Refusal of an asylum application or Human Rights application may be appealed to an Immigration Judge sitting at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.

The grounds of appeal which are open to you are:

  1. race discrimination; or
  2. human rights, if the decision is against your rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
  3. the decision is against the United Nations Convention Relating to Refugees.
  4. the decision was not in line with the Immigration Rules;
  5. the decision was not in line with the law; or
  6. if the Immigration Rules allowed the person who made the decision to exercise his/her own judgment on the circumstances of your case, his/her judgment should have been exercised differently.

If the Home Office refuse your application for asylum, but allow you to stay for humanitarian or other reasons, you may be able to appeal against the decision to refuse you asylum. This is called an ‘asylum upgrade appeal’. You may only appeal in this way if you have been given you permission to stay in the United Kingdom for more than a year. If you do not have a total of 12 months’ permission to stay, you have no right of appeal at all. If you want to stay longer, you must apply for an extension of your permission to stay before your current permission expires.

In some cases, you will not have the right to make an appeal while you are still in the United Kingdom. The Home Office will try to remove you from the country and tell you that you will have to pursue any appeal from outside the United Kingdom, for instance if they can show that you clearly had no grounds for claiming asylum (a ‘clearly unfounded claim’) and if you came from certain countries. This is called a ‘non-suspensive appeal’ and the countries concerned are known as ‘designated countries for non-suspensive appeals’. It may be possible to challenge this type of decision from within the United Kingdom by way of an application to the High Court. This application is called a Judicial Review application.

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Representation Birmingham

The purpose of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal is to hear and decide appeals against decisions made by the Home Office and officers in diplomatic posts abroad who can issue visas. They hear cases on asylum, immigration, and nationality.

One or more Immigration Judges may hear an appeal. They are sometimes accompanied by non-legal members of the Tribunal. Immigration Judges and non-legal members are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and they are independent of the government.

Appeals are heard in a number of appeal centres around the United Kingdom. If you make an appeal, you will usually attend the hearing with your legal representative. The Home Office will also have a legal representative at the hearing, called a Presenting Officer.

The Immigration Judge, or panel, will decide whether your appeal against the Home Office decision is successful or not (this is known as the decision being ‘allowed or dismissed’). The Tribunal’s decision, called a determination, will be given to you in writing.

In certain circumstances you may be able to apply to have the Tribunal’s decision reconsidered. The Home Office may also be able to ask to have it reconsidered. There are different ways of making an application for reconsideration, depending on whether your appeal was heard by a single judge or a panel.

Contact Sultan Lloyd Solicitors

If you need help with an appeal, call us on: 01212482850 or email: [email protected]. Alternatively, click here to make an online enquiry.

Sulton Lloyd Solicitors are open from 9am till 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. If you work full time and can’t see us during the week, we offer pre-arranged Saturday appointments for your convenience.

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