Do you want to become an Immigration Advisor?
We can help you on the way by offering you a free training course.
The course will run from October 2007 to July 2008.
There will be four hours of class room training and four hours of hands-on experience per week.
The training will be delivered by Rochdale Law Centre's two immigration solicitors.
The class room training will take place at CVS Rochdale, 156-158 Drake Street, OL16 every Monday from 10 AM to 12 noon and every Thursday from 2 PM to 4 PM.
The hands-on experience will take place at Rochdale Law Centre, 15 Drake Street, at immigration courts, prisons, etc in small groups at various times in the week.
To be accepted on the course you have to be aged 19 or over, unemployed, living in the borough of Rochdale and not already participating in a project funded by the Learning and Skills Council. Please bring evidence of your immigration status and address. The course is not open for existing clients of Rochdale Law Centre.
Enrolment on the course will take place on Monday 8th October 2007 at CVS Rochdale, 156-158 Drake Street, OL16 from 10 AM to 12 noon.
The teaching will start on Thursday 11th October at 2 PM at CVS.
For further information about the course please contact Finn Jensen at Rochdale Law Centre Mondays to Wednesdays on 01706 657850 or email finn@rochdalelawcentre.org.uk
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Rochdale Law Centre Moves
On the 10th July 2006 Rochdale Law Centre will open at their new office.
The address is:
15 Drake Street
Rochdale
Lancashire
OL16 1RE
Rochdale Law Centre Wins Solicitors' Race Equality Award
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The judges felt that Rochdale Law Centre best met the criteria for this award through its activities as in employer, which included:
- Developing an inclusive and flexible work environment which takes into account the faith and cultural needs of employees
- Providing accessible services to local minority communities
- Offering work placements for young people
- Leading work with other community organisations on topics such as the new religion/belief regulations and asylum/refugee issues
The judges acknowledged that this work is undertaking by Rochdale Law Centre with limited resources.
Lord Falconer said, "I am extremely impressed by the high standards of entries which demonstrate a real commitment to equality and diversity…. In order to change the judiciary you have to start with grass root lawyers."
Janet Paraskeva, chief executive of the Law Society, said: "Many of the winners have taken innovative approaches to making equality and diversity integral to the way they operate and all of them are leading the way for the profession."
Trevor Phillips, chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, said: "Modern employers make race equality a central value of their business, both in term of whom they employ and in the service or products they offer."
Glynis Craig is a housing and immigration solicitor at Rochdale Law Centre. In her acceptance speech she thanked the Law Society and the Commission for Racial Equality for setting up the award and for recognising the work of Rochdale Law Centre. It is an impressive initiative. Law Centres have been at the forefront in equality - both for clients and for staff.
"Of course we are proud of receiving this award. What Rochdale Law Centre has achieved on equality issues should be standard practices for all lawyers and advice agencies. It does not cost a lot of money to make these changes. It is more a question of changing the culture and the way we work", says Glynis Craig.
Rochdale Law Centre Passes Accreditation Exams
The two immigration solicitors at Rochdale Law Centre are the first in Rochdale to pass the new mandatory accreditation exams. From the 1st April 2005 no one can give publicly funded immigration advice without having passed these exams.
"The accreditation exams were very difficult. We had to work very hard in order to pass", Ms. Glynis Craig says. She and Shabana Mann are the two immigration solicitors at Rochdale Law Centre.
Ms. Craig continues: "We were told that when the first round of these exams took place in June 2004 only 50% of the participants passed the exams. Some solicitors firms have stopped doing immigration work, partly because of these exams and partly because funding from the Legal Services Commission is now very restrictive for immigration and asylum work."
"We have experienced an increase in immigration and asylum cases as a result of some solicitors stopping representing clients when the Legal Services Commission no longer will pay for the work", Ms. Shabana Mann adds. She continues: "We have also been affected by Rochdale Centre of Diversity's decision to reduce their immigration team by 50%. It is now more difficult for the Asian community to find good legal representation if they want relatives from abroad to come to the UK as visitors, students or for settlement. We fear that from April 1st 2005 we will no longer be able to meet the demand in Rochdale for good immigration advice and representation."
"We should add that for the last couple of years it has been a criminal offence to give immigration advice (paid or unpaid) unless you are approved by the Office of Immigration Services Commission (OISC)," says Ms Craig. "We have anecdotal evidence that some people in Rochdale who are not registered with the OISC are still giving immigration advice. We suggest that people who seek immigration advice make sure that the adviser is registered with the OISC and from April 1st 2005 that they have passed their accreditation exams."
