Oral Hearing

Paper hearing

You can only appeal to the Tribunal if you have the legal right to appeal. You will be usually notified of your right to appeal in your decision letter. We will be able to review your refusal letter thoroughly and advise you of your options accordingly.

You will generally have the right to appeal if the Home Office has refused your application based on:

• Asylum or humanitarian protection
• Human Rights claim
• or if your refugee or humanitarian protection status is revoked
• in Rest all cases refusal right of Admin Review and Judicial Review can be exercised

If you are appealing outside of the UK, you will have 28 days to submit an appeal after you get your decision. If you are appealing within the UK to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, you must give notice of appeal to the Tribunal no later than 14 calendar days after the date the notice of decision has been sent. If, however, you have to leave the country before you are allowed to appeal, you will have 28 days to appeal once you have left the country.

The Appellant’s appeal will first be heard at the First-tier Tribunal. The judge does not usually give a decision on the day of the hearing. You will usually be informed of the decision in writing after three or four weeks.

If you receive a positive decision from the Tribunal, the Home Office may either reverse their original decision or appeal the decision given by the Judge. If, however, you receive a negative decision, you may be able to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, subject to the merits.

If your appeal is refused at the First-tier Tribunal, you can apply for permission to appeal at the Upper Tribunal if you believe that the First-tier Tribunal judge made an error in their determination.

You are required to submit an application to the First-tier Tribunal to seek permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal as this is not an automatic right. Your application for permission must be submitted within 14 days of the date of dismissal of your appeal from the First-tier Tribunal if you are in the UK. If you are outside of the UK, the time limit is 28 days.

In the unfortunate event that the First-tier tribunal refuses your permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, you may have the option to apply directly to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal.

Once permission to appeal has been granted, the Upper Tribunal will hear the case and assess whether the First-tier Tribunal made an error of law.

The judge will decide whether any findings of fact made by the First-tier Tribunal are to be preserved. At this stage, the judge may uphold the First-tier Tribunal decision, or the judge may decide to send the case back to the First-tier Tribunal to re-decide the case. The judge may also give the First-tier Tribunal directions to make sure the error of law is not repeated.

If your case was heard at the Upper Tribunal but the judge decided that the First-tier Tribunal did not make an error of law, you may have the option of appealing to the Court of Appeal. You will need to apply for permission to do this.

If, however, you do not have the right of appeal, you may be able to apply for administrative review or apply for permission for a judicial review of the decision.

A judicial review is not the same as an appeal; an appeal looks substantively at the issues of your case. A judicial review is a form of court proceedings in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action taken by the Home Office.

A judicial review can challenge the way a decision has been made if you believe it was illegal, irrational, or unfair.

An application for judicial review should be made no later than 3 months after the decision that you are trying to challenge was made.

Examples of when you may consider applying for judicial review

• If your Visit case is Refused.
• If you do not have the right to appeal.
• If your Asylum claim has been certified
• If your further submissions have been rejected as not a fresh claim, with no right of appeal
• If you have been detained unlawfully
• If you have been refused permission to appeal at the Upper Tribunal (the time limit for a judicial review, in this case, is 16 days)

In a judicial review, the judge will not substitute what the correct decision is. If your application is successful, your case will be sent to the Home Office for them to make a decision on it. The Home Office may make the same decision, providing that they have followed the proper process, such as considering all the documents provided by you.

If you want to challenge an immigration decision of the Home Office, but have no right of appeal, our highly experienced team can assist you to apply for Immigration Judicial Review.

The most complex area of Immigration Law is one in which we thrive. Our experience and expertise in the area allow us to make the best possible representations to the Upper Tribunal to fight on your behalf when no recourse has been given by the Home Office. If you have had a refusal with no right of appeal, you must contact us to see how we can help you.

Judicial Review is a procedure whereby any immigration decision of the Home Office (or failure to make a decision) can be challenged on the ground that it is unlawful, unreasonable, have procedural problems, or breaches human rights.

Claims for Judicial Review must be commenced promptly and within 3 months of the date of the Home Office decision. You will need to exhaust any alternative remedies first.

Our team provides professional legal advice and representation in relation to every aspect of pursuing Immigration Judicial Reviews, including:

• Advice as to the merits of seeking permission to apply for Immigration Judicial Review.
• Drafting of letters before claim / pre-action protocol letters.
• Drafting of grounds for Immigration Judicial Review.
• Preparation of court bundles for Immigration Judicial Review proceedings.