Family Visa and Mobeen 2021

We have followed with great interest the case of Ms Mobeen who is a 66 year old widow and has three children in the UK all of whom are British. She was a regular visitor to the UK and spent the majority of her time in the UK.  She remained as an over stayer since July 2014 and made an application for leave to remain on the basis of the Human Rights Act outside the Immigration Rules.  The application was refused.  The argument that the Home Office used to refuse the application was that Ms Mobeen had spent the majority of her life in Pakistan; she speaks the language and was educated there and she can remain in contact with her family via modern forms of communication. There was no reason why the family could not continue financially supporting her even after she left for Pakistan.  She lost the appeal at the First Tier Tribunal and the case was heard at the Court of Appeal.  

The Court of Appeal, unlike the First Tier Tribunal, did find that there was family life between the appellant and her family but did not accept that she could meet the high threshold in the adult dependent relative rules.  It was stated that she has established a family life in the UK at a time when her immigration status was precarious and she would be financially supported and accommodated by her children on return.  Therefore, the decision to refuse the application will be proportionate. 

It is interesting to see that in other cases where the Home Office refuses an application they now cite the case of Mobeen stating that applying the ratio of this case with particular references to the Immigration Rules, other cases should be dismissed.