Our administrative review solicitors can advise you on the merits of applying for administrative review and, if suitable, challenge the Home Office decision by way of an application for administrative review if your UK visa or immigration application has been refused, your leave to enter or remain has been cancelled at the UK border, or you are not satisfied with the period or conditions of leave you have been granted.

This page describes the distinction between an administrative review and an immigration appeal, who is eligible to apply for administrative review, the definition of a case-working error, the process of applying for administrative review, the time constraints for applying, the processing times of administrative review, and potential results of an administrative review application.

Administrative review is the Home Office Immigration review of an eligible decision, the purpose of which is to decide whether the decision was wrong due to a case working error.

Two ways to contest Home Office decisions on immigration and visas are administrative reviews and immigration appeals.

Not all visa and immigration decisions however, have an appeals right, and not all of them are open to administrative review. Should the judgement you want to contest not be qualified for administrative review, you may only apply for it and appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

An immigration appeal and an administrative review are not the same.

The Home Office first reviews the immigration decision under appeal. Should the Home Office choose to stick to its decision, the matter will be heard by an impartial judge in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. Usually, the parties appear and are legally represented during the oral appeal hearing. Both sides can usually provide further evidence, and witnesses may be asked to testify.

Internal Home Office review is known as administrative review. It entails a written review of the decision under appeal by a Home Office team separate from the original decision-making team. There isn’t an oral hearing, and the conditions under which fresh evidence can be presented are tight.

Though the extent of the Home Office denial letter, the parties’ agreement, and/or court orders may limit the issue(s) to be decided, the Immigration Tribunal will usually review the case in its whole in an appeal. The Tribunal’s primary responsibility is to fairly ascertain whether the Home Office judgement under appeal violates the UK’s international commitments.

The Home Office examines eligible decisions in an administrative review to determine whether there is a case working error (as defined in the Immigration Rules), which may have been noted in the administrative review application or by the reviewer during the administrative review process.

Who Has the Right to Apply for Administrative Review?

Administrative review is not an option available for challenging every Home Office decision. Administrative review becomes available only after a decision that qualifies has been taken.

The primary immigration applications that, should the Home Office reject them, will result in an eligible decision that may be contested through an administrative review application are listed below in no particular order:

Specified route requirements for administrative review in relation to applications for entry clearance or permission to stay

1. The decisions eligible for administrative review are those under the following routes (“specified route”):
   1. • Appendix ECAA: Extension of Stay
   2. • Appendix Student
   3. • Appendix Short-term Student (English Language)
   4. • Appendix Child Student
   5. • Appendix Parent of a Child Student
   6. • Appendix Graduate
   7. • Appendix Skilled Worker
   8. • Appendix Global Business Mobility Routes
   9. • Appendix T2 Minister of Religion
   10. • Appendix Representative of an Overseas Business
   11. • Appendix UK Ancestry
   12. • Appendix Global Talent
   13. • Appendix High Potential Individual
   14. • Appendix Scale-up
   15. • Appendix Start-up
   16. • Appendix Innovator
   17. • Appendix International Sportsperson
   18. • Appendix Overseas Domestic Worker
   19. • Appendix Domestic Workers in a Private Household
   20. • Appendix Domestic Worker who is a Victim of Modern Slavery
   21. • Appendix Temporary Work – Seasonal Worker
   22. • Appendix Temporary Work – Creative Worker
   23. • Appendix Temporary Work – Religious Worker
   24. • Appendix Temporary Work – Charity Worker
   25. • Appendix Temporary Work – International Agreement
   26. • Appendix Temporary Work – Government Authorised Exchange
   27. • Appendix Youth Mobility Scheme
   28. • Appendix Hong Kong British National (Overseas)
   29. • Appendix Bereaved Partner
   30. • Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse
   31. • Appendix Returning Resident
   32. • Appendix Statelessness
   33. • Tier 1 Migrants under Part 6A of the Points Based System
   34. • Appendix HM Armed Forces, except where the applicant is a partner or child under Appendix HM Armed Forces and the Armed Forces sponsor is a British citizen, or has 4 years reckonable service
   35. • Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees

Administrative review may also be used to contest an approval of your application under any of the abovementioned immigration routes if you feel that the length or terms of the leave granted were incorrect.

Some rulings on EU Settlement Scheme applications are also eligible rulings that may be contested through an administrative review application.

Administrative review will not be an option if you applied for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit or for an asylum, private life, long residence, or Appendix FM family member application, or if your application is considered to be a human rights or protection claim. You might be able to appeal, nonetheless, to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, a First-tier Tribunal.

Should you have applied as visitor, an administrative review will not be an option for contesting the rejection decision. You might be able to apply again or for judicial review (“JR”).

If the outcome is that you have no leave to enter or remain, decisions to cancel leave to enter or remain at the UK border due to a change of circumstances, false representations, or a failure to disclose material facts are also eligible decisions. This covers choices to stay as a visitor or cancel leave to enter.

If your Home Office decision is able to be contested by way of administrative review, you may wish to speak with our administrative review solicitors Atty Magsino in London for further guidance. Your decision letter should specify whether you can apply for administrative review.

What are Grounds for Administrative Review?

According to Immigration Rules, the only reason for administrative review is if the Home Office committed a permitted case working error.

