There is no set list of offences that automatically result in deportation from the UK. What usually matters is not the title of the offence, but the sentence passed by the criminal court and the public-interest test that follows from it.

Automatic deportation is not triggered by the label attached to the offence; it is triggered by the sentence imposed. When UKVI considers a foreign national with a criminal conviction, the key question is not simply what the offence was, but whether the sentence crosses the legal threshold. Once it does, what might otherwise be a discretionary decision becomes a legal duty, and the risk of a deportation order and removal becomes immediate.

In practice, almost any offence can lead to automatic deportation if the sentence crosses the legal threshold. The real questions are how that threshold works, what changed in 2026, and when human rights arguments can still prevent removal.

When is the automatic deportation triggered? 

For a non-British, non-Irish national, a single custodial sentence of 12 months or more for an offence in the UK triggers automatic deportation.

The trigger is the length of the sentence, not how serious the offence sounds. Once a non-British, non-Irish national receives a single custodial sentence of 12 months or more, the Home Secretary is normally under a legal duty to make a deportation order unless one of the limited exceptions applies; that means a shorter sentence for a serious-sounding offence may fall outside automatic deportation, while a 12-month sentence for a less dramatic offence can still bring the rule fully into play.

Automatic deportation depends on the sentence and not the label of the crime committed 

Because the test is sentence-based, a wide range of offences can cross the line once the sentence reaches 12 months. In practice, the convictions that commonly do include:

• Violence and serious assault (including grievous bodily harm).
• Robbery and burglary.
• Drug offences, particularly supply and trafficking.
• Sexual offences.
• Fraud and dishonesty offences where the sentence is significant.

A 12-month sentence is the point at which the automatic deportation rule is triggered: once that threshold is reached in a single qualifying sentence, the Home Office must normally start the deportation process, regardless of whether the offence itself appears more or less serious than others.

One important point is often missed: the 12-month threshold must be met by one single sentence. If a person receives several shorter sentences which only add up to 12 months when combined, that will not usually trigger automatic deportation on its own. In borderline cases, this distinction can make a significant difference.

“Automatic” versus “conducive”: the distinction that trips people up

This is where a lot of online guidance blurs the picture, so it is worth being clear.

There are really two routes to deporting someone with a conviction:

• Automatic deportation. The 12-month single sentence described above. The Home Secretary must act.
  
• “Conducive to the public good” deportation. A discretionary power. The Home Office may pursue deportation even without a 12-month sentence.

The second route is how the Home Office reaches offences that fall below the automatic line. It covers things like an offence assessed as having caused serious harm, someone treated as a persistent offender, national security cases, and sentences under 12 months where the Home Office still considers removal justified.

In short, a 12-month sentence makes deportation a duty. Below that, it becomes a choice the Home Office can still make.

What changed in 2026? 

Two developments have widened the net, and both matter if you are advising or worried right now.

Suspended sentences now count. From 22 March 2026, the Sentencing Act 2026 extended the automatic deportation duty to catch a suspended sentence of at least 12 months, not just an immediate custodial one. This applies to people sentenced on or after that date. Previously, a suspended sentence generally only bit if a court later activated it. That protection has gone for the 12-month bracket.

Sex offenders and asylum. The Government has moved to exclude foreign nationals who commit sex offences from refugee protection. That closes off one of the routes people historically used to resist removal, and it sits alongside a wider push to make Article 8 Human Rights arguments harder to run in criminal cases.

The direction of travel is clear. The thresholds are being read more strictly, and the exceptions are being narrowed.

When automatic deportation can still be challenged

“Automatic” does not mean “unstoppable”. The duty to deport is subject to a set of statutory exceptions, and this is where human rights law does its real work.

The most important exceptions are:

• Human rights. Removal that would breach rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, most often Article 8 (family and private life), can defeat the automatic duty. The bar is high in criminal cases, but it is a genuine route.
• The Refugee Convention. Where removal would breach the UK’s obligations to a refugee, subject to the tightening around serious offenders and sex offences noted above.
• Age. Where the person was under 18 on the date of conviction.
• Extradition. Where extradition arrangements apply instead.
• Mental health. Where certain hospital or guardianship orders are in force.

These do not erase the conviction or the public interest in removal. They provide the legal space to argue that, in this particular case, deportation would be unlawful.

Practitioner Insights

The statutory spine. Automatic deportation lives in section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007. Section 32(4) deems the deportation of a “foreign criminal” conducive to the public good; section 32(5) imposes the duty to make a deportation order, subject to section 33 exceptions.

Defining “foreign criminal”:  mind the two definitions:

• Under the 2007 Act (s.32): non-British, non-Irish, convicted in the UK, and either Condition 1 (a single sentence of at least 12 months) or Condition 2 (a sentence of imprisonment for an offence specified under s.72(4)(a) of the 2002 Act, any length).
  
• Under s.117D of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: 12 months+ or an offence causing serious harm or a persistent offender. This broader definition governs the Article 8 public-interest scheme in ss.117A–117C, it is not the trigger for the s.32 automatic duty.

Sentence interpretation points:

• “12 months” means 12 calendar months (Interpretation Act 1978).
  
• Per the Explanatory Notes, consecutive sentences aggregating to 12 months do not meet Condition 1,  a single qualifying sentence is required. Indeterminate sentences are included.
  
• Sentencing Act 2026, s.45 amended the 2007 Act to bring suspended sentences of at least 12 months within the duty, for those sentenced on or after 22 March 2026. The Immigration Rules (Part 13) were aligned from late March 2026.

Section 33 exceptions to note: Exception 1 (ECHR / Refugee Convention), Exception 2 (under 18 at conviction), extradition, and mental-health provisions. The old EU / Community-treaties exception has fallen away post-Brexit. Note that where Exception 1 applies, s.32(4) still treats deportation as conducive, the exception removes the automatic duty, not the underlying power.

Wider context: conducive-grounds deportation under s.3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 remains available for sub-threshold, serious-harm, persistent-offender and national-security cases. And watch the 2026 reform programme narrowing Article 8 and refugee protection for serious and sexual offenders.

Your next steps as someone subjected to deportation

If a conviction or sentence has raised the prospect of deportation, a few things are worth doing straight away.

1. Check the exact sentence. Whether it is a single sentence of 12 months or more, and whether it was immediate or suspended, changes everything. Get the sentencing record.
2. Note the conviction date. The 22 March 2026 change to suspended sentences only affects people sentenced on or after that date, so timing matters.
3. Gather your ties to the UK now. Length of residence, relationships with a partner or children, and integration here are the building blocks of any human rights case.
4. Take specialist advice before replying to any Home Office notice. Deadlines are short, and early responses can shape the whole outcome.

A deportation notice landing on top of a criminal sentence is a heavy thing to carry, for the person facing it and for the family around them. Feeling out of your depth here does not mean you have no options.

For consultations on removal or deportation matters, or for assistance with detailed representations, you may contact me at davidj@gclaw.co.uk

This article is general information about UK immigration law as it stands in 2026 and is not legal advice for any individual case. This area is changing quickly, so always check the current position or take tailored advice.