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The Ethnic Minorities Law Centre (EMLC) provides legal advice and representation to individuals from Scotland’s Minority Ethnic communities, as well as training and second-tier advice to Citizens Advice Bureaux and other advice agencies across the country, and focuses on providing bilingual and culturally sensitive service.

We operate out of office in Glasgow as well as having a number of projects which extend our services to individuals living in 11 local authority areas stretching across the country.

Our specialist areas of law:

Asylum, Refugee and Human Rights
Immigration and Nationality
Employment
Discrimination
Criminal Injuries Compensation

In addition to casework for clients and training for advice agencies in our specialist areas of law, we also operate telephone advice lines, awareness-raising sessions and workshops for young people.

Our Advice Line times are as follows

Glasgow Office – 0141 204 2888
Monday – Friday 9:30am – 10:30am

For more information on all the services we provide and how to contact us, please use the drop-down menus above and visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

Case Study of Ms X
Ms X was a Nigerian national who came to the UK in 2001. Since entering the UK she had applied for leave to remain, a residence card as the family member of an EEA national and for asylum. All of those applications had been refused. The client had two children and sought our assistance as her most recent application for leave to remain based on her private and family life had also been refused. The reasons for refusal were as follows:
- The Appellant did not qualify for leave to remain under the parent route;
- The Appellant did not qualify for leave to remain under the private life route;
- There were no exceptional circumstances in her case.
We assisted the client by preparing submissions which challenged each of the reasons for refusal. We submitted that the Respondent had failed to apply the parent route provisions correctly when determining Ms X’s application and we advanced submissions which showed how she did in fact meet them. We also drew special attention to her medical issues and obtained a GP’s report evidencing her health conditions. We also presented previously decided cases which provided the tests for determining an applicant’s claim and other cases which supported Ms X’s position.

The client’s appeal was granted.
Case Study of Mr BD
We met with Mr BD noting that he was a national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He originally lived in a conflict area in DRC and he fled due to fears for his safety. He entered the UK as a Tier 2 Dependant of his wife and claimed asylum upon arrival. His asylum claim was refused however allowed on appeal. Mr BD was granted refugee status in the UK for 5 years. We assisted Mr BD and to apply for a Travel Document. Mr BD was now seeking to sponsor his four children from DRC under Family Reunion rules.

We met with Mr BD and gave him detailed advice on the requirements for family reunion and advised him on the supporting documents required. We assisted him to translate his children’s birth certificates from French to English. We also met with him to review his documents and draft a sponsorship declaration. We also advised Mr BD about completing the online application process in order to submit the family reunion application.

Mr BD’s family members submitted the application for family reunion however the applications were unsuccessful. The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) was not satisfied that the birth certificates provided were contemporaneous and in the absence of other evidence the ECO was not satisfied that the relationships were as claimed.

We met with Mr BD and drafted a further sponsorship declaration which explained that Mr BD’s childrens’ original birth certificates were destroyed when their house was broken into and the birth certificates provided were extracts of the originals. We also encouraged Mr BD to obtain further evidence of his relationship with his children such as photographs of the family members together. We stressed the urgency of the case and advised Mr BD and his family members to re-submit an application for entry clearance under family reunion.

The ECO accepted the applicants’ explanation and additional evidence and allowed Mr BD’s four children to join him in the UK. The family is enjoying a vibrant family life together and are free from the violence and persecution which threatened their livelihoods.
Case Study of Mr DUSuccessful Decision
We met with Mr DU who was anxious and stressed after applications for him and his wife for permanent residence in the UK were refused.

He was seeking our advice on obtaining ILR for him and his family. He had applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) without legal representation however his applications were refused with no right of appeal. The reason for refusal stated that he did not meet the length of residence requirements.

We reviewed his case and made submissions to the HO Litigation department. We argued that Mr DU did meet the length of residence requirements because his leave had been extended whilst his application and appeals were under consideration.

The Home Office Litigation department accepted that the matter was appealable and they provided an appeal right. We assisted Mr DU to lodge an appeal to the immigration tribunal. We obtained an expert legal opinion from the Faculty of Advocates which supported our case. The matter was heard before the Immigration Tribunal and we attended on behalf of Mr DU.

The Judge accepted the submissions we made on behalf of Mr DU and allowed his appeal.

Mr DU feels happy that as a settled citizen he and his children will have rights equal to British citizens in the UK. He previously felt that they could not afford the cost of overseas tuition fees to pay for their daughter to attend University. Now he feels that his daughter can fulfil her ambition of becoming a doctor in the UK.

The family feel relieved and excited about their futures in the UK now that their immigration status is settled.

Immigration/Asylum Specialists

Employment Law

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Our Advice Line times are as follows