Table Of Contents
- What is the UK Administrative Review
- What is the caseworker error
- Who Can Apply for Administrative Review
- Applying for Administrative Review from Outside the UK
- Applying for Administrative Review from Inside the UK
- Applying for Administrative Review If Your Visa Got Cancelled at the Border
- What Happens If Your UK Administrative Review Application is Successful
- What Happens If Your UK Administrative Review Application is Refused
- Final Thoughts
Visa refusal can be frustrating. But you may have remedies for it as well. Possible remedies include UK administrative review, appeal, and judicial review. You can also choose to apply afresh. UK administrative review is a process to challenge the decision of the Home Office if you feel the Home Office has made a caseworker error. If you can satisfy the Home Office that there was an error on their part, you may be granted the visa you applied for. In this article, we will discuss a few things to know about UK administrative review.
What is the UK Administrative Review?
UK administrative is a process to ask the home office to review its decision if it refuses your visa application. You can also challenge the decision when your visa has been approved but you are not happy with the period or conditions of leave granted. Through administrative review, you can request the home office to reconsider because you feel there is a caseworker error while assessing your visa application.
However, you can apply for administrative review only if you have been given the right to it. Whether you have the right to administrative review is stated to you in the visa decision letter sent by the home office.
The review process is allowed only to see if the immigration rules were followed correctly while delivering the decision.
The home office may find a genuine error in its decision and approve your visa application. However, the home office may also find a new reason for UK visa refusal.
What is the caseworker error?
If you believe the caseworker has made an error when assessing your visa application, you can apply for a administrative review. The caseworker error includes:
Misapplication of Immigration Rules:
The caseworker might incorrectly apply the law or regulations that govern your visa or immigration status.
Incorrect Consideration of Evidence:
The evidence you provided might have been misinterpreted, ignored, or not properly considered by the caseworker.
Misunderstanding Your Circumstances:
A caseworker might misunderstand or misrepresent your personal, employment, or educational situation.
Failure to Follow Proper Procedures:
The caseworker might fail to follow internal guidelines, leading to an unfair or incorrect decision.
Who Can Apply for Administrative Review?
Usually, point-based visas and other visa categories allow for administrative review where ‘appeal’ is not possible.
Below is the list of visas where administrative review is possible. The list includes but is not limited to:
- Tier 1 Investor Visa
- Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa
- UK Skilled Worker Visa
- Start-up Visa
- Youth Mobility Scheme
- Scale-up Worker Visa
- Global Talent Visa
- UK Ancestry Visa
- Student Visa
- Some applications under the EU Settlement Scheme
Applying for Administrative Review from Outside the UK
If you applied for a visa from outside the UK that has been refused, you will have to ask for administrative review from outside the UK. You can ask for administrative review only if all of the following is true:
You are outside the UK – You must be outside the UK when applying for an administrative review.
You applied outside the UK – You must have applied for entry clearance from outside the UK. You cannot ask for an administrative review if you applied for a UK visitor visa.
Your visa application was refused – You can ask for a review only if you have been given a right to it as a result of your visa application refusal.
When to Apply?
You must apply within 28 days of receiving the refusal decision. You need to pay £80. You can apply online.
How Long Does it Take?
You should usually get a decision within 12 months. However, it may take longer as well.
Applying for Administrative Review from Inside the UK
If you applied to switch to a visa for a visa extension from inside the UK, you can apply for an administrative review if all of the following is true:
You are in the UK – At the time of applying for an administrative review, you must be in the UK on another visa.
You applied inside the UK – this means that you have applied to switch to another visa from your current visa.
You are unhappy with the refusal or conditions of the visa – Your original visa must have been refused, or even if it has been approved, you must be unhappy with the conditions of leave to remain.
When to Apply?
You must apply within 14 days of receiving the refusal decision. If you were detained on the date you got your decision, you must apply within 7 days.
You can apply online. You need to pay £80.
How Long Does it Take?
Usually, you should get a decision within 12 months. However, it may take longer as well.
Applying for Administrative Review If Your Visa Got Cancelled at the UK Border
You can ask for a administrative review if your visa was canceled for one or more of the following reasons:
There Has Been a Change in Your Circumstances—This refers to a change in your personal, financial, or other conditions after the decision on your visa was made.
You Provided False Information— If you gave false information when you originally applied for a visa, but now you are ready to submit the correct information.
You Failed to Include Relevant Facts— For Example, you failed to show the salary offered to you on a UK skilled worker visa.
When to Apply for a UK Administrative Review?
If You Were Given Temporary Admission to the UK – You must apply within 14 days of the cancellation of your visa or within 7 days if you were detained on the same date when your visa was canceled. You need to do this from the UK.
If Your Visa Was Refused at Border Controls outside the UK – “Border Controls Outside the UK” refers to the points where UK immigration checks are conducted at locations outside the The UK. For example, UK border control posts at overseas airports or seaports. These border controls can refuse a person’s entry to the UK before they even board a flight or ferry bound for the UK. In this scenario, if you have the right to a UK administrative review, you must apply within 28 days of your visa being cancelled in any of the following cities:
- Paris
- Brussels
- Dunkirk
- Coquelles
- Calais
- Lille
How Long Does it Take?
You should usually get a decision in 28 days or more.
What Happens If Your UK Administrative Review Application is Successful?
If your application for a review is successful, the Home Office will consider granting you the visa you applied for, or the condition of your leave to remain will change.
What Happens If Your UK Administrative Review Application is Refused?
The Home Office will send a notice maintaining its decision after considering the grounds on which you made a review application.
You cannot appeal or apply for a second review. However, you may apply for a second review if, after the first review, your visa was refused for a new reason.
Final Thoughts
If your visa application has been refused and you are wondering what to do next, you may have the option to apply for a UK administrative review. However, you should apply for it only if you are sure that there is a caseworker error and appropriate immigration law has not been followed.
Administrative review is a lengthy process and usually takes more than 12 months to deliver a fresh decision. Therefore, you should take the help of an expert UK immigration lawyer. This could increase the chances of a successful administrative review application.