In 2016 the Law Clinic obtained funding from the Strategic Legal Fund9 to undertake dedicated casework research. We have also been supported by another anonymous donor to enable the casework project to continue for two and a half years. This support has meant that we have broadened our casework considerably and developed a better understanding of trends and developments in statelessness cases. We have been able to bring together our policy and casework and we hope to continue to do this in the future. With the help of grant funding, we have made or assisted with 33 statelessness applications over the past two years. We have received eight grants and two refusals. 23 applications remain outstanding. The specific examples in this report draw on the decisions made by the Home Office in the cases taken on over the course of the project. We also have some examples of refusals that clients had already received from the Home Office when they approached the Law Clinic. In one of these cases an existing refusal was challenged with a Pre Action Protocol letter and statelessness leave subsequently granted. In another, we made a new application and the Home Office granted statelessness leave. General examples draw on the Law Clinic’s experience of Home Office decision making since 2013. We believe that we have the largest caseload relating to statelessness leave applications. This report details some of our findings on how the procedure is working, including systemic problems and our recommendations as to how they might be resolved. We hope that it will be useful to policy makers, legal practitioners and people affected by statelessness. We hope that it will encourage more people to make statelessness leave applications where appropriate to do so and to stimulate further change. A child’s eye view of statelessness leave I waited and waited but suddenly someone came and gave us a special post. It was the Iqama [Arabic word for ID card]….. I was over the moon. I felt a free bird and so happy. I can still go to school and draw more pictures. I can go swimming and go round the world. I can visit my nanny and grandpa and cousins. I dream to see them one day and you too. Thank you for helping my family. You’re so kind and lovely. I want to be a teacher and help cute children. Extract from a letter from the 7 year old daughter of one of our clients. info.org/sites/default/files/document/united_kingdom/session_27__may_2017/js8_upr27_gbr_e_main.pdf (accessed 27 June 2018) 9 See http://www.strategiclegalfund.org.uk/ 5