhile, UKBA released two online public consultations in relation to aspects of the naturalisation process, which we are all encouraged to respond:

1.Earning the right to stay: A new points test for citizenship http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/221878/earning-the-right-to-stay/
Responses due 26 October 2009

2.Charging for immigration and visa applications http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/221878/charging09/
Responses due 1 December 2009

During the open forum, students also posited queries on Tier 4 of the Points Based System and sponsorship licence. Over all, Kanlungan’s forum identified human rights issues of old and new migrants under the current trend of immigration policies.
 
The forum was attended by representatives from Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN), Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), Cordillera Student Association (CSA), Igorot UK, UNISON and member organisations of Kanlungan Alliance.
 
Full appended text of Steve Symonds’ lecture here.

Kanlungan’s Judicial Review for Senior Carers
Mr. Raman Purewal of Aston Brooke Solicitors, a law firm which Kanlungan has been working closely with on this endeavour, set out the background of the proposed group Judicial Review for Senior Care Workers (SCW’s).

He highlighted the ‘gaps’ incurred by SCW’s in their visas and work permits in applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain which are being used as basis of refusal by the UKBA. He stressed that these ‘gaps’ are a direct result of the changes made by policy changes of the UKBA and therefore not the fault of the SCW’s themselves.

Furthermore, Purewal put forward guidelines in determining gaps in SCW’s visa or working permit. Some SCW’s who were present had the chance to enquire firsthand about their respective cases.

If you are a Senior Care worker under work permit, please contact Kanlungan.

For full text of Kanlungan’s proposed Judicial Review, click here.

28 August 2009

Kanlungan, an alliance of Filipino migrant organisations in the United Kingdom, is set to file a legal challenge at the British High Court to obtain a definitive judicial ruling on the eligibility of overseas migrant workers applying for permanent settlement after five years of continuous stay in the UK.

The UK Border Agency has been refusing applications for indefinite leave to remain by senior care workers on the basis that there is a gap in their employment and stay in the UK. Benny Clutario, chair of Kanlungan, pointed out that the UK Border Agency should not be refusing these applications because the gaps were a direct result of retrospective changes in immigration rules between 2006 and 2008, and not because of any violation of immigration laws by migrant workers.

Kanlungan has as member organisations Bahay Kubo Housing Association, Lingap, Philippine Theatre UK, Kadamay UK and Migrante UK. It is seeking a judicial review on behalf of thousands of overseas senior care workers who have gaps in their visas. A judicial review is a type of court proceeding in the UK judicial system in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body.

In 2006, the UK government changed the requirement for applying for permanent settlement from four years to five years and applied this retrospectively to all migrants. Thousands of senior care workers were caught by this change and had to re-apply for an extension of their work permit and visa for at least another year.

In 2007, the UK government imposed new requirements for renewals of work permits and visas for senior care workers, requiring them to have skills and qualifications at National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 which is roughly equivalent to a university degree and a minimum salary of £7.02 per hour. As a result, over 3,500 work permits of senior care workers were not renewed.

The new rules were challenged by Kanlungan and other migrant organisations and trade unions in Britain. So in 2008, the UK Border Agency issued transitional measures. The following concessions were granted:

* Those senior care workers who had their work permits approved prior to 31 December 2003, and who remained with the same employer for their existing work permit, would be granted an exceptional extension for a maximum of 12 months, provided the permit holder had not left the United Kingdom. The skills criteria and the required salary of £7.02 would be waived.
* Those who had arrived in the UK after 31 December 2003 (and who had not left the UK), would only have the skills criteria waived. Work permit renewals with the same employer or with a new employer would still require that the employer pay them £7.02 per hour.
* In March 2008, the government gave further concessions for those who had lost their jobs, their work permits and their leave to remain due to the rule changes. They issued guidelines allowing them to apply for a new work permit, with employers paying £7.02 per hour, as long as the application was made within six months of the date they lost their right to remain in the UK.

Many senior care workers, with gaps in their visas within their five years of stay in the UK, have tried to apply for indefinite leave to remain. However, they have been refused by the Home Office and were told that they should fill the gaps in their visas and re-apply when these gaps have been completed. Then again, there are some who until now have not managed to get new employers willing to pay them £7.02 an hour and who are therefore, now here as undocumented migrants.

Clutario said: “When migrants lose their visas, this does not automatically result in all these workers leaving the country. It almost certainly translates into a significant number of workers staying in the UK as undocumented migrants. Sadly, they become undocumented not by choice but because of misguided policies and mismanaged immigration.”

Kanlungan called on senior care workers who have experienced gaps in their visas due to changes in immigration rules to come forward and provide evidence. “The more senior carers involved in this legal action, the better the chance for success,” Clutario stressed.