Information for Detainees

Getting help from BID

  • Bail for Immigration Detainees is a small non-governmental organisation.
  • We are not part of the Home Office or the Detention Centres.
  • We believe that everyone has the right to liberty.
  • We help people in detention to challenge their detention and gain their freedom.
  • But we do not prepare applications for asylum or immigration status, or help you reverse a decision that you will be removed from the UK.
  • You can contact our offices by phone or fax to get advice on how to apply for bail. If you are a detainee and have no phone credit, we will call you back.
  • You can read our Notebook on Bail to find out more about how to apply for bail.
  • You can read our Brief Guide for Detainees which is available in English, Mandarin, Russian, French, Punjabi, Spanish and Urdu
  • We run workshops in some Detention Centres to teach detainees how to make their own bail applications. Contact our offices or the Welfare Officer in your centre to get more information about BID workshops.
  • We represent some detainees at bail hearings for free. Because we are a small organisation we can only do this for a very small number of detainees. If you are being detained with your children, have serious health problems or have been detained for over a year, we will try to help you as a priority.

  • How can I find an immigration lawyer?

    If you are detained you can get a 30 minute session with a lawyer visiting the centre.  You will not have to pay for this service, called the Detention Duty Advice scheme.  Ask at the library for an appointment, or ask a welfare officer.  If you need a new solicitor, the Community Legal Service Help line gives details of legal representatives in your area. Contact: 0845 608 1122

  • What is immigration bail?

    Immigration bail is one way for a person who is being detained by the UK Border Agency to be released from a removal centre. Release on bail is always to a specified address which must be acceptable to the court. There will be reporting conditions attached to any release on bail. Other conditions such as electronic monitorng may also be enforced.