Administrative Review vs. Appeal: Which Is Right for You?

Table Of Contents:

1. What is administrative review
2. What is an appeal
3. Difference between Administrative Review and Appeal
4. Process for Administrative Review and Appeal
5. When to use administrative review and appeal
6. Evidence for Administrative Review and Appeal
7. Reviewing Person for Administrative Review and Appeal
8. Time Taken for Administrative Review and Appeal Decision
9. Second attempt at Administrative Review and Appeal
10. Final Thoughts

Visa refusals are tough to handle. It is so because it involves time, money and lots of effort to make a UK visa application and your dreams may be shattered if it is refused. However, visa refusals are not the end of the road. You may challenge the decision. There are primarily two options available to challenge. They are administrative review and appeal. Administrative review and appeal are both ways to challenge the UKVI’s decision to refuse your visa application.

However, you will not be given the right to administrative review and appeal both at the same time. You only get one option and which of these two options you get is communicated to you in the visa application decision letter (refusal letter in this case) sent to you by the UK Home Office.   

Now, the question is, which is right for you, administrative review or appeal? Well, as mentioned, you can exercise only one option depending on the visa type you applied for.

What is administrative review?

Administrative review is a process of challenging the UKVI’s decision to refuse your visa application because you believe that the UKVI’s caseworker has made an error when assessing your application. You can officially ask the Home Office to reconsider their decision by highlighting why you think there is an error on the part of the caseworker. To do this, you must read the refusal letter carefully. During an administrative review, the Home Office will assess your application to ensure the decision was made properly. 

You can request an administrative review from within the UK if you are in the UK, applied inside the UK, and your UK visa application was refused.

Similarly, you can apply for an administrative review from outside the UK if you are outside the UK, you applied outside the UK, and your visa application was refused.

You can also ask for an administrative review if your application was cancelled at the border due to one or more of the following reasons:

• There has been a change in your circumstances.
• You provided false information.
• You failed to submit relevant facts.

What is an appeal?

An appeal is a legal process to challenge the UKVI’s decision to refuse your visa application. You can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), which is independent of the government, if the Home Office has decided to:

• Refuse your asylum claim or humanitarian protection.
• Revoke your refugee or humanitarian protection status.
• Refuse your human rights claim.
• Refuse you a residence document or deport you under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016
• Revoke your British citizenship.
• Refuse or revoke your immigration status, deport you under the EUSS, or change the length or condition of your stay.
• Refuse or revoke your family permit or travel permit under the EUSS, or restrict your rights to enter or leave the UK under the family or travel permit. 
• Refuse or revoke your permit, or deport you if you are a frontier worker.
• Refuse or revoke your leave, or deport you if you are an S2 healthcare visitor.

It will be stated in the decision letter sent by the Home Office if you can appeal.

Similar to the administrative review, you should read the decision letter carefully before deciding to appeal.

Difference between Administrative Review and Appeal

In principle, both administrative review and appeal are formal ways to challenge UKVI’s visa refusal decision. However, they are different in nature. The basic difference is that you don’t have the choice to choose between the two at the same time. You are given the right to appeal or administrative review depending on the visa application.

Please note that you may appeal against a UK visa refusal decision if you are not eligible for an administrative review and vice versa. Still, which of the two is better remains a question. For that, we need to know the difference between the two.

1. Process for Administrative Review and Appeal

The process for administrative review and appeal is different. However, you can apply by yourself or through a representative for both. The administrative review process is simpler than an appeal. Administrative review involves the Home Office only while the appeal is made to a First-tier tribunal, where a judge hears your case.

• Administrative Review Process – You must apply for an administrative review within 14 days of getting the visa refusal decision when you are in the UK and within 28 days if you are outside the UK.

If you were given temporary admission to the UK and you want an administrative review, you must apply either:

• Within 14 days from the date your visa was cancelled.
• Within 7 days if, on the date of your visa cancellation, you were detained.

You need to do this from the UK.

If your visa was cancelled at border controls outside the UK and you want an administrative review, you must apply for it within 28 days of your visa cancellation in any of the following cities:

• Brussels
• Coquelles
• Paris
• Lille
• Dunkirk
• Calais

• Appeal Process – You or your representative must appeal within 14 days from the date you were sent the decision letter if you are applying from inside the UK. On the other hand, if you are applying from outside the UK, you have 28 days to appeal after receiving the refusal decision. If you have to leave the UK before you are given the right to appeal, you have 28 days to appeal after leaving the country.

You must explain with reason if you apply after the deadline. In this scenario, the tribunal will decide if it can still hear your appeal.

You can appeal later if your administrative review was unsuccessful for a frontier worker, EUSS, or S2 healthcare visitor application. Your administrative review decision letter will tell you how to appeal.

Appeal may be with a paper hearing or an oral hearing. If it is with paper, the judge will decide based on the information in your application form and the documents you submit. If it is with an oral hearing, you and your representative can attend it in person or remotely through video call. The judge will listen to your side and the Home Office’s side before making a decision.

2. When to use administrative review and appeal?

You can request an administrative review for most visa applications, such as a UK skilled worker visa, student visa, etc. Appeals are available commonly for family visas, human rights claims, and asylum decisions.

3. Evidence for Administrative Review and Appeal

Visa refusal most often means a lack of proper evidence. Hence, it becomes critical for administrative review as well as appeal. You must be sure that you submitted the right evidence and did not provide false evidence with or without knowledge.

• Evidence for Administrative Review – Usually, you cannot submit new evidence in an administrative review. You can only highlight to the Home Office where its case worker made an error.
• Evidence for Appeal – You can submit new evidence and witness statements in support of your claim. The tribunal’s judge will decide in light of new evidence whether the Home Office wrongly applied immigration law. You may also be asked questions duringyour case hearing.

4. Reviewing Person for Administrative Review and Appeal

An administrative review is handled by another caseworker (not the one who initially assessed your application) within the Home Office. On the other hand, in the case of an appeal, an independent judge from a first-tier tribunal reviews your application.

5. Time Taken for Administrative Review and Appeal Decision

Administrative review is a lengthy process, and it may take 12 months or more for the Home Office to give its decision. On the other hand, you will usually get a copy of the tribunal’s decision within 4 weeks of the hearing.

6. Second attempt at Administrative Review and Appeal

If your administrative review is rejected, you cannot make a fresh request for administrative review unless the first review found new reasons why the original refusal was correct. On the other hand, you can challenge the first-tier tribunal’s judge’s decision to an upper tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).

Final Thoughts

You can request an administrative review or appeal only when you are given the right to it. The purpose of both these methods is the same, but the processes are different. Administrative review involves a caseworker from the Home Office only who checks if there was an error in the initial refusal decision, while an appeal involves an independent judge from a first-tier tribunal who checks the Home Office decision based on information and evidence submitted by you.

An appeal is more complex than an administrative review. However, you should take an expert solicitor’s advice before you think of administrative review or appeal. You also need to assess if making a new application is better than these two options.

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