Version 11.0 of the Home Office caseworker guidance says the "Reconsideration cohorts" policy for individuals intended for removal to an ECAT and ECHR signatory country is no longer being applied. The guidance was published for staff on 18 September 2026.
Key facts
- Who: Confirmed victims of human trafficking or slavery considered for temporary permission to stay (VTS), where removal to an ECAT and ECHR signatory country is intended
- From: Not stated in the guidance. Version 11.0 was published for Home Office staff on 18 September 2026.
- Source: Temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking and slavery: caseworker guidance
Version 11.0 follows version 10.0 of the guidance.
The Home Office has published version 11.0 of its caseworker guidance, "Temporary permission to stay: considerations for victims of human trafficking or slavery". The guidance gives 18 September 2026 as the date this version was published for Home Office staff.
A note at the start of the guidance says the policy at the section "Reconsideration cohorts" of version 10.0, "with regards to individuals intended for removal to an ECAT and ECHR signatory country, is no longer being applied". ECAT is the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. ECHR is the European Convention on Human Rights. The guidance does not give a date from which the policy stopped being applied.
The guidance also lists one change from the previous version: "Addition of guidance on the application of 'Reconsideration'." It has a section headed "Reconsideration" (section 12). The text available to us does not set out what that section says.
The rest of the guidance covers how VTS is considered. A person does not qualify for VTS solely because a Competent Authority has confirmed that they are a victim of modern slavery. They must meet the validity, eligibility and suitability requirements of the Immigration Rules Appendix Temporary Permission to Stay for Victims of Human Trafficking or Slavery, on the balance of probabilities. The guidance says applications for a confirmed victim to be given VTS cannot be made from outside the UK.
Considerations made after the Appendix began on 30 January 2023, until 15 January 2025, were made under version 4.0 of the guidance. From 16 January 2025, all considerations and reconsiderations are made under version 5.0 and later versions.
What this means for applicants
The "Reconsideration cohorts" policy in version 10.0 is no longer being applied to individuals intended for removal to an ECAT and ECHR signatory country. The usual requirements in the Appendix still apply to VTS cases. The guidance does not say what happens in individual cases, and the text available to us does not set out the "Reconsideration" section.
Sources
- Temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking and slavery: caseworker guidance, Home Office, version 11.0