Guidance

Victims of crimes committed by non-British citizens (foreign nationals)

Updated 1 December 2023

1. Introduction

The Home Office, working in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, is committed to ensuring that all victims of crime receive the support and information that they are entitled to. If you are a victim of a foreign national offender (FNO), this leaflet is a general guide to what you can expect to happen to them, and the service you can expect from the Home Office.

All foreign nationals who receive a custodial sentence in the UK are referred to the Home Office by prisons for consideration of deportation or removal. We also receive referrals from the police, other law enforcement bodies and the security agencies.

2. Legal framework for deporting foreign nationals

Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for removal at the earliest opportunity.

For non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals or European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss citizens and their family members, who are protected by the EU Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 whose offending behaviour occurred after 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020, deportation will be pursued when an individual has received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, has committed an offence that caused serious harm, or is a persistent offender.

European Economic Area (EEA) nationals whose offending behaviour occurred before 23:00 GMT on 31 December considered for deportation in accordance with European Union (EU) law on the grounds of public policy or public security. 

European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss citizens and their family members, who are protected by the EU Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 are considered for deportation on public policy, public security or public health grounds where it concerns conduct (including any criminal convictions relating to it) committed on or before 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020.

2.1 What happens once a decision has been made to take deportation action

When the FNO has received a notice of deportation, they may raise a protection or human rights claim. If this claim is refused, they may then have the right to appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). If an FNO chooses to appeal, then they would not usually be deported until the outcome of the appeal is known.

FNOs can be deported at different stages of their prison sentence under schemes such as the Early Removal Scheme or Prisoner Transfer Agreements. Many FNOs are deported directly from prison.

2.2 Barriers to removal

There may be reasons why the offender cannot be deported. For example, their criminality may not meet the deportation threshold, or deporting them may breach the UK’s international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or the United Nations Refugee Convention. This means that the FNO may have refugee status or has a human rights claim under the ECHR.

There can be other barriers to removal such as extradition requests, appeals against the deportation, and human trafficking claims.

2.3 Immigration Detention and Bail

If deportation arrangements (including obtaining a travel document for the offender) are not completed by the end of the offender’s sentence, the Home Office considers each case to determine whether we can detain under immigration powers. Detention under immigration powers can only be used where it is assessed that the offender will be deported within a reasonable timeframe.

If the Home Office does detain an FNO under immigration powers at the end of their custodial sentence, the FNO has the right to apply for bail to the independent First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) Chamber.

If an FNO whose deportation case is ongoing is released, either at the end of their sentence or on Immigration Bail, the Home Office will continue to pursue their deportation while they are in the community until their case is concluded. The FNO will be required to comply with any restrictions placed on them under the terms of their criminal licence, as well as under the terms of Immigration Bail.

3. What you can expect if you are a victim

If you have been a victim of a crime committed by a foreign national offender and the FNO any of the following apply:

• has received a prison sentence of 12 months or more, or a hospital order for an offence against you
• the court has recommended the FNO for deportation for an offence against you
• the offence was a violent or sexual offence against you (or a member of your immediate family where that person dies as a result of the offence) and the FNO was sentenced to a period of imprisonment

then you are entitled to certain information about the FNO’s deportation, should you wish to receive it.

The information will either be provided by your VLO, if you meet the criteria for the statutory National Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, as set out below, or it can be provided directly by the Home Office if you do not qualify for the Scheme.

4. Statutory victim contact scheme

If you have been the victim of a crime of a violent or sexual nature, where the offender has been sentenced to 12 months or more imprisonment, or been made the subject of a hospital order, you will normally be offered access to the statutory National Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, which allocates you a Victim Liaison Officer. If you opt into the Scheme, your Victim Liaison Officer will be able to obtain updates from the Home Office on your behalf.

You can find out more about the Victim Contact Scheme on GOV.UK or you can contact your local National Probation Service office and ask to speak to a Victim Liaison Officer.

If you are not eligible for the Victim Contact Scheme, but you are the victim of an FNO who has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment (or hospital order) for a violent or sexual offence, or 12 months imprisonment (or hospital order) for any other offence, or has been court recommended for deportation, you are still eligible for updates about the immigration status of the FNO. You can contact the Home Office’s Victim Support Team directly by emailing them at FNO RC Victims Support Team.

5. Information that can be shared with the victim of an FNO

You are entitled to the following information:

• whether the Home Office intends to take deportation action against the offender.
• the final outcome of any appeal against deportation.
• when the offender is going to be released from immigration detention.
• when the offender has been deported or, if the offender is not being deported and the reasons why. If the offender is not being deported, the response will provide an explanation of why it is not possible to deport the offender.
• If the Home Office cannot say for certain whether the offender will be deported, they will write to you (or your Victim Liaison Officer) when the offender has been deported. If it has been decided that the offender will not be deported, they will explain why – reasons may include delays in documentation, protracted appeals or country conditions which prevent us from removing the FNO from the UK.

There might be further issues why information cannot be disclosed to you, such as a court anonymity order or data protection issues. All cases will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

If you have had a Victim Liaison Officer, but the FNO’s sentence and therefore licence period has ended, with the result that contact with the VLO has ceased, you can contact the Home Office’s Victim Support team by emailing them at FNO RC Victims Support Team.

6. Confidentiality

We cannot give you any other information about the offender or give you regular updates. Any information you receive is confidential and will be provided just to you or your representative because of your particular interest in their case in accordance with Data Protection legislation. We ask that you treat the information we share with you as the victim of the offender in confidence. Failure to keep the information confidential may jeopardise any action to deport the FNO.