Will a Prison Sentence Break Your ‘Continuous Residence’ in the UK?

In the recent case Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) v Franco Vomero (Italy) (Respondent), the respondent Mr Vomero, who is an Italian national, moved to the UK with his future wife, a UK national, in 1985. In 2001 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for manslaughter and was released in July 2006. On 23 March 2007 the Home Secretary decided to deport him under regulations 19(3)(b) and 21 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, which permitted the Home Secretary to deport a national of another member state where the removal was justified on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health. Regulation 21 gives effect to articles 27 and 28 of Directive 2004/38/EC (“Directive”).

In October 2007, the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal (“IAT”) dismissed Mr Vomero’s appeal against the deportation decision. A Senior Immigration Judge then ordered that the IAT’s determination be reconsidered. On reconsideration, the IAT allowed Mr Vomero’s appeal, and this decision was in turn appealed to the Court of Appeal by the Home Secretary. The Court of Appeal dismissed the Home Secretary’s appeal against the second IAT determination which resulted in the case being appealed up to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal and concluded that it would be necessary for the tribunal, on remittal, to consider not only whether Mr Vomero has acquired a right of permanent residence since the date of the decision to deport him, but also whether there still existed “grounds of public policy or public security” within the meaning of article 28(1) of the Directive on the basis of which his expulsion could be justified. We now wait to see, therefore, whether the court will consider the period of imprisonment for more than two years which Mr Vomero had undergone by 30 April 2006 as preventing him from acquiring a right of permanent residence on that date and whether a prison sentence would break ‘continuous residence’ in the UK.

Read more: Gherson Immigration, https://is.gd/H3JfUg