Family Returns Process
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Families with minor children who have no leave to remain in the UK are now managed by the Home Office under the Family Return Process (FRP) [1]. The FRP was introduced following the Coalition government’s commitment in 2010 to cease the detention of children for immigration purposes. Minor children are still detained and forcibly removed from the UK, but the Family Return Process only allows for the detention of children up to a maximum of seven days at any one time (and 24 hours for unaccompanied children), and the number of children detained has gone down significantly since the introduction of these reforms (see also People considered unsuitable for detention).
The Family Returns Process offers families the chance to leave the UK on a voluntary basis in the early stage of the process. If voluntary options are not taken up the process becomes progressively more coercive (‘assisted return’ is superseded by ‘required return’ and finally by ‘ensured return’). Detention of children must be authorised by the Home Office Independent Family Returns Panel after welfare considerations are taken into account. However, this would not be the case under the Illegal Migration Act 2023 if further provisions - which disapply the duty to consult the family returns panel - come into force.
Families with minor children detained prior to removal are now detained only at a discrete facility for families at Tinsley House, and then only for a maximum of seven days. Most visitors are therefore unlikely to meet detained parents and their minor children during any detained element of the Family Returns Process. Families going through the Family Returns Process will require immigration legal advice from a solicitor or Level 3 IAA advisor.
Family returns process, version 7.0, November 2023:
Evaluation of the new family return process, December 2013:
