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Receiving a refusal letter after investing time, work, and money into a visa application may seem like the end of the world. The rejection rate for all types of UK visas is approximately 15%, and this includes everything from Visitor Visas to Work Permits. The current administration is trying to limit the number of immigrants entering the country. This rejection rate is likely to increase in the coming years, so more individuals should expect to have their visas rejected. If you get a "Visa Denied Letter," you will most likely have a number of questions about what to do next and how to appeal your visa refusal.
If the Home Office or UKVI has rejected your UK visa application, you may be able to appeal the decision. You may have been granted an administrative review, a complete right of appeal, or none at all.
The type of application you filed will determine whether you have a right of appeal or an alternative legal solution, such as an administrative review. In the majority of cases, the right to appeal will be as follows:
The current refusal rate for UK visa applications is approximately 15%, with certain categories suffering significantly higher rejection rates. The most noteworthy example is a now-defunct Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route, which had a rejection rate of approximately 50%.
A visa refusal isn't the end of the world, but it may seem that way at times. The good news is that more than half of immigration decisions are overturned on appeal, and the Home Office loses 75% of its immigration cases, according to The Guardian.
Those applications that were denied with a complete right of appeal may be challenged by filing an appeal with the immigration tribunal; most often, this will be a spouse visa denial, ILR application refusal, or refusal of a Residence Card or Permanent Residence application.
You usually have 14 calendar days to file an appeal for an application that was refused within the UK, such as an extension, switching, or ILR. The time limit for applicants who are not from the United Kingdom is 28 days.
You should have received a letter from the Home Office or UKVI explaining why your application was rejected and informing you of your right to appeal and relevant time frames when your application was denied.
When you get a decision informing you that your application has been refused, you usually have three options for how to proceed. A consultation with a competent immigration lawyer should be sought as soon as possible, in our opinion. Fighting a case that is destined to fail may be both time and financially draining.
If you have decided to appeal a visa refusal, you must prepare your case thoroughly. The preparation will include a thorough examination of the documents and evidence submitted, a review of the reasons for the refusal, the creation of grounds of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal, the drafting of witness statements, the completion of the appeal form, and the compilation of an appeal bundle. Following that, the appeal will be filed with the Immigration Tribunal and served on the Home Office.
When it comes to filing an appeal against a visa denial, we often find clients and even other legal professionals taking shortcuts. This is usually one of the following:
Clients must realise that it is not the appeal itself that is important, but rather that it must be their best effort to get the judgment overturned in the shortest amount of time possible.
The reasons and supporting documents are served on the Home Office/UKVI once the appeal is filed. In the case of entry clearance appeals, the issue will be sent to an Entry Clearance Manager ("ECM"), who will examine the appeal as well as any supporting documentation.
An appeal that was well-prepared in the first instance often results in the judgment being overturned at the ECM review stage before the full hearing even takes place. There is now a separate Home Office team for in-country applicants that may reconsider pending appeals. The team was created on November 30, 2018.
It may be faster and simpler to simply reapply in instances where the refusal was warranted, and/or the reasons for refusal can now be addressed completely by the applicant.
As long as the applicant is able to satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Rules or EEA Regulations, there is usually no time restriction on how quickly a new application can be filed (be aware of limitations while the time limit to lodge an appeal/admin review is still in effect).
