Lawyers have welcomed the justice minister’s concession to put some immigration domestic violence cases back within the scope of legal aid.

Jonathan Djanogly told the public bill committee that the government would table an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill to enable claimants with cases under the immigration domestic violence rule to receive legal aid.

These cases relate to situations where a foreigner marries a British national and must serve a probationary period in this country before they can apply for settlement.

If the marriage breaks down before the probationary period expires, the non-British spouse looses their right to stay in the UK.

However, if there is domestic violence, the immigration rules entitle the victim to leave the abuser and apply to stay in the UK.

The government’s cost-saving bill proposes removing legal aid for all non-detention immigration cases, including cases brought under the domestic violence rule.

Djanogly said the domestic violence rule had been considered during the consultation, and the government decided ‘on balance’ that although applicants in such cases were vulnerable, it did not think legal aid was required because the applications were paper-based and did not require legal assistance funded by legal aid.

But he said: ‘After further consideration, however, we accept that such cases are unusual.’

Djanogly said: ‘There is a real risk that without legal aid people will stay trapped in abusive relationships out of fear of jeopardising their immigration status.’

‘The type of trauma that they might have suffered will often make it difficult to cope with such applications. We also appreciate that people apply under great pressure of time, and access to a properly designated immigration adviser is a factor,’ he said.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson welcomed the concession, but said more was needed.

Alison Harvey, general secretary of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association, said the change was ‘great progress’ and would prevent people staying with abusive partners until they qualified for settlement. But she called on the government to extend the amendment to encompass all immigration cases involving domestic violence.