What are Judicial Review Applications?

Step 2 –  Seeking permission for Judicial Review 

You will have 3 months to lodge your application for a Judicial Review from the date of the decision. To apply for a Judicial Review, you will need to complete and submit form UTIAC1 and email this to the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (UTIAC). On this form, you will need to outline the decision you would like to be judicially reviewed, whether you have complied with the pre-action protocol, and provide a detailed statement of the facts and grounds explaining why the decision made by the Home Office should be reviewed by the tribunal. You will also need to pay an application fee of £154 (subject to change to best to check with us for the most recent figure) and provide any supporting documents. The form should be sent to your nearest Upper Tribunal regional office in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, or Manchester.

Upon receipt of the Judicial Review application form, the Upper Tribunal regional office will send you a sealed (stamped) copy of your completed application form confirming the following:

• the date you filed the application and
• your UTIAC case reference number

You will then need to:

• send a copy of the sealed Judicial Review application form (stamped) with any supporting documents and the case reference number to the Home Office, and
• complete and submit form UTIAC2 to the Upper Tribunal confirming the documents have been served on the Home Office. 

On receipt of the claim, the Home Office has 21 days to file an “acknowledgement of service”. It will then review the claim and will either overturn and remake its decision or defend its decision. If the Home Office decides to defend the matter, it will prepare and send a “defence statement” outlining the grounds for defence.

An Upper Tribunal judge will then review the claim and the defence statement to decide whether to grant permission for you to formally seek a Judicial Review. It is important to note that the vast majority of Judicial Review applications decided “on the papers” provided are refused. In this case, you may be able to ask the court to reconsider their decision in an oral hearing, as long as it is not considered to be “totally without merit”.

If you are granted permission to proceed with the judicial review, the Home Office may then decide to overturn or reconsider its decision or continue in its defence. In the latter scenario, you will then proceed to a full hearing. You will be advised of the arrangements for the hearing and the process for providing any documents, including any witness statements and written submissions. 

Step 3 – Judicial Review hearing

During a Judicial Review hearing, an Upper Tribunal judge will consider your claim based on all of the documents and information provided (referred to as a “bundle”). If you are represented by an immigration Solicitor, you will not normally speak in court. In most cases, a decision will be made at a later date following the hearing. If you win your case, the Upper Tribunal judge will not tell the Home Office what decision to make, but it will compel them to review their decision based on the error of law made.