FAQs: Appeals

Please note that the above questions and answers have been prepared from the emails, telephone calls and actual cases that we have dealt and have therefore not provided any names and addresses in order to keep client confidentiality.

For any complex immigration matters including asylum, human rights applications, domestic violence, all stages of appeals to the Immigration and Asylum Chambers, judicial review cases please contact our sister company LF Legal Ltd.

Question:

What is the right to appeal an immigration decision?

Answer:

English law provides a right to appeal a decision made by certain government departments and the Courts.

For immigration visas, appeals can only be made on human rights grounds.  This is provided for in the Immigration Rules which state than a human rights appeal can be made where:

• the Appellant’s removal from the country would be contrary to the Refugee Convention
• the Appellant’s removal would be contrary to the UK’s obligations in relation to humanitarian protection
• the Appellant’s removal would be contrary to his or her rights under the European Convention on Human Rights
• the Appellant’s protection status or British Citizenship has been revoked

At the moment, EEA nationals and their family members too have a right to appeal a decision by an immigration officer which breaches an EU citizens EU Treaty rights.  A Pre-Settled Status and Settled Status refusal also carries a right of appeal.

Question:

Can I appeal a leave to remain decision whilst still in the UK?

Answer:

Following the decision of R (Kiarie) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42, which ruled the Home Office’s policy to make migrants leave the country before they could appeal a refusal, breached Article 8 of the ECHR, it is possible to appeal whilst you are in the UK.  However, it is vital that you consult with immigration lawyers if your leave to remain has been refused.

Question:
I applied for a marriage visitor visa from Ukraine that was refused on the reason that I will not return to Ukraine after the marriage. I have not been given right of appeal as well. Why?

Answer:
The marriage visitor visa is a sub-category of the Standard Visit visa and does not attract any rights of appeal. If you have applied for a fiancé visa, you would have been given a full right of appeal and the visa officer could not have used this reason to refuse your application.

Question:
Is it possible to lodge an appeal against the refusal of my Student visa extension application and also to make a fresh leave to remain application at the same time?

Answer:
No, you cannot make any application for variation of your leave to remain when you have an outstanding appeal.  If your appeal has reasonable prospects of success, you should pursue your appeal or consider making a fresh application (although you will have to be very careful about how you do this and should seek professional legal advice) but you cannot do both at the same time.  If you needed more time to properly prepare a fresh application you should consider lodging an appeal to extend your stay, but you must withdraw this appeal before making any fresh application or the fresh application will be treated as void.  Again, we would advise seeking professional legal advice before considering such a course of action, as it would have to be undertaken very carefully.

Question:
I did not provide certified translations of my bank statements with my Student Visa (formerly known as Tier 4 General) application, and the visa officer refused by application. Can I provide the certified translation with the administrative review form?

Answer:
No. Those translations will be considered as new evidence and therefore will not be taken into account in assessing the decision of the visa officer. For the administrative review, only evidence initially submitted with the visa application shall be considered and evaluated.