Visa Refusal Appeal
Learn how to appeal UK visa refusal in this complete visa appeal guide.
If your UK visa application has been refused by the Home Office or UKVI, it may be possible to challenge the refusal. You may have been given a right of administrative review, a full right of appeal or no right of appeal at all.
Whether you will receive a right of appeal or another legal recourse, such as administrative review, depends on the type of application that was submitted. In most situations. the appeal right will be as follows:
- All Points Based System (“PBS”) applications and those for family members of PBS migrants, i.e. Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 4 and Tier 5, attract right of Administrative Review only.
- Human Rights and Protection claims and applications under EEA Regulations attract a full right of appeal. Some in-country rights of appeal can be “certified”, i.e. appeal can only be lodged once the applicant leaves the UK.
- No right of appeal – usually visitor visa applications (with a few very limited exceptions), short-term student visa applications etc. The current refusal rate for UK visa applications hovers around 15% mark, with some categories experiencing an even higher rate of refusals.
The most notable example is a now-closed Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route, where the refusal rate was around an astonishing 50%.
Settled Status in the UK refers to the immigration status granted to eligible EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, as well as their family members, who were living in the UK before the end of the Brexit transition period (December 31, 2020). It allows individuals to continue living and working in the UK without any immigration restrictions. Settled Status is part of the UK government’s EU Settlement Scheme, which was introduced to protect the rights of EU citizens and their family members residing in the UK after Brexit. Once granted Settled Status, individuals are granted the right to stay indefinitely in the UK and enjoy various benefits and services.
Appealing UK visa refusals
Those applications that were refused with a full right of appeal can be challenged by lodging an appeal to the immigration tribunal, most often this will be a spouse visa refusal, refusal of ILR application or refusal of a Residence Card or a Permanent Residence.
For the application that was refused inside the UK, i.e. an extension, switching or ILR, you will normally have 14 calendar days to lodge the appeal.
For applicants who are outside the UK, the time period is 28 days. When the application was refused, you should have received reasons for refusal letter from the Home Office or UKVI outlining why the application was unsuccessful and advising you of the right of appeal and relevant timeframes.
Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK is an immigration status that grants an individual the right to live and work in the country without any time restrictions. ILR is also known as settlement or permanent residency. It allows individuals to stay in the UK for an indefinite period and provides them with a wide range of benefits, such as access to public funds, healthcare, and education.
