Appeal and Admin Review

Administrative Review

Administrative review is the review of an eligible decision, the purpose of which is to decide whether the decision was wrong due to a case working error.

This appendix sets out which decisions are eligible for administrative review, and the requirements to be met where a person applies for administrative review of an eligible decision.

Summary of the rights of appeal guidance
This section is a summary of the guidance on rights of appeal.

This guidance is about appeal rights following the Immigration Act 2014. References to legislation are to the provisions as amended by the Immigration Act 2014 unless otherwise stated.

Rights of appeal exist against the following decisions:

refusal of a human rights or protection claim and revocation of protection status - appeal rights are in Part 5 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (the 2002 act)

refusal of a visa and refusal to vary leave to remain, in some situations, where the application was made before the Immigration Act 2014 was in force

refusal to issue a European Economic Area (EEA) family permit as well as certain other EEA decisions where appeal rights are in Regulation 36 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016

deprivation of citizenship whereby Section 40A of the British Nationality Act 1981 applies

Where there is no right of appeal, it may be possible for a person to apply for an administrative review of a refusal of an application if it is an eligible decision and it is alleged that a case working error has occurred. These concepts are defined in Appendix AR of the Immigration Rules and the guidance on Administrative review.

The appeals system contains a number of controls to prevent abuse of the system. In particular there are mechanisms to prevent repeat representations giving rise to repeat appeals, late claims giving rise to late appeals that delay removal and deportation, and unfounded claims giving rise to an appeal that delays removal.

Unless certified as a national security case under section 97 and 97A (when the right to appeal is to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission), appeals are made in the first instance to the First-tier Tribunal which can allow the appeal or dismiss it.

The grounds on which an appeal can be brought are set out in section 84 and in summary provide that the appeal can only consider the refusal of the claim made.

Section 85 sets out the matters the Tribunal can consider - see Matters before the Tribunal. The Tribunal can only consider a new matter, which has not been considered by the Secretary of State (SSHD), if the SSHD has given the Tribunal consent to do so. A new matter should not be raised before the Tribunal unless the SSHD has had a chance to consider the new matter.

Section 92 sets out where an appeal will take place. It should be read together with sections 94(7) and 94B which relate to certification when an appeal that would otherwise take place in the UK must be lodged after the appellant has left the UK.

Section 94(3A) states that a person may not bring an appeal under section 82 against a decision on a claim which has been certified as clearly unfounded under section 94(1).

Section 96 provides that where the refusal of a claim would ordinarily result in a right of appeal, there will be no right of appeal if the claim should have been made earlier. Section 96 works together with section 120 which imposes an ongoing duty on individuals to raise new matters with the SSHD as soon as reasonably practicable after they arise.