Table Of Contents:
- What is a UK Spouse Visa Refused
- Your Options After Your UK Spouse Visa Refused
- Appeal
- Judicial Review
- Re-apply
- Summary
A UK spouse visa, which falls under the umbrella of UK family visa route, allows non-UK nationals to join their married partners in the UK. Married partners in the UK must be a British citizen or someone who holds settled status here.
Importantly, you need to be careful when applying for a UK spouse visa, as it allows you to join and stay with your partner in the UK, which is a significant aspect of your life. However, if you fail to follow the UK immigration law or the Home Office guidance related to the UK spouse visa, you may have to face a UK spouse visa refused situation.
In such a scenario, you need to know your options after the Home Office has refused your visa application.
What is a UK Spouse Visa Refused?
A UK Spouse Visa refusal means that the UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) – a division of the Home Office that is responsible for managing the UK’s visa system has rejected your application to join your partner in the UK. Your visa may be refused for various reasons, including inadequate proof of a genuine relationship, failure to meet financial requirements, errors in the application, or previous breach of immigration laws.
You will be sent a refusal notice by the UKVI. The notice will specify the grounds for the refusal and outline the available options, such as appealing the decision, filing for judicial review, or submitting a new application.
Your Options After Your UK Spouse Visa Refused
If your application, which is deemed to be a human rights claim including Appendix FM family member applications, for example, UK Spouse Visa is refused, you may appeal the refusal decision. Appealing a decision is only possible if you have been given the right to appeal. Whether you have a right to appeal will be stated in the refusal notice.
Alternatively, you can also seek judicial review or simply reapply for the same UK spouse visa or a different visa.
In this article, we are going to discuss the options you have after your UK spouse visa refused.
1. Appeal
The First requirement for an appeal is that you have a legal right to it. However, even if you have the right of appeal, you first must read the refusal notice carefully and understand the reasons for the visa refusal. You can also seek an expert immigration lawyer’s assistance for this, as an appeal is a complex and time-consuming process.
You can appeal to a First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) – a body that is independent of the government. Only if a judge at the tribunal allows your appeal to be heard will the appeal process proceed.
If your appeal is successful, the tribunal may ask the UKVI to reconsider its findings. As a result, the UKVI may either overturn its decision or it may again refuse your spouse visa, but for entirely different reasons this time.
If the first-tier tribunal dismisses your appeal and upholds the UKVI’s decision, you may be able to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, however only if you must have permission to do so. Appealing the first-tier tribunal’s decision will only be allowed to proceed to the Upper Tribunal if it appears that there has been a legal mistake in the first-tier tribunal’s decision. Legal error includes where the tribunal:
- Got the law wrong, or
- Failed to use the correct law, or
- Did not follow the correct legal process, or
- There was no evidence to support its decision.
2. Judicial Review
You may choose to apply for a judicial review if, after your UK spouse visa refused, you have no right to appeal or you have already exhausted it. However, You can make an application for a judicial review to the UTIAC (Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber) to challenge the lawfulness of a decision made by a public body on your spouse visa application or their other conduct.
One should only use the judicial review option if you are challenging the decision because you believe the decision, according to legal criteria, is unlawful, illegal, irrational, or unreasonable. If you are unsure, you should seek independent expert legal advice.
UTIAC will either allow your judicial review application to proceed for a judicial review hearing or reject it.
If permission is granted
In case the judge orders a judicial review hearing for your case, you will need to pay the fee within 9 calendar days from the day the tribunal sends you the judge’s decision. If you fail to do so, your case will automatically be ‘struck out’, ending your claim. Once you have paid the fee, the judge will set a final hearing date.
At the Final Hearing
At the final hearing, a judge will hear your case and decide whether the respondent’s (the Home Office and/or the first-tier tribunal) decision or conduct was legally and procedurally correct.
If the judge decides that the respondent’s decision or conduct was illegal or unlawful, they will then decide whether to grant you the relief or remedy that you sought in your initial claim. The judge will also tell the respondent about any action they need to take.
If your judicial review claim is unsuccessful, you may seek permission to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal. You should seek an independent legal expert’s advice before doing so.
If Permission is Refused
If a judge at the UTIAC refuses permission, they may decide your application is either totally without merit or not totally without merit.
You will not be able to go any further if the judge at the UTIAC decides that your application is totally without merit. However, you may appeal the judge’s decision if you receive the right of it.
On the other hand, if your application is considered not totally without merit, you can apply for a reconsideration of your application on the same grounds as your initial judicial review application.
3. Re-apply
In most cases, the best option after an unsuccessful appeal against a UK spouse visa refused would be either to reapply under the same route, addressing and resolving the initial grounds for your visa refusal decision by the UKVI, or to reapply under a different UK visa route with different application and eligibility requirements.
You can also reapply if you think that the grounds for your UK spouse visa refused are valid. Before deciding the best option in your circumstances, you should take professional advice.
Summary
An appeal is a process that is based on legal grounds to challenge the UK spouse visa refused decision. To show why the decision was wrong, you must directly address in your appeal the point of refusal based on facts and the law to support your appeal.
On the other hand, a judicial review claim argues against how the UKVI reached a decision, rather than challenging the substance of the outcome. It typically checks whether the process to reach the decision was unlawful, illegal, irrational, or unreasonable.
Re-applying is another and most time the best option against a spouse visa refusal, especially where you were rejected due to errors and inaccuracies in your application. You should also consider it when there is a change in external factors, like a policy change since your original application.
Re-applying also saves you time, as it is typically much faster than an appeal and a formal review.
You should seek legal assistance before choosing your course of action after your UK spouse visa refused.
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