Appendix AR of the immigration rules states that a “case working error” is where the original decision maker:
(i) Applied the wrong immigration rule.
(ii) Applied the immigration rules incorrectly.
(iii) Incorrectly added up the points to be awarded.
(iv) Made an error in calculating a period of leave.
(v) Has not considered all the relevant evidence that was submitted with the original application.
(vi) Considered some or all of the evidence submitted with the original application incorrectly.
(vii) Reached an unreasonable decision on the credibility of the applicant.
(viii) Incorrectly refused on the basis that supporting documents were not genuine.
(ix) Incorrectly refused on the basis that the documents did not meet the requirements of the rules.
(x) Incorrectly concluded the application was made more than 28 days after leave expired.
(xi) Failed to apply published policy guidance.

In other words, Administrative reviews will only take into account the following purported case working mistakes:

• The Home Office made a mistake in refusing or cancelling entry clearance or permission to enter or stay on the grounds of purportedly false representations, fake papers or information, failure to disclose material facts, or prior breach of restrictions;
• The Home Office made a mistake in refusing to request certain documents (under the points-based system evidential flexibility rules, for instance) and in refusing to accept an application because the application date was past a time limit in the Immigration Rules.
• The Home Office decision maker failed to apply pertinent published policy and guidance in relation to the application (for example, when assessing the credibility or genuineness of the application); the Home Office decision maker calculated the correct period or conditions of immigration leave incorrectly, or applied the Immigration Rules incorrectly in any other way (for example, by failing to consider some or all of the evidence submitted properly).
• Applications for administrative review can be submitted either because the purported mistake may have affected the judgement or because it may have adversely affected a future application (i.e., since it might now be rejected on general suitability grounds).

How to Apply for Administrative Review 

Application for administrative review must usually be made online in compliance with the Immigration Rules.

(Unless an exemption applies) The administrative review application cost must be paid, and all required sections of the online application form must be filled out. Must-submit documents are those listed as required in the online application or in accompanying instructions.

An incomplete administrative review application will be turned down. Before applying, you might choose to consult a qualified administrative review attorney.

Unless it affects the decision under review and it:

• proves that, in the application under review, when lying was a reason for rejection, you did not engage in deception;
• Shows that, should leave have been revoked at the UK border for this reason, nothing had changed;
• demonstrates that the application was submitted within the time frame set out in the Immigration Rules, when a purportedly late application served as a pretext for rejection; or
• The Home Office ought to have asked for it while weighing the evidential flexibility of a points-based system.

Applying for administrative review is different if you are a Swiss service provider, Frontier Worker, S2 healtcare visitor, or applicant to the EU Settlement Scheme. Get further information from our top administrative review solicitors in London if this describes you.

Time limit for Applying for Administrative Review

You have fourteen calendar days (or seven days if you are imprisoned) from the day you got your decision notification or biometric residence permit to apply for administrative review if you are in the UK and applied for permission to stay from within.

You must apply for administrative review within 28 days of receiving the decision you want to contest if you applied from outside the UK.

How long to wait for Administrative Review?

At the time of this writing,  the Home Office takes at least 6-12 months to handle applications for administrative review.

Fees for Administrative Review

Applications for administrative reviews are subject to an £80 charge from the Home Office. Reviewing the decision or decisions pertaining to any dependents who were appropriately included in the first application is free of charge.

Some applicants might not have to pay the administrative review charge, and others might be eligible for a fee reduction.

Immigration Status while on Administrative Review

You will continue to enjoy immigration leave until you receive notification of the administrative review decision if you submitted an application on time and requested an administrative review within the allotted time.

The Home Office will not attempt to remove you from the UK while an administrative review is proceeding if you are an overstayer at the time you file a legitimate application for one.

Fresh Applications and Administrative Review

Your administrative review application will be considered withdrawn if you submit a fresh application for entrance clearance, permission to enter, or leave to stay while one is pending.

If you request for administrative review of a prior decision after submitting a new application for entrance clearance, leave to enter, or leave to remain, your application will be denied.

Outcome of an Administrative Review

(a) the administrative review succeeds, and the eligible decision is withdrawn (and will be reconsidered); or
(b) the administrative review does not succeed, and the eligible decision remains in force for all of the reasons given in that decision; or
(c) the administrative review does not succeed, and the eligible decision remains in force, but one or more of the reasons given for that decision are withdrawn; or
(d) the administrative review does not succeed, and the eligible decision remains in force, but with different or additional reasons to those given for that decision.

What if the Administrative Review is Successful?

Should the Home Office determine that there was a casework error in the original decision maker’s decision, it will then examine whether fixing the casework issue will affect the decision’s outcome.

The judgement will be withdrawn and your administrative review fee refunded if the Home Office is satisfied that the mistake in the initial decision altered the outcome.

Normally, the Home Office will fix the mistake and publish a fresh decision if they choose to remove an earlier one. Should the revised decision hold that the application ought to have been approved, you will be given leave commensurate with the initial application.

Your leave will commence on the day the wrong earlier judgement was withdrawn. You will receive a fresh BRP if your administrative review contested the length of time or terms of the leave.

What if the Administrative Review is Not Successful?

You will get notification that the decision under challenge has been sustained if the Home Office determines that the decision made on your visa or immigration application (or the length of leave granted or conditions imposed) was correct.

An administrative review decision cannot be appealed, and a second review cannot be requested unless the first one revealed fresh grounds for rejection. You will be qualified in this case to another administrative evaluation of the new grounds. If you are eligible for a second review, your decision letter should state so.

The result of the administrative review may be eligible for judicial review. You might choose to consult a qualified administrative review attorney for legal guidance.

Want to instruct me?

Thank you for your message. My name is Atty Lindoven Magsino, BSc, MBA, GDL, LLM, DBA (cand). I am a member of the UK Law Society. My SRA License No: 644167. I am a qualified Solicitor of the United Kingdom. Email me at attydonmagsino@gmail.com.