UK Administrative Review: Challenge a Home Office Decision
What is a UK Administrative Review?
- The reviewer checks the original decision against the Home Office-published rules and guidance.
- Your decision letter should confirm whether Administrative Review is available to you.
Can you request a UK Administrative Review?
You can usually request a review if:
- Your refusal concerns entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay.
- The decision was made under a route listed in Appendix Administrative Review.
- Your decision letter confirms that Administrative Review is available.
- You can apply from the location required by the Rules.
- You can submit the form and fee within the stated deadline.
Another route may apply if:
- The notice gives you appeal rights instead.
- You want the Home Office to consider a different immigration route.
- Most Appendix EU decisions made after 5 October 2023 are excluded.
- You have already submitted a new immigration application.
- A Skilled Worker refusal does not carry Administrative Review rights in the notice.
What are the requirements for a UK Administrative Review?
Eligible decision
The refusal or cancellation must be an eligible decision under a route listed in the Appendix Administrative Review. A Home Office administrative review must identify a caseworking error within that decision. It cannot be used simply because you disagree with the outcome or prefer another immigration route.
Online application
The request must use the online Administrative Review form, and its submission date is the date you send it. Build your administrative review application around each permitted error, rather than retelling the whole immigration history. Complete every mandatory field carefully and keep a copy of the submitted grounds.
Correct deadline
Most in-country applicants have 14 calendar days from receiving the refusal notice. A detained applicant normally has 7 calendar days, while an entry-clearance refusal carries 28 days outside the UK. Treat the Administrative Review deadline as fixed unless the late-request test can be met carefully.
Application fee
The Administrative Review fee is £80 and is paid when the online request is submitted. The Home Office refunds it only in defined circumstances, including an invalid request or a qualifying successful outcome. Keep the payment reference with your case records for later correspondence with the Home Office.
Correct location
An entry-clearance refusal must be reviewed while you are outside the UK. If you applied for permission to stay inside the UK, you cannot request that review from abroad. The place of application is a validity requirement, so check it before submitting the form.
One review per decision
You normally receive one review of the eligible decision. A further request is possible only if the maintained decision gives different or additional refusal reasons. The new request must carefully address those reasons in the next decision notice and satisfy the relevant deadline as well.
No conflicting application
Submitting a new immigration application can make an earlier review invalid or withdrawn. For an in-country request, leaving the UK or asking for your passport to travel also ends the review. Take advice before choosing between review and another application, because the sequence matters.
How do you apply for a UK Administrative Review?
What are the UK Administrative Review costs and processing times?
| ITEM | FIGURE | APPLICATION CONTEXT |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | £80 | The Administrative Review fee is paid with the online request. |
| In-country refusal | 14 calendar days | Standard Administrative Review deadline for an applicant who is not detained. |
| Detained applicant | 7 calendar days | Deadline from the date the refusal notice is received. |
| Entry-clearance refusal | 28 calendar days | Applicant must request the review from outside the UK. |
| Published decision time | 12 months or more | Current Home Office processing position. |
| Home Office update | After 6 months | Update if no decision has been made. |
| Qualifying refund | Normally within 3 weeks | Measured from the Administrative Review decision date. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
No, the decision must be eligible and made under a route listed in Appendix Administrative Review. Most Appendix EU decisions made after 5 October 2023 are excluded under the EUSS review changes.
Your decision notice should state whether UK Administrative Review is available and give the deadline. Check the route and decision type as well, since an incorrect notice does not, by itself, create eligibility.
No, an entry-clearance refusal must be reviewed while you are outside the UK. Before applying online, check the decision letter, current location rule, and stated application deadline very carefully.
You may include an eligible family decision only in the circumstances set by the Rules. The family member must have been linked to the original application or a relevant cancelled permission.
No, a UK visa administrative review stays inside the Home Office and examines the original decision. A right of appeal leads to a tribunal and may involve different evidence, grounds, and deadlines.
A caseworking error is a failure to apply the Immigration Rules or published guidance correctly. Your grounds should identify the precise mistake and explain how it materially changed the decision.
Usually, the reviewer considers the evidence available with the original application. New material is accepted only within limited listed exceptions, including certain deception issues and failures involving specified supporting documents.
A Home Office reviewer who was not involved in the original decision considers the eligible decision. The reviewer checks the Rules, published guidance, and original record, then decides whether the refusal should remain or be withdrawn.
Identify the part of the interview record that does not match what was said. Then connect that difference to the refusal reason and to the published guidance the decision-maker applied.
Usually, only one review is available for each eligible decision. A further Home Office administrative review may be possible if the maintained decision introduces different or additional new refusal reasons.
The usual deadline is 14 calendar days in the UK, or 7 days if you were detained. An overseas entry-clearance refusal normally carries a full 28-day application deadline.
The current published waiting time for an Administrative Review decision is 12 months or more. If 6 months pass without a result, the Home Office should contact you with an update.
A new immigration application can invalidate or withdraw the review request. Compare that route with the administrative review process before acting, so you do not lose an existing live review.
If section 3C, which extends existing permission, applies, permission may continue during an in-time review. Leaving the UK still withdraws the review, so take legal advice before making any travel plans.
The decision may be withdrawn for reconsideration, maintained for the same reasons, or maintained with changed reasons. If it remains in force, check whether Judicial Review, a court process examining lawfulness, is available.
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