Immigration update – Evidential flexibility may not save a PBS applicant from refusal
25 January 2019
In the recent case of Singh v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2861, the Court of Appeal agreed with the Home Office’s decision to refuse Mr Singh further leave to remain as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant based on a factual issue of specified documents not being submitted with the application.
The Immigration Rules require a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant to demonstrate that they have created the equivalent of two new full-time jobs for settled workers which had existed for at least 12 months. As evidence of this, Mr Singh included schedules detailing monthly gross and net pay received by the relevant employees over the tax year and stated in this application that ‘payslips’ were provided (albeit evidently in the wrong format). The Court of Appeal held that even if the schedules contained the same information, they were a wholly different kind of document. The Rules required duplicates of the employees’ actual payslips and so it was a ‘wrong document’ and not a ‘wrong format’ case and, therefore, evidential flexibility cannot apply.
The appeal was accordingly dismissed. While the court had sympathy for Mr Singh, it was held that the Secretary of State was within his rights to have an inflexible system which did not allow for an opportunity to correct administrative errors, and applicants had to take the consequences of their own mistakes.
For further information please contact a member of our Immigration Team.
This article is from the January 2019 issue of Employment Law Update, our monthly newsletter on employment legislation and regulation. To download the latest issue, please visit the newsletter section of our website. Law covered as at January 2019.
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The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at January 2019.