About us
We are all about people and community. Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) is a not-for-profit specialist immigration legal advice provider based in Manchester supporting people across North West England, bringing 35 years’ experience.
We offer free immigration legal advice, representation and holistic support services to people seeking asylum, refugees, children and vulnerable adults. Our committed team includes a large number of experienced solicitors and immigration caseworkers. We also work in collaboration with others to influence local and national policies on immigration and provide training to increase understanding of the immigration system and its impact on people in the North West and nationally.
GMIAU is highly respected both regionally and nationally. We hold the Specialist Quality Mark (“SQM”) as a quality assurance standard and in 2023, we were awarded an excellence rating on Peer Review by the Legal Aid Agency (“LAA”).
Our Vision is equality, compassion and justice for all people facing the challenges of immigration.
Our Mission is to provide high-quality legal representation, support and hope to people experiencing immigration injustice.
We are driven by our values:
We speak up. We know what’s right and what’s fair. We are not silent when we see injustice.
We fight for justice. We use all the knowledge, expertise and skill we possess in order to succeed
We see the whole person. We recognise the talents, humanity and potential of those who turn to us for help
We act with empathy. We treat people how we would like to be treated; with kindness, dignity and respect
We are tenacious. We take on difficult cases. And we don’t give up easily.
We fight for change. We campaign with others for improvements in immigration law and policy.
Further details of our services and our policy work can be found on our website https://gmiau.org/, including our publications: https://gmiau.org/about-us/reports/
Strategy
We have 5 main Strategic Objectives:
To provide high quality immigration legal advice and representation to those most in need.
To develop additional services where required to respond to the needs of the people we work with.
To work with others in strategic and operational partnerships to ensure we have greater impact.
To be a credible voice influencing local and national strategies and policies to make immigration practice humane and accessible.
To be an effective, efficient, resilient, sustainable, well-resourced organisation.
The environment in which we operate is particularly challenging. As an organisation we have to be constantly on the look out for what lies ahead as well as aiming to provide the best possible support to people in the here and now. Immigration is a huge political issue and we are affected by constant new legislation as well as the damaging rhetoric we hear from politicians and in the media about people who journey to the UK in search of safety and a better life.
Each year we develop an action plan for how we will address each of our strategic objectives. In 2025-26 these are:
Demand for legal advice is very high. We prioritise those cases we consider most urgent and where we can make the most difference. In 2025-26 we are reviewing how best to respond to the majority of referrals, including through a major overhaul of our website, to provide helpful advice and guidance.
This year we are running a pilot project to support people who have arrived in the UK on health and social care visas only to find that their sponsor has gone into administration or the work doesn’t exist and they are now facing homelessness and destitution.
We work in partnership with a wide range of organisations – whether its to deliver the Restricted Eligibility Support Service to support people at risk of homelessness with the Booth Centre and Boaz Trust, or through the Step Change partnership of 11 refugee community organisations and a group of ‘experts by experience’ or through the Justice Together Initiative to build legal capacity by training new immigration caseworkers for the future
Influencing policy and campaigning for change is at the heart of all that we do. This year includes continuing to campaign for legal aid; campaigning for a reduction to 5 years on what is known as the 10 year route to settlement; building on our ‘expectations for politicians in the north west’ to listen to people with lived experience and to speak out about the importance of welcome, safety, justice, home, and support for all north west residents regardless of immigration status.
To recruit a new CEO to lead GMIAU is our top priority this year, following the retirement or our current CEO. Another priority is managing our finances effectively so that we are stable even when our income rises and dips depending on funding cycles. We are also very aware of the demands made on staff over the last few years and finding ways to sustain highly qualified and experienced staff for the future is paramount.
Finances
Despite the challenges of the funding environment, GMIAU has stable finances. As of the end of February 2025, income is over budget by £45,800 year-to-date. We are currently forecasting a surplus of £290,000 this year and has a good level of reserves.
Expenditure is £193,000 under budget, driven largely by YTD underspends in salaries along with the capitalisation of planned maintenance and IT costs.
Cash as of 28th February 2025 was £1.55m, down from the £1.73m held at the end of January. Forecast cash is a balance of £1.28m at end of February 2026, which takes into account all secured and likely income for next year and the most up-to-date forecast expenditure.
We had 7.1 months of free reserves at the end of February based on forecast expenditure, down from 7.4 at the end of the prior month.
Work-in-progress (WIP) totals £177,300 and prepaid disbursements awaiting refund by the LAA total £292,200 – therefore the total owed by the LAA is £469,600, down from the £490,00 due as of 31st January 2025.
Full accounts are available at: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4034986/accounts-and-annual-returns
Equal opportunities policy
Anti-racism is the principle upon which GMIAU was established and which continues to guide and inform our actions and direction as an organisation. We constantly look to find ways to renew our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. We have implemented a strategy to actively include more people with lived experience of the immigration system on the Board and its consultation group, within the staff team, and throughout all our policy influencing and campaign activities. We currently have four Board members who bring this experience.
We constantly aim to be an organisation that is proactive in our approach and to go beyond our legal obligations.