ECAA Settlement is expressly included in administrative review

ECAA Settlement is now expressly listed among the immigration routes whose eligible decisions can be challenged by administrative reviewGOV. The addition to paragraph AR 1.1 names “Appendix ECAA Settlement: ECAA nationals and settlement”GOV, alongside the separate ECAA Extension of Stay route. Advisers handling an ECAA settlement refusal should check the decision against the administrative-review requirements before choosing the next procedural step.

The route’s inclusion does not make every decision reviewable. AR 2.1 includes decisions refusing applications for entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay. It also includes decisions made on arrival in the UK to cancel permission to enter or stay, where cancellation leaves the person without permission. Those cancellations must concern changed circumstances or permission obtained through false representations or failure to disclose material factsGOV. The decision must also relate to a specified route.

Applications must be submitted online using the Administrative Review form, with any required fee paid. For a refusal of permission to stay, the usual limit is 14 calendar days from receipt of the decision noticeGOV, reduced to seven calendar days where the person was detained under the Immigration Acts on the decision dateGOV. Late applications may be accepted only if the decision maker considers it unjust not to waive the limitGOV and the application was made as soon as reasonably practicableGOV.

Review addresses a failure to apply, or an incorrect application of, the Immigration Rules or published guidanceGOV. The reviewer considers entitlement on the original application, rather than a different basis for permissionGOV. New evidence is considered only within the exceptions in AR 3.3GOV, including specified false-representation or deception decisions, certain previous-breach refusals, failure to request documents under paragraph 245AA, or failure to follow the evidential-flexibility policy.

A person who applied for permission to stay from within the UK cannot seek review of that decision from abroadGOV. A further review of the same decision is generally unavailable unless an earlier review maintained it for different or additional reasonsGOV. Signing a review waiver or making a subsequent immigration application can also prevent a valid reviewGOV. A family member’s eligible decision can be included if they were a dependent in the original application, or their previously granted dependent permission is cancelled at the same time as the applicant’s permissionGOV.

Where review is pending over a decision made while the person was in the UK, the Rules prevent removalGOV. That protection must be read with the withdrawal provisions: leaving the UK, requesting a passport back to travel, waiving review or making a new immigration application can end the pending reviewGOV. If review succeeds, AR 5.1(a) provides that the eligible decision is withdrawn and will be reconsideredGOV.

The governing provisions are Immigration Rules Appendix Administrative Review, particularly AR 1.1, AR 2.1–2.16, AR 3.1–3.5, AR 4.1–4.5 and AR 5.1, read with Appendix ECAA Settlement.