Getting a refusal letter can feel like the floor drops out from under you — but the next step isn’t always “appeal”. In UK immigration, only certain Home Office decisions carry a right of appeal, and most of the time the key question is whether your case is treated as a protection claim or a human rights claim.
This guide explains (1) which decisions usually qualify for an appeal, and (2) what “human rights grounds” actually means in real life — not in vague, headline terms, but how it works in practice.
If you want a quick overview of your options after a refusal, start here: UK Visa Refusals.
Start with your decision letter (it tells you what you can do)
Before you do anything else, read the refusal notice closely. It should tell you whether you have:
- a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), or
- the option to request an Administrative Review, or
- Neither (meaning you may need to consider a fresh application or Judicial Review).
If the letter says you can appeal, it will usually reference appeal rights and how to submit the appeal. If you can’t see it clearly, don’t guess — getting this wrong wastes time you often don’t have.
If you’re unsure what route applies, this page gives a practical breakdown of challenges: Appeals and Judicial Review.
Which visa refusals actually qualify for an appeal?
In simple terms, you can usually appeal only if the decision is one of the categories the law allows. The main “appealable” buckets are:
1) Protection claims (asylum / humanitarian protection)
If the Home Office refuses a protection claim, you normally have a right of appeal to the tribunal. (This is the most straightforward category in appeal-rights terms.)
2) Human rights claims
If the refusal decision is of a human rights claim, you normally have a right of appeal. This is where most people get tripped up, because “human rights” has a specific legal meaning, and not every refusal involves a human rights claim (even if the situation feels deeply unfair).
We’ll break down what counts (and what doesn’t) in the next section.
3) Certain “citizens’ rights” decisions (including EU Settlement Scheme)
Some decisions under post-Brexit citizens’ rights rules can carry appeal rights. If your refusal relates to the EU Settlement Scheme, the appeal mechanics can be different — and the “wrong route” problem is common (people try to reapply or do the wrong challenge first).
If this is your situation, read: EU Settlement Scheme refusals and appeal rights and also Settled and Pre-Settled Status for EU Nationals.
What “human rights grounds” means in practice
Here’s the legal core: a human rights claim is (broadly) a claim that removing you from the UK (or refusing you in a way that leads to removal / exclusion) would be unlawful under the Human Rights Act 1998. That definition sits in section 113 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, and it’s also reflected in Home Office guidance.
What that means in normal-person terms: you’re saying “If the Home Office makes me leave (or keeps me out), it will breach my protected rights.”
The most common human rights route: Article 8 (family and private life)
In day-to-day immigration work, the human rights argument you’ll hear most is Article 8: your right to respect for family life and private life.
In practice, Article 8 cases often revolve around things like:
- your partner/spouse living in the UK
- your relationship with a child in the UK
- long residence and deep roots (work history, community ties, etc.)
- the practical reality of relocating (especially for children)
Tribunals also weigh the “public interest” factors Parliament has set out — it’s not enough to say “this is hard”; you usually need to show why refusal is disproportionate in your specific circumstances.
If you want a plain-English view of how judges think about Article 8 evidence, read: Article 8 family and private life appeals.
Other human rights grounds (less common, but important)
Depending on your facts, human rights arguments can also involve:
- Article 3 (risk of inhuman or degrading treatment)
- Article 2 (right to life)
- Article 6 (fair trial — less common in standard visa refusals)
These are serious legal tests and often evidence-heavy.
Why you might not have a right of appeal (even if you feel the decision is wrong)
A key frustration is that many visa refusals do not come with appeal rights. Home Office guidance is clear that if no human rights claim has been made, a refusal may be issued with no right of appeal (and in some situations no Administrative Review either).
This is especially common in points-based style decisions where the Home Office expects challenges to go through an internal error-correction route rather than a tribunal appeal.
That’s why, when the refusal lands, the smartest first question is often:
“Is this an appealable decision — or is my route Administrative Review / fresh application / Judicial Review?”
If you don’t have an appeal: your main alternatives
Administrative Review (AR)
Administrative Review is designed to fix caseworking errors (for example, applying the wrong rule, misreading evidence, or missing something already submitted).
But it’s not a second application, and it’s not a place to introduce brand-new legal grounds. Home Office guidance also makes clear that AR is not where the Home Office considers fresh human rights arguments.
If AR is your route, this overview is a good starting point: UK Visa Refusals.
Judicial Review (JR)
If the decision is unlawful, irrational, or procedurally unfair — and you don’t have an appeal right — you may need to consider Judicial Review (often after a pre-action step). JR is technical and deadline-driven, so it’s important to get proper advice early. A useful overview: Appeals and Judicial Review.
Deadlines and fees (this is where people accidentally lose their chance)
If you do have a right of appeal, the standard deadlines are:
- 14 days to appeal if you’re in the UK
- 28 days to appeal if you’re outside the UK
Most First-tier immigration appeals also have a fee, depending on whether you want a decision “on the papers” or at a hearing:
- £80 without a hearing
- £140 with a hearing
And it’s worth being realistic about timing. The system has been under serious pressure: in July–September 2025, the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) received 30,000 appeals and had an open caseload of 121,000.
What you should do next (a practical checklist)
- Identify your route from the refusal letter: appeal, AR, or neither.
- Calendar the deadline immediately (14/28 days is tight).
- Pull your evidence together (and check it matches what the Home Office says is missing or wrong).
- Work out the real legal issue: is it an eligibility point, a credibility point, or a human rights proportionality point?
- If you’re heading toward a family-based argument, look at the relevant route pages (for example, Spouse Visa or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)).
- If your refusal affects your employer or sponsorship, it’s worth reading: Sponsor Licence Suspension and Revocation.
- If your long-term plan is settlement or nationality, keep the endgame in mind: British Citizenship.
Talk to an immigration solicitor before you lock in the wrong route
The biggest “avoidable disaster” after a refusal is committing to the wrong challenge — appealing when you can’t, or wasting time on AR when what you really need is a different strategy.
If you want help working out whether you have a right of appeal, and whether your case genuinely sits on human rights grounds, speak to the team at Garth Coates Solicitors. Start here: UK Immigration Lawyers or contact us directly via Contact.
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