Ex-pats no longer eligible for legal aid

The restrictions form part of a reform package ministers said would shave 6m a year from the 2bn annual legal aid bill.

Measures coming into force in April will also offer parties in divorce and custody battles a stronger chance to complain that their opponents are not eligible for state aid.

But the Ministry of Justice was forced to abandon other plans, including axing legal aid for small-scale claims, amid outcry from legal and civil liberties groups.

Under revised proposals, immigration and asylum cases will be excluded from the bar, which will apply to anyone living outside the EU, British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, Macao or Hong Kong – or countries with a reciprocal deal, such as Algeria, United Arab Emirates and Libya.

British citizens resident outside those countries would also be refused legal aid for cases in English and Welsh courts.

Only immigration, asylum, child abduction, forced marriage, emergency housing and mental health cases will be exempt from the new rules.

Legal Aid Minister Lord Bach said: ""The changes we have announced will ensure that fraudulent applications are detected before public funds are expended on them, and that legal aid is better targeted."