TNAG-1199-FCO40-1501-Hong-Kong-immigration-legislation-1982 — Page 181

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known to the Secretary of State, including those listed in paragraph 141, before a decision is reached.

Deportation on; conducive gronds

144. The Secretary of State has the power to deport a person if he deems it conducive to the public good. General rules about the circumstances in which deportation is justified on these grounds cannot be laid down, and each case will be considered carefully in the light of the relevant circumstances known to the Secretary of State including those listed in paragraph 141.

Deportation of members of families

145. There is power to make a deportation order against the wife or children under 18 of a person ordered to be deported on any of the grounds mentioned in paragraphs 141-144 unless more than 8 weeks have clapsed since that person left the country following the making of an order against him. Where the Secretary of State decides that it would be appropriate to deport a member of a family as such the decision, and the right of appeal, will be notified and it will at the same time be explained that it is open to the member of the family to leave the country voluntarily if he does not wish to appeal or if he appeals and his appeal is dismissed.

146. In considering whether to require a wife and children to leave with the head of the family the Secretary of State will take account of all relevant factors known to him including:

length of residence in the United Kingdom;

any ties which the wife or children have with the United Kingdom otherwise than as dependants of the principal deportee;

the ability of the wife to maintain herself and the children in the United Kingdom, or to be maintained by relatives or friends without charge to public funds, not merely for a short period but for the foreseeable future; any compassionate or other special circumstances;

any representations received from or on behalf of the wife and children.

147. Where the wife has qualified for settlement in the United Kingdom in her own right, for example following four years in approved employment, she has a valid claim to remain notwithstanding the expulsion of her husband and her deportation will not normally be contemplated. Where the wife has been living apart from the principal deportee it will not normally be right to include her, or any children living with her, in the deportation order.

148. Children cease to be members of the family, as defined in the Act, ai 18, and their deportation will not normally be contemplated if they have spent some years in the United Kingdom and are near that age. Nor will deportation normally be appropriate if the child left the family home on taking employment and has established himself on an independent basis, or if he married before deportation came into prospect. In the case of children of school age it will be right to take into account, on the one hand, the disruptive effect of removal on their education and, on the other, whether plans for their care and maintenance in this country if one or both parents were deported are realistic and likely to be effective.