What families can do while someone is held: visits, supplies, contact and money, in order

The first 24 hours: establish three facts before anything else

Where the person is, down to the facility name and city, not "with immigration". Without a location, visits, supplies and documents are all impossible.

On what basis — an immigration process, or a matter involving another agency. That decides whether you need immigration counsel or criminal counsel, which are not the same.

Whether any document exists. A single sheet carrying a title, number, date and issuing body beats ten phone calls. Whoever can get there should photograph it first.

Everything else can wait for a day. The common family error is opening many fronts at once — contacts, connections, rumours — until information contradicts itself while the three basics remain blank.

See the fuller first-response guide and, if even the location is unknown, how to establish status and who to ask.

Visits: who may go, what to bring, what to ask

Visiting hours, registration requirements and item restrictions exist and change. Do not rely on someone's experience from years ago; confirm the current arrangement through counsel or on site.

Bring four things: your own valid identification, something evidencing your relationship, permitted items within the current rules, and a written list of questions. The fourth is the most overlooked and the most useful, because visits are short and emotion crowds out the questions.

The list should cover: health and medication needs; whether any document has been served and its number; whether anyone has questioned them and about what; who holds their identity documents; and which task they want the family to handle first.

Two things to avoid: arguing on site, and making commitments about the case on their behalf. The first affects future visits; the second can affect the case.

Supplies and money: what can go in, and how to pay safely

Send strictly within the currently permitted list — nothing concealed, nothing excessive, nothing improvised. Needs usually cluster around daily necessities, clothing and medication, and medication generally has to be in original packaging with prescription-type documentation; loose tablets in a bag rarely get through.

Money needs particular care, because this is where fraud concentrates. Three rules: never send "facilitation" or "expediting" money to a personal account; every payment should map to a specific item and produce a receipt; and clear every payment decision with counsel rather than deciding on a rushed phone call.

On release conditions: whether any exist and on what terms is a case-specific legal assessment for counsel, not something to take from rumour. See the basics of bail and process.

One practical point: if identity documents are missing or expired, departure later will stall. Start replacement early: see replacing travel documents.

The four mistakes families make most often

Engaging several people at once. Parallel mandates produce contradictory information and conflicting actions until nobody can state the position. Pick one main line; others contribute information only.

Deciding on the phone. Urgency is part of the pitch. Anything involving payment or signature should be written, receipted and cleared with counsel.

Chasing inside information. Status comes from counsel through process. Days spent asking around are better spent preparing documents.

Ignoring deadlines. Adverse decisions state the period and form of relief; missing that line narrows the options considerably. See the levels of relief and the stages from service to departure.

Someone is being held and the family does not know what to do first? → Send Yixing what you know and we will return a sequenced, actionable list

If you suspect this is not an official action, the direction changes: see unlawful restriction of liberty.