The Home Office regrets that it has not been possible to give the usual 21 days’ notice before some of these changes take effect. This is because the new rules on administrative review are being brought into effect on the same day that section 15 of the Immigration Act 2014 comes into force for some applicants, and a similarly reduced notice period is being given for the commencement of section 15, which will come into force on 20th October 2014.
Section 15 substitutes a new section 82 into the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which sets out new rights of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. The effect of the commencement of section 15 will be to remove the right of appeal for certain persons who have been refused further leave to remain under Tier 4 of the Points Based System where the application is made on or after 20th October 2014. The new rules changes will introduce a right for these Tier 4 applicants to apply for an administrative review, as set out in this Statement of Changes.
The reason for the reduced notice period is to prevent a surge in applications by Tier 4 applicants seeking to preserve their right of appeal. Usually, applications for further leave should be submitted shortly before leave is due to expire, but there are
concerns that if there is a significant time period between the date announcing the commencement of section 15 and the date of coming into force, then a large volume of applicants for leave to remain may make their application early to attempt to
preserve their right of appeal. The right of appeal can be used as a means of delaying departure from the UK because appeals take several months to conclude, irrespective of whether there is merit in the grounds of appeal, whereas the new administrative review process will be quick.
