Please note, we have now a direct referral route to the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) and Asylum Support Housing Advice (ASHA).

This information is accurate as of 1st January 2021. We will be updating this information as it becomes available.

Who falls within the Windrush category

The ‘Windrush scheme’ applies to:

For those in the UK

  • Commonwealth citizen who was either settled in the UK before 1 January 1973 and has been continuously resident in the UK since their arrival or has the Right of Abode. Will be entitled to free British nationality or a permanent status card. Can only be refused British nationality if they have a criminal record.
  • Commonwealth citizen who was settled in the UK before 1 January 1973, whose settled status lapsed because they left the UK for a period of more than 2 years, and who is now lawfully in the UK and who has strong ties to the UK. Will be entitled to free British nationality or a permanent stay card. Can be refused either if they have a criminal record and can be refused British nationality if they have not been in the UK for the previous 5 years or have not passed the English Life in the UK test or the language test.
  • A child of a Commonwealth citizen parent, where the child was born in the UK or arrived in the UK before the age of 18, and has been continuously resident in the UK since their birth or arrival, and the parent was settled before 1 January 1973 or has the Right of Abode (or met these criteria but is now a British Citizen). Will be entitled to free British nationality or a permanent stay residence card. Can be refused either if they have a criminal record and can be refused British nationality if they have not been in the UK for the previous 5 years.
  • A person of any nationality, who arrived in the UK before 31 December 1988 and is settled in the UK. Is entitled to a free permanent residence card.

For those outside the UK

Commonwealth citizen who was settled in the UK before 1 January 1973 but who does not have a document confirming their Right of Abode or settled status, or whose settled status has lapsed because they left the UK for a period of more than 2 years. Is entitled to a free settlement visa if they have been abroad for less than 2 years, is entitled to a free settlement visa if they have been abroad for over 2 years and there are good reasons for this absence, will be entitled to free nationality after 5 years in the UK once they have passed the life in the UK and English language tests.

Commonwealth citizens means citizens of the following countries:

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Canada, Cayman Island, Cyprus (excluding the Sovereign base areas), Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Monserrat, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Zambia. Zimbabwe

Windrush scheme application form

An application under the Windrush Scheme must be made on the relevant form on GOV.UK – the “Windrush Scheme application (UK)” for applicants living in the UK or the” Windrush Scheme application (Overseas)” for applicants living outside the UK.

For those in the UK the form is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-scheme-application-form-uk

or you can contact the Windrush team on commonwealthtaskforce@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0800 678 1925
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 3pm

If you’re outside the UK

You must apply using an online form.

The Home Office have said that the information provided in not going to be sent to their ‘removals’ team.

no justice for the windrush generation no peace for the government photo
Demonstration in solidarity with the Windrush generation, April 2018. Photo credit: Steve Eason, Flickr.
Photo of a demonstration in London in which a protester holds a colourful yellow banner reading "Solidarity with Windrush".
Demonstration in solidarity with Windrush migrants, May 2018. Photo credit: Steve Eason, Flickr.

Compensation

The government has said that it will compensate those ‘who have suffered loss’ and set up a scheme to do this.

They set up a scheme to do this on the 3rd April 2019 with the deadline for making applications being the 2nd April 2023.

The scheme was modified on the 14th December 2020 after criticism of the operation of the scheme and, in particular, the low levels of compensation being offered. For example only 226 people received compensation under the scheme in the first 18 months of its operation with an average payment of £10000 per person. 226 people represents only 3.5% of the number of people affected by the Windrush scandal.

In addition to the person affected you can also apply if you are:

  • the close family member of someone eligible to claim and you have had significant losses yourself
  • representing the estate of someone who would have been eligible

The new compensation scheme

The new scheme, in line with the previous scheme, restricts the amount you can get in certain set circumstances. You have to prove that the loss occurred directly because of not being able to prove status. You also have to show that you made reasonable attempts to obtain status. Compensation is also reduced or refused if a person has been sentenced to over 4 years in prison.

The general awards are:-

  • A person who has been deported is entitled to £10000.
  • A person who has been detained gets £500 an hour for the first 3 hours detention (not counting the first 30 minutes), £300 an hour for the next 6 hours, £100 per hour for the next period of detention ( upto 24 hours)
  • If the detention last for more than a day, the person gets £500 a day for the first 30 days, £300 per day for the next 60 days and £100 per day for any further period of detention.
  • For loss of employment or inability to get employment, you get the amount you lost, or £1147 a month if the loss can’t be quantified.
  • A person who made an unsuccessful application for permanent residence or British nationality gets the cost of the application plus a maximum of £500 in legal fees paid out.
  • A person who was refused Child Benefit, Child Tax credit or Working tax credit and has not received money from the Department of Works and Pension gets £1264 for Child Benefits no-payment, £2500 for child tax credit non-payment and £1100 for Working Tax Credit non-payment.
  • A person can also get compensation for a denial of access to housing services (£1000), a denial of access to free NHS care (£500), reimbursement of private medical fees, a denial of access to higher education as a home student (£500), reimbursement of international student fees, a denial of access to banking services (£200) or reimbursement of banking fees
  • A person can also the get £250 a month for a period when they were homeless up to a maximum of £25000, but homeless means rough sleeping; staying temporarily in a hostel, night shelter or bed and breakfast; staying temporarily in other accommodation with poor conditions that adversely impacted their health; or squatting.

The major change in the new scheme

The above amounts were already set in the old scheme and they have not changed.

Under the new scheme though they have substantially increased the amounts they are providing for the general problems that people faced, i.e.

  • Inconvenience
  • injury to feelings including anxiety, distress and reputational damage
  • family separation
  • immigration difficulties when attempting to return to the United Kingdom following a trip abroad
  • inability to attend significant family occasions, celebrations and events
  • impacts relating to a deterioration in physical or mental health such as pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

If you need further help:

Contact Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU)

Phone 0161 7407722 or email referral@gmiau.org for enquiries about representation.

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