The Immigration Advisory Service was a British charity, in existence from 1993 until 2011. It was a UK organisation registered as a charity, providing direct

legal assistance Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right t ...

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

s and others needing advice and guidance around

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

immigration law Immigration law includes the national statutes, Primary and secondary legislation, regulations, and Precedent, legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as ...

. Founded in 1993, it closed after going into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

on 8 July 2011. It was formed out of the former United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service. It was a nationwide charity with many offices throughout the UK. It derived its funding through

donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...

as well as case funding from

Legal Aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...

, which was

means test A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government benefits, assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do with less or none of that help. Means testing is ...

ed. 2008 was a particularly good year for the IAS. IAS lawyers succeeded in winning a number of high-profile and far-reaching cases before the

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) was a tribunal constituted in the United Kingdom with jurisdiction to hear appeals from many immigration and asylum decisions. It was created on 4 April 2005, replacing the former Immigration Appellate A ...

and higher courts. Kalvir Kaur of the IAS won the 2008 Immigration Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award for her work with

unaccompanied minor An unaccompanied minor (sometimes "unaccompanied child" or "separated child") is a child without the presence of a legal guardian. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child defines unaccompanied minors and unaccompanied children as those "who ...

s and victims of

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

. As of 8 July 2011 IAS went into administration, blaming government changes to

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...

. The

Legal Services Commission The Legal Services Commission (LSC) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom), Ministry of Justice which was responsible for the operational administration of legal aid in England and Wales between ...

said "During recent stewardship activities the LSC raised concerns around financial management and claims irregularities, which prompted IAS trustees to conclude that the organisation was no longer financially viable". Major changes in legal aid for refugees and asylum seekers were made in 2007 and 2010.

References

Refugee aid organisations in the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom Companies of Gibraltar {{charity-stub