One of the most dreaded anxieties of visa applicants is the fear of a potential refusal. The outcome of a visa application is not guaranteed and there is always the possibility of a refusal. A refusal is valid and justified where the applicant fails to meet the requirements of the immigration rules. UK visa application process is complex and an uninformed applicant can easily miss the way and receive a refusal letter for his efforts. Visa application for every category has eligibility, suitability and validity requirements and all must be met to achieve a successful outcome. Where the requirements are not met, any challenge to such a decision by any process including administrative review is unlikely to be successful. It is however not in all cases that the decision maker is right. It is indeed a common occurrence for applications which deserve to have been successful to be refused due to error of judgement on the part of the decision maker. Decision makers have been known to be careless, lacking attention to details, exhibiting questionable knowledge of the applicable rules and guidance and generally not immune to the imperfections of humans. In such situations, an aggrieved applicant can apply to the home office for an Administrative Review of the decision which simply means asking the home office to reconsider the decision on the basis that it was made in error and ought not to stand. It is important to note that administrative review is available in a wide category of application but not all and an applicant will have to check his refusal letter to see if he is permitted to apply for administrative review. Let us restate that administrative review simply means the process by which an applicant applies to the home office to request for a reversal of the decision made in his application on the basis that the decision is incorrect or not in compliance with the immigration rule or applicable home office guidance. An applicant must bring the application within 28 days of the refusal of the application and must follow the established procedure, and paying official fee of €80. It is the official advice of a home office that it would take between 6 to 12 months to get a decision on administrative review though experience has shown that a decision could be received within a shorter period. Applicants retain their passport when administrative reviews are pending but the pending administrative review is taken as withdrawn if the applicant makes a fresh UK visa application. An administrative review would be successful and the original decision overturned and visa granted where the applicant can show that the refusal was wrong due to a case working error. An applicant would need the guidance of a skilled, competent and experienced immigration professional to assess the entire application and the refusal letter to make a determination if there is a good chance to succeed. To make such assessment competently and honestly and having skills to present the case persuasively is the hallmark of an immigration solicitor of high distinction.
HOW CAN HARVARD CONSULTS HELP?
If you have a refusal letter that tells you that you can apply for administrative review, and you have reasons to believe that the decision was unfair, we will be happy to help you to prepare the application for the administrative review, if by our assessment, we find that you have a good chance to succeed. We have a track record of successful outcomes through this process and it would be your best move to reach out to us. If we assess that the chances of success are not good enough, we will be honest enough to tell you so and to advise on better alternatives. THE GURU.