Right of appeal for family visit visas abolished
The right of appeal against the refusal of a family visit visa application has been removed with effect from 25th June 2013, unless the appeal is on human rights or race discrimination grounds.
Previously, the right of appeal was being used by applicants to submit further information to support their claim, instead of making a fresh application.
Under the new system, anyone refused a visit visa may reapply as many times as they like and can provide additional information in support of their application.
According to the Government, a decision will also be received much more quickly through this method – typically 15 days in comparison to the appeal route, which can take up to eight months.
With 46,000 visit visa appeals received last year alone, removing the burden of these appeals should allow visa staff to make decisions quicker and lead to an improved customer service.
These changes were brought in as part of the Crime and Courts Act, which received royal assent in April.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
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