A refusal letter from the Home Office is hard to read calmly. It often arrives after months of waiting, it is written in the language of the immigration rules, and it can feel final. In most cases it is not. There is usually something you can do, but the options depend on the type of application you made and the clock starts running from the date of the decision.
This guide covers the general position in the UK. Every refusal is different, so treat it as a starting point rather than advice on your own case.
Read the letter before you do anything else
The refusal letter tells you three things you need to know.
- Why the application was refused, usually with a reference to the paragraph of the rules the caseworker relied on.
- Whether you have a right of appeal, a right to administrative review, or neither.
- The deadline for using that right, and how to do it.
Write down the date the decision was made and the date you received it. If the letter says you have a right of appeal or review, that section matters more than anything else in it, because missing the deadline can close that route entirely.
Read the reasons line by line. A refusal often turns on one missing document, a figure that did not add up or a requirement the caseworker decided you had not met. Knowing exactly which one tells you which route makes sense.
The three main routes
A fresh application
If the refusal was caused by missing or incomplete evidence, the quickest answer is often a new application that fixes the problem. You pay the application fee again and start from the beginning, but you can include the documents that were missing and explain anything the caseworker found unclear.
This is the usual route for visitor visas, which normally carry no right of appeal or administrative review. It is also often the most practical route for partner and family applications where the gap was in the paperwork rather than in the facts.
Administrative review
Administrative review asks the Home Office to look again at its own decision because a caseworker made a mistake. That might be a wrong calculation, a document that was overlooked or a rule applied incorrectly.
It is not a chance to add new evidence. If the application was refused because something was missing, administrative review will not usually help. The letter tells you if this route is open to you. The deadline is short, usually 14 days if you are in the UK and 28 days if you are outside it.
An appeal
A right of appeal to the immigration tribunal exists for a narrower group of decisions, mainly refusals of human rights claims, protection claims and some decisions under the EU Settlement Scheme. Many partner and family refusals involve a human rights claim and so carry a right of appeal. Most work, study and visitor refusals do not.
An appeal is heard by an independent judge. It can take considerably longer than a fresh application, but it is the right route where the Home Office has got the facts or the law wrong and a new application would meet the same answer. Again, the deadline is short and is set out in the letter.
Where none of these routes is available and the decision is unlawful, judicial review in the Upper Tribunal may be possible. It has strict time limits and is not a rehearing of your application, so it needs specialist advice early.
If you are already in the UK
If you applied from inside the UK before your existing permission ran out, that permission usually continues while the application is being decided and while any appeal or administrative review brought in time is pending. Once those options end, your position can change quickly.
Do not assume you can stay while you think things over. If your permission has ended, ask for advice straight away about what you can still apply for and how long you have.
Things that make a bad situation worse
- Missing the deadline in the letter, even by a day.
- Applying again with the same evidence and hoping for a different caseworker.
- Leaving out the earlier refusal on a later application. Every future form asks about previous refusals, and an omission can lead to a refusal for deception.
- Paying for a new application before you understand why the first one failed.
What to have ready
When you ask for help, bring the full refusal letter, a copy of the application you submitted and the documents that went with it. Add your passport, any current visa or residence permit and a short note of your immigration history. With those, an adviser can usually tell you on the first call which route is open and whether it is worth taking.
If your application has been refused, call us on 0161 496 0123 or send us the refusal letter through our enquiry form. We will check the deadline first and tell you plainly what your options are.
Need advice on this? See how our immigration team can help, or book a consultation.