{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002/section-117C",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002/section-117C.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2002/41",
  "legislation_title": "Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-immigration-and-asylum-act-2002",
  "path": "section/117C",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "117C",
  "heading": "Article 8: additional considerations in cases involving foreign criminals",
  "text": "(1) The deportation of foreign criminals is in the public interest.\n(2) The more serious the offence committed by a foreign criminal, the greater is the public interest in deportation of the criminal.\n(3) In the case of a foreign criminal (“C”) who has not been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of four years or more, the public interest requires C's deportation unless Exception 1 or Exception 2 applies.\n(4) Exception 1 applies where—\n(a) C has been lawfully resident in the United Kingdom for most of C's life,\n(b) C is socially and culturally integrated in the United Kingdom, and\n(c) there would be very significant obstacles to C's integration into the country to which C is proposed to be deported.\n(5) Exception 2 applies where C has a genuine and subsisting relationship with a qualifying partner, or a genuine and subsisting parental relationship with a qualifying child, and the effect of C's deportation on the partner or child would be unduly harsh.\n(6) In the case of a foreign criminal who has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least four years, the public interest requires deportation unless there are very compelling circumstances, over and above those described in Exceptions 1 and 2.\n(7) The considerations in subsections (1) to (6) are to be taken into account where a court or tribunal is considering a decision to deport a foreign criminal only to the extent that the reason for the decision was the offence or offences for which the criminal has been convicted.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Pt. 5A inserted (28.7.2014) by Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22), ss. 19, 75(3); S.I. 2014/1820, art. 3(o)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/41/section/117C",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:18:47.769208+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}