# Confused about EU Citizen Deportation - please help



## sf_267 (May 16, 2012)

Hi,

Apologies if this is not the right place to ask this question or in the right area of this forum.

I have a question about deportation from the UK. A friend of mine is from Romania and is currently serving a 16month sentence in a UK prison for some sort of credit card fraud she commited here along with some other co-defendants. She was on remand and was sentenced a few weeks ago. She now only needs to serve another 8 weeks before release. I'm not sure of the exact charges at this stage. Also, I don't think the judge mentioned anything around deportation at the sentencing hearing.

She is worried that she will get deported and her lawyer is not being very helpful in his advice to her. From the little research I have done, there is a lot of contradiciting information online around the deportation of EU citizens from the UK. I was wondering if someone could please clarify if she is likely to get deported.

Sorry for the lack of information, but this is all I know at this stage. Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
S.


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## manny.j (Dec 4, 2011)

It probably all comes down to the type of visa she has that will determine whether she is deported or not.


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## sf_267 (May 16, 2012)

Manny - you're entitled to your own opinions and I actually agree, but I am actually asking for advice rather than opionated posts and so your feedback is absolutely irrelevant.


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## manny.j (Dec 4, 2011)

sf_267 said:


> Manny - you're entitled to your own opinions and I actually agree, but I am actually asking for advice rather than opionated posts and so your feedback is absolutely irrelevant.


Indeed its my opinion and it is your opinion that consider my feedback irrelevant. There should be no place in the UK for criminal immigrants; she should have thought of these concerns before committing fraud. 

I guess I find this particularly frustrating as it is people with criminal and fraud mentality that has contributed significantly in strict immigration rules which has made it challenging for most of the innocent people gaining right to live in the United Kingdom lawfully.


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## sf_267 (May 16, 2012)

Your feedback is irrelvant - fact not opinion. I asked for advice around the liklihood of her getting deported and not what you think about the situation.


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## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

Google is your friend; I used the search term 'will an eu citizen be deported from uk after release from prison'

Deportation from the UK - About Immigration

I don't know much about the site, but the information I read on the page I linked is the same as the info I've read all over, including this part, which I've read on the UKBA site in the Rules section:



> A foreign national may be made the subject of a deportation order for a number of reasons. These include:
> The Secretary of State believes that is in the interests of the public good that the foreign national is removed from the UK;
> The foreign national is the spouse, civil partner or child of an individual who is the subject of a deportation order; or,
> The foreign national is over 17 years old, has been convicted of a criminal offence which carries with it a prison sentence and the court which sentenced the foreign national recommended that he be deported once he has served his sentence.


Because the prison is supposed to notify UKBA when a foreign national is about to be released from prison, the onus is on the UKBA to make a deportation order. There is a distinction between 'foreign national', and 'European citizen'-if the prison sentence was over a year for a 'foreign national' and two years for a 'European citizen', so your friend might slide on this one. Might.

To be honest, in this economy, I can't see anyone looking with much compassion on a foreign national who was sentenced to over a year in prison for credit card fraud. If I were your friend, I would get things in order and be prepared to leave the UK once released from prison and given whatever clearance to depart is required after a criminal offense.

ETA: When I use the word compassion above, I mean a judge or immigration officer. They alone have the 'right' to be compassionate in deportation cases per UKBA guidelines posted on the UKBA site. As in the info on the link I posted, they can and will look at all factors (including children, ties to the UK, etc), but I wouldn;t hope for much from the authorities in these times. Money is very tight and your friend stole money, and reputation through credit rating affect on the person or persons against whom she committed the fraud/frauds. This is not an opinion, actually, this is based on watching legal precedent having been established in previous cases.


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## sf_267 (May 16, 2012)

AnAmericanInScotland said:


> Google is your friend; I used the search term 'will an eu citizen be deported from uk after release from prison'
> 
> I don't know much about the site, but the information I read on the page I linked is the same as the info I've read all over, including this part, which I've read on the UKBA site in the Rules section:
> 
> ...



Yes, I came across this information too and came to pretty much the same conclusion you have above. It's just that, some other sites claim slightly different laws so it's all very confusing.

Thank you for your help anyway - much appreciated.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

sf_267 said:


> Your feedback is irrelvant - fact not opinion. I asked for advice around the liklihood of her getting deported and not what you think about the situation.


 If you want factual information then you need to speak to a lawyer or contact the correct agencies

Jo


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

I think it would be difficult to predict what the final outcome of your friends jail sentence would be, as the rules are changing at present to tighten up immigration, the Uk just has not got the jobs or resources anymore. It would like Manny suggested depend on what state or type her visa application was at the time she committed the crime, and this would be taken into account by the Prison authorities and the UKBA when she comes nearer to being released. I don't know or want to know any details of her crime, nor do I know what the new rules will be, except they will be tighter,
And I am pleased about that! To give honest law abiding people the right to live in the Uk.
I don't think anyone can even guess what might happen, to give you a fair answer.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

sf_267 said:


> Yes, I came across this information too and came to pretty much the same conclusion you have above. It's just that, some other sites claim slightly different laws so it's all very confusing.
> 
> Thank you for your help anyway - much appreciated.


It's not a straightforward yes or no question. Your friend can be deported or will not. There is no simple rule to decide that.

Only British citizens or those with right of abode are immune from deportation. Anyone else can be deported for a variety of reasons, be they EU/EEA citizen, on ILR, married to a British citizen etc. 

Any non-British citizen can be deported for a variety of reasons. For EEA national, the Home Secretary can only deport on the grounds of conducive to the public good, for public safety or public health reasons. Unless a court has recommended deportation, it's unusual for Home Secretary to initiate deportation, unless there is overwhelming public need. 

People like gangs of pickpockets from Eastern Europe have been routinely deported on the ground of being conducive to the public good.


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