Immigration Penalty Notices
Immigration Penalty Notices – what to do
Contact us as soon as possible
If you find yourself in a situation where the UK Border Agency comes to your premises in relation to possible illegal workers, you can telephone us for advice. To contact us please telephone our switchboard on 0208 520 4555 and ask for either Mr Christopher Timms or Miss Yoko Daito. If you need to speak to us out of office hours please telephone 07505 193399.
If you are served with a penalty notice
If a penalty notice or notices are served on you, we can provide advice to you in relation to either an internal appeal to the Border Agency or an appeal to the County Court. An appeal may be particularly appropriate if the employer has received more than one penalty notice, i.e. it has employed more than one illegal worker, since the maximum penalty is £10,000 for each illegal worker.
The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, which came into effect on 1st March 2008, allows the UK Border Agency to issue penalty notices against employers who employ a person in breach of immigration law. The maximum penalty for an employer is £10,000 for each illegal worker. The most famous example of the imposition of a penalty notice is that issued against Baroness Scotland, who was the Attorney General under the last Labour Government when the Notice was issued against her.
Appealing against a notice
The Act allows an employer who has received a penalty notice to object to the penalty by way of an internal review and it also provides for an appeal to the County Court. The appeal to the County Court is the only way to challenge the penalty notice in law.
Appealing a civil penalty, such as one imposed under the 2006 Act, is not an appeal against a judicial decision and as a consequence many of the procedural difficulties in appealing through the courts system do not apply. Effectively, employers who appeal against the imposition of a penalty notice have the right to a full trial of the matters which led to the issue of the penalty notice. The Court will if necessary hear evidence and reach its own decision independently of the decision by the UK Border Agency to impose the penalty.
Appeals against penalty notices can be successful, and even if unsuccessful, the Courts have been known to reduce significantly the penalties which have been imposed.
We will endeavour to come to see clients within a twenty mile radius of our premises. We will not charge for travelling time. We charge at the rate of £150 per hour plus VAT for providing advice in relation to penalty notices and challenging these.
Contact us
To contact us please telephone our switchboard on 0208 520 4555 and ask for either Mr Christopher Timms or Miss Yoko Daito. If you need to speak to us out of office hours please telephone 07505 193399.
