Make a referral
Make a referral
1. Who can make a referral?
Social Workers Without Borders provides independent social work reports (ISWRs) as expert evidence for immigration applications and appeals.
This form is for instructed immigration legal representatives (solicitors and IAA regulated caseworkers).
If you are not a legal representative and want to make an enquiry, either for yourself or on behalf of someone else, please email us at: iswr@socialworkerswithoutborders.org.
Please note that we do not accept instructions for independent age assessments or for evidence for the family courts.
2. Our process
Social Workers Without Borders is a national network of social workers. Our reports are produced by volunteers and staff who are qualified and registered social workers. Two social workers (or one lead social worker and a social work student) will conduct the assessment and one of our experienced case coordinators will supervise and review the assessment.
Our social workers will conduct interviews with the people involved in the assessment and review the relevant supporting evidence. Where appropriate, the social worker may ask to contact other professionals and the wider family/social network who are involved with the client.
We usually ask that you allow six weeks for the draft assessment to be completed, and a further two weeks for the social worker to review any comments and finalise the report.
In addition to providing an independent expert report, if we identify an unmet need we will endeavour to signpost to appropriate services. If there is a safeguarding concern, we will follow our safeguarding procedures.
3. Our fees
If we accept a referral and a client does not have funding from the Legal Aid Agency then we are able to provide an independent social work report on a pro bono basis. If a person has access to funding from the Legal Aid Agency then we will quote and charge a fee for the report based on agreed Legal Aid rates for social work evidence.
4. What we will need if the referral is accepted
Please refer to ‘Practice Direction of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal’ for guidance on the duties of an expert witness. To comply with the Practice Directions and to enable us to prepare a concise but comprehensive report, we will need the following documentation before we can proceed with an assessment:
- Letter of authority or equivalent form confirming consent to act for and share client information.
- The evidential documents which will be placed before the decision-maker. For example all witness statements and supporting letters, any reports or documents detailing physical and mental health needs & treatment, details/records of services accessed by the client, including Children’s Services; reports from education providers etc.
- Letter of instruction (LOI) that covers:
a summary of relevant background information, including a chronology of key events and details of the client’s immigration status and history;
an accurate list of the documents enclosed in the bundle;
an outline of the basis of the application/appeal and any disputed issues;
a concise list of questions for the expert to address.
Any delay in receiving the documentation will likely cause delays in completing our report.
Where a LOI asks for an assessment of issues that fall outside the scope of social work expertise, we will ask for the LOI to be amended. As per the Practice Directions, the LOI (and any amendments to the instructions) will be included in our report.
I just wanted to tell you that my family arrived in UK on Monday. I’m very happy and thank God. Thank you for your help and time what you done for me I will never forget my whole life and I’m grateful for that.
The report has been submitted to the Tribunal, and I just want to thank you as it’s absolutely brilliant…There were a few excellent points that I hadn’t thought of, so thank you very much for picking up on that.
SWWB worked on the case of a client who had been in the UK without legal status for over 30 years, and who was the single parent of a young British child. Our client was living with a deportation order, which meant she could not make a successful application for leave to remain in the UK as it would be certain to fail … I have no doubt at all that we would not have secured this outcome for our client were it not for SWWB. Our client can now live legally in the UK for the first time in 3 decades. She and her child can remain in the place where they are without fear of her being detained and deported.
I have instructed SWWB on several occasions for cases concerning age disputed children. Whilst these children are wrongly treated as adults they are at significant risk in adult accommodation. An independent social work report is a vital piece of evidence and helps persuade the Local Authority to go and meet the child and properly assess them, and then make a decision about their age. This then results in the Local Authority accepting that they have a duty of care to them as a child and providing them with appropriate accommodation and services
I have considered her report and her responses to questions in oral evidence. I find that she does have relevant expertise to comment upon the relationship between the Appellant and his children and relevant expertise in eliciting the needs and wishes of the children … I found Ms X to be a balanced and fair witness. She understood her duties to the court and sets out clearly in her report factors which she cannot comment upon … I accept her evidence that the Appellant had a good relationship with his children and that he had been a significant source of emotional support…
One of the projects we work with is assisting refugees to apply for family reunion for their family members to join them in the UK. The support of Social Workers Without Borders has been vital for us, especially evidencing complex family reunion applications, such as with siblings. The reports are incredibly valuable as they are able to capture the views of the child and the family, and what is in their best interests. Being able to present these strong and independent reports to the tribunal, and to the Home Office, can be the difference between a case succeeding and a case failing
The majority of our clients are undocumented migrants who are homeless , destitute and often rough sleepers. The main types of applications made to the Home Office to regularise their immigration status are based on their poor health and their private and family life. I have instructed SWWB with a few cases for adults with very complex mental health problems including learning difficulties and Psychosis. Reports by SWWB have been an integral part of an application to the Home Office as it helped to prove that a client meets the legal requirements of the immigration rules. It provides an assessment of the client’s social circumstances by covering the private life in the UK and obstacles they will face if removed from the UK. This is often difficult to evidence and a report by an independent social worker has often been key in deciding whether someone should be allowed to remain in the UK because of their human rights.