Home Office response to High Court ruling

The Home Office has announced that in the wake of last week’s Administrative Court ruling in the case of MM, Majid and Javed, it has paused decision-making on some spouse/partner and child settlement visa and leave to remain applications.

This will enable the Home Office to consider the implications of the judgment.

The case concerned a legal challenge to the minimum income threshold for spouses/partners and children applying in the family route – you’ll find more details in our earlier blog post on the case.

According to a statement on the Border Agency website, the decision-making pause applies to applications made under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules, where the application would be refused solely because the rules relating to the minimum income threshold are not met, including where relevant the evidence requirements in Appendix FM-SE.

The same approach is being applied to a small number of adoption cases which would be refused on this ground alone.

Applications which meet the Rules or which fall to be refused on other grounds, such as requirements for English language or a genuine and subsisting relationship, will continue to be processed and decided as normal.

Speaking after the ruling last week, a Home Office spokesperson said:

“We are looking closely at the judgment and its likely impact on the minimum income threshold before we decide how to respond. In the meantime, where an applicant does not meet the minimum income threshold and there is no other reason to refuse it, the application will be put on hold.”

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0