IS81 and removal on voluntary basis

[SpokenHands]

I am writing to seek expert guidance on a very difficult ordeal a friend of mine has been put through:

He is permanently resident in Germany but with an Indian passport, has just had a terrible ordeal with the UK Visa & Immigration Agency at Gatwick. On arrival, he met a very rude ECO at the desk who then proceeded to tell him that he had breached the terms of his short stay business visa; and following two separate interviews, a full search of his luggage and person, and being finger-printed/photographed and his passport annotated with IS81 clauses; allowed to voluntarily return to Germany at his request with escorts to the aircraft.

He is now of course pursuing this robustly via an Immigration Law Firm in the UK, and through a letter of complaint to the UK High Commission in Germany (with CC to the Indian High Commission); as this is clearly a case of abuse of power, poor application of process, and has severe implications on his personal and professional reputation; not to mention the distress caused by the removal/detention process which was aggressive and impersonal.

For context: the gentleman is a serial entrepreneur and business consultant, travels extensively on business within and outside the EU, is independently wealthy (annual income in excess of £250,000 a year) and substantial assets in Germany. He has an Indian passport, but is married to a German citizen and has a family there. He has never had any trouble with the law or immigration officials at any time

In this instance: The ECO believed that the gentleman was in breach of his short stay business visa conditions because he was working in the UK. This was vigorously denied based on the following facts (1) He does not have a UK dwelling, or a UK bank account, is not ordinarily resident in the UK for domicile or tax purposes (2) He does not have a UK contract of work; and his current meeting for which he was intending to stay 3 days was to discuss progress on a project which was entirely undertaken by him in his home country, Germany. He visits on average every 4-6 weeks for 1-2 days at a time for scheduled meetings to discuss progress and take guidance. (3)

He did not obstruct the work or enquiries of the ECO in any way, in fact he readily provided evidence of material facts including the Scope of Work with his UK stakeholder which clearly corroborated that all work was carried out in Germany. I believe the ECO also spoke to the client who confirmed this.

His business visa has NOT been cancelled. He was specifically told he is free to return to the UK - there is no exclusionary order or one-year ban etc on the system. He chooses not to return until the matter is sorted out but is concerned if he now faces issues or embarassment on tracel to US or Schengen states

The ECO made a number of self-implicating comments in the interview room that may be recorded. As facts began to emerge in the 2nd detailed interview that made the ECOs case weak, he began to back-track and said "he is not sure how these issues can be interpreted" and seem visibly relieved when my friend offered to return to Germany on a voluntary basis. The ECO was increasingly apologetic and sympathetic in tone and manner while the day wore on. He said "why dont you just travel on a German passport, finish this Indian passport, makes it easier."

The ECO appeared to be of British-Pakistani ethnicity from his name badge.


My friend's intention is to:
1. Get the UK Visa and Immigration service to reflect on this case; and provide clear explanations for why they proceeded with this extreme form of removal when facts came to light, and why Temporary Admission was not granted while the matter was being considered.
2. Get the UK Visa and Immigration to admit its error in applying the law formally, in particular relating to the decision to detain, finger-print and remove him under escort (even when he offered to leave voluntarily until the matter was resolved).
3. Cancel the adverse annotation on his passport that has significant implications on all following visa applications that he may make
4. Make a Subject Access Request to see the available information they have retained on him
5. Ensure that the biometric records captured on the system are deleted, and not shared with USA or Schengen SIS in a way that could cause delay, embarrassment or issues in all forthcoming travel
6. At a later date, when 1-4 above are achieved satisfactorially, make a case for financial compensation for costs arising out of clearing his name and reputation, namely legal fees and lost contracts.


I am requesting any thoughts or guidance you may have:
1. Do the experts here have a view or suggestions on what remedies are available to him? What should he do? What should he absolutely not do?
2. Is there anything that he should consider doing that he may not have thought about?
3. What are the ongoing implications of having an IS81 annotation stamped on passport? Can these be formally cancelled or removed - especially when this was due to a procedural or discretionary error?
4. Do you anticipate any issues travelling to the US or other Schengen States?
5. Can biometric records be removed from UK and SIS and other databses?
6. Is the IS81 a criminal record? I understand it is merely a detention order but i may be incorrect?

I am not sure if there are other cases such as this. I am used to hearing stories of the dirty tricks in the UK Visa and Immigration service, which is a great disappointment to the many law-abiding migrants, business people and students who choose to visit the UK.

Any suggestions or guidance highly appreciated and gratefully received, on behalf of my friend.

Thank you

[SpokenHands]

Absolutely no comments or observations?

[Wanderer]

AIUI IS81 is visa suspension pending further investigation.

On Business visa it's ok to attend meeting etc, but not engage in productive work, guess the IO must have had suspicions/found something to indicate productive work was being/had been sought and referred it to the higher ups.

Guess we'll never know since the OP himself is not posting, so we can only wait.

As for compensation, you'd have to prove material loss and that the IO was acting outside of his powers, no easy task.....

[SpokenHands]

Thank you for your thoughts.

The IO had no grounds and did not find any material (as there wasn't any to find) after two interviews, speaking to the client and searching his bags and person. On removal, My friend was told his visa continues to be valid explicitly when he asked. But he does not intend to visit the UK until the matter is sorted out.

I guess my original queries remain:
1. Do the experts here have a view or suggestions on what remedies are available to him? What should he do? What should he absolutely not do?
2. Is there anything that he should consider doing that he may not have thought about?
3. What are the ongoing implications of having an IS81 annotation stamped on passport? Can these be formally cancelled or removed - especially when this was due to a procedural or discretionary error?
4. Do you anticipate any issues travelling to the US or other Schengen States?
5. Can biometric records be removed from UK and SIS and other databases?
6. Is the IS81 a criminal record? I understand it is merely a detention order but i may be incorrect?

Thanks all for your thoughts.