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Appealing a Home Office Decision Explained by Immigration Lawyers.

If your visa application has been refused, we understand this creates a sense of frustration and loss of time, effort and money. Decisions made by the Home Office are often refused due to errors made by themselves, the applicant or by the applicant’s legal representative.

Our lawyers have helped many clients successfully appeal decisions made by the Home Office. We are strong advocates of fighting for the rights of our clients and we believe our legal representations can help challenge your refusal and make a successful appeal. There is a wide range of mistakes the Home Office commonly make when deciding on a UK visa application. Therefore, if you have received a refusal do not automatically think it is because you do not meet the requirements for that particular visa. We recommend you to speak to one of our specialists and let us advise you on the matter.

A true emblem of our skilled immigration lawyers is the vast amount of successfully overturned refusals which include UK Spouse Visa, Fiancé Visa, Citizenship, Visit Visa and many other visaapplications whereby the First Tier Tribunal concluded it was an error in law. There are many other common examples of a Home Office mistake when making a visa application decision.

For example:

• Wrong interpretations of the relevant law
• Not taking into consideration the full facts of the client’s circumstances
• Losing the clients documents
• Making decisions based on previous legislation.

If you are unsure of whether you can appeal or would like to consider making another UK Visa application contact our friendly team on 020 3598 0099.

UK Visa and Appeals

Case Studies

Winning decision for Thai national seeking Entry Clearance

JAMIO WAS REFUSED A UK SPOUSE VISA

Jamio, a Thai national, was refused a UK Spouse Visa by the Home Office for not providing enough evidence to show her marriage was genuine and subsiding. Her partner, a British citizen contacted us to help them understand the refusal letter they had received to determine what options were available to them. We asked to see the refusal letter and immediately identified that it may be a Home Office error. Our immigration lawyerslodged an appeal and it was successfully upheld at the First Tier Tribunal.

Testimonials

Our Clients Say

If you are still not sure about choosing us, hear from our clients themselves.

Robina is a very reliable, helpful and experienced immigration solicitor in our area. I had a successful appeal with my Tier 1 applications with the help from Robina.

Laura Jayne

I’ve loved my experience with Optimus Law. Very friendly staff, easy to talk with, they follow up with you and keep you updated! And surely I will keep using their services.

Maroun

I required a premium service application to bring my spouse to the UK in time for Christmas and the team at Optimus Law were great. Managed to do everything well before expectation. Professional service would recommend Robina to anyone!!

Ikram

What Do You Need Help With?

You can only appeal to the tribunal if you have the legal right to appeal – you’ll usually be told if you do in your decision letter.

You might be able to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) if the Home Office has:

  • – refused your protection claim (also known as ‘asylum claim’ or ‘humanitarian protection’)
  • – refused your human rights claim
  • – made a decision under the European Economic Area (EEA) Regulations, for example the Home Office has decided to deport you or refused to issue you a residence document
  • – decided to revoke your protection status
  • – decided to take away your British citizenship

The tribunal is independent of government and will listen to both sides of the argument before making a decision.

You must be able to make a case for why the decision was legally wrong. For example, if the Home Office:

did not apply the correct law or wrongly interpreted the law

did not follow the correct procedures

had no evidence or not enough evidence to support its decision

We recommend that you should contact our immigration lawyers immediately to help you with this matter.

You need to write to the tribunal with:

the reason why your case should be heard urgently

evidence of compelling or compassionate grounds, for example letters from a doctor or hospital

You should write ‘expedite requests’ on the top of any documents you send with your application.

A judge will review your evidence and decide whether your application should be heard sooner than usual.

Your application will only be reviewed if you’ve paid your tribunal fee (if you need to pay one).

You have 14 days to appeal after the date of your decision.

If you apply after the deadline, you must explain why – the tribunal will decide if it can still hear your appeal. We recommend that you should contact our immigration lawyers immediately to help you with lodging the appeal.

You can only appeal to the tribunal if you have the legal right to appeal – you’ll usually be told if you do in your decision letter.

If you’ve been refused a Tier 1, 2, 4 or 5 visa you may be able to ask for the decision to be reviewed at an administrative review – your refusal letter will tell you if you can. To clarify, we recommend you send a copy of the refusal letter to us to review and help you understand how we can help.

You have 28 days to appeal after you get your decision. If you have to leave the country before you’re allowed to appeal, you have 28 days to appeal once you’ve left the country.

If you apply after the deadline, you must explain why – the tribunal will decide if it can still hear your appeal.

It is essential that you are properly represented at the appeal hearing. Our immigration lawyers have extensive experience in dealing with the First-tier tribunal. Prior to the appeal hearing, we will prepare you for cross examination and go through in detail your statements.

We will be with you throughout the appeal process, providing our support and advocating your case on your behalf. We regularly engage in litigation and have worked with excellent immigration barristers and immigration solicitors to ensure that we maximise your chance of success. At this stage, we are focusing on implementing the appeal strategy that we have formulated for the appeal hearing.

You’ll get a letter with details of where to go for your hearing.

If you cannot attend yourself you can ask someone to represent you and ask witnesses to attend.

You may have to give evidence at the hearing and answer questions.

Our immigration lawyers can help you by providing expert guidance and assessment on whether your decision can be challenged.

Optimus Law can help outline your options and determine the best course of action for proceeding with an appeal. Our team are ready to meet with you in person or via telephone to consider whether you have merits to appeal. We have helped many clients successfully overturn the decision at the First Tier Tribunal.

Once instructed, we will liaise with you in preparing your UK Fiancé Visa application with the requisite supporting documentation and our bespoke legal representations. Often, this is the first step for an individual who is considering to settle in the UK and it is important the application is prepared with the upmost attention to detail to prevent a refusal on your immigration history.

Our client reviews suggest those who chose to use our immigration lawyers were extremely happy with the service and outcome we achieved for them.

Do You Have An Enquiry?

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