The Immigration Family Reunion Clinic is run by law students at the University of Derby, who under the supervision of legal professionals, provide free legal advice in regard to family reunion applications to refugees in the area who may not be able to access it otherwise. The purpose of this collaboration is to target those refugees who would not be eligible to receive legal aid funding, but do not have the funds to seek legal assistance, and so, in ‘normal’ circumstances go without.
The students at the University of Derby meet with refugees and assess whether they would be eligible to sponsor family members to the UK under the Family Reunion Immigration Rules. During this assessment the students gather a range of information which is passed on to our immigration solicitors and lawyers who assess whether the client’s family members who are outside of the UK would be eligible to join the client in the UK under the Family Reunion Immigration Rules. The students at the University of Derby then communicate the advice to the clients, and depending on the outcome, the students will start to assist the client to apply for Exceptional Case Funding from the Legal Aid Agency. This is an application for legal aid funding which is determined by the client’s eligibility against a set of means and merits criteria. If the application is successful and legal aid funding goes ahead, then a referral can be made to Paragon Law or to another immigration law firm who can undertake legal aid work to take conduct of the family reunion application.