British Embassies outside the UK or other consulates or The Home Office (in the UK) will ask if there are documents necessary for their consideration. As an applicant, you may wish to invoke the principle of “Evidential Flexibility” and this is incorporated in the Immigration Rules which they have to adhere.

There are also times when you can even change the refusal letter into a grant of visa by submitting relevant document to support the application.

The general rule about evidence that may be relied upon in an appeal is set out in section 85(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. This allows an immigration judge and the decision-maker to consider any evidence that he or she considers to be relevant to the appeal. This can include evidence that was not available at the time of the UK Home Office’s decision to which the appeal relates.

When Can I Submit New Evidence?

1. New evidence showing new circumstances since the Home Office decision.
2. New evidence may show that the requirements of the Immigration Rules are now met, even if the requirements were not met at the time the Home Office made the decision to which the appeal relates. There are various case laws that can support your argument (see e.g. the cases of DR (ECO: post–decision evidence) Morocco* [2005] UKIAT 00038; LS (Gambia) [2005] UKAIT 00085 and YZ & LX (China) [2005] UKAIT 00157). These are powerful caselaws that top lawyer use at the Court hearing for the Judge to be reminded to accept new evidence.
3. New evidence that shows the circumstances at the time of the UK Border Agency decision

In my previous blogs, I always remind that it is paramount for an applicant to give ample time and preparation for making a visa application otherwise he is heading for rejection.

Yes, it is possible to submit new evidence if you think it relates to the application and can support your case. Just always be courteous and ask for consideration of late submission of document. Always remember that the Embassy is compose of human beings as well. There is nothing wrong by asking “please, if I may submit these documents in support of my application…I am sorry if I am sending it late because of…” When you are humble, the decision-maker may usually be sympathetic towards you and may even accept that we are all humans after all, susceptible to error and shortcomings.

I have won many cases by just doing the same. By acknowledging that it is my fault and we overlooked this or that document and asking the decision-maker that in the interest of justice, if I could submit a relevant document for further consideration. Immigration Officers like it and they accept new documentary evidence especially if that document is the only one missing for approval.

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About the Author:

Don Magsino MBA is a student of Oxford Brookes University at Post-Graduate Degree in Law in Oxford, England, UK. He is a graduate of Ateneo De Manila University Graduate School of Business. He is a qualified and a practicing Immigration Lawyer in the UK. His mobile phone is 07446888377 / Direct Line: 0207 316 3027 Email is don@stanfordlawassociates.co.uk. His London office is located at Regus, 239 Kensington High Street, London W8 6SN. He is accredited by the Law Society in England and Wales and regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) Level 3: highest level in immigration professionals. He has represented clients in the First-tier Tribunal, Immigration Detention Courts and Deportation and Bail Hearings and to the Upper Tribunal and won many difficult cases in immigration law in the United Kingdom.