ECAA refusals and Administrative Review

01

Protect the deadline first

For an eligible refusal of permission to stay, the usual Administrative Review (AR) deadline is 14 calendar days from receiving the decision notice. It is 7 calendar days if you were detained under immigration powers on the decision date. An eligible entry-clearance refusal normally has a 28-calendar-day deadline and different location requirements.

Check the notice, how it was served and the date it reached you or your representative. Keep the notification email. An enquiry to us, a complaint or correspondence with the Home Office does not lodge an AR or stop the deadline. If time has already passed, obtain urgent advice about late acceptance and your status.

The original application date also matters. AR 1.2 preserves the earlier review rules for qualifying applications made before 4 April 2024. The rules for your file must be identified before grounds are prepared.

• Official AR eligibility, deadlines and transitional rules

02

Extension and settlement refusals raise different questions

An extension is assessed under Appendix ECAA Extension of Stay. For a businessperson, the issues can include a genuine, viable business, active involvement, investment, liabilities, available profits or disguised employment. A worker’s case turns on the relevant lawful employment history and continuing employment.

Settlement, also called indefinite leave to remain or ILR, has separate requirements under Appendix ECAA Settlement. These include the qualifying residence period, the relevant business or worker conditions, and knowledge of English and life in the UK. Partners and children have their own requirements.

For a residence refusal, check the dates and the applicable absence calculation. Appendix Continuous Residence includes exceptions for particular reasons for absence, including compelling and compassionate personal circumstances. Evidence must connect the reason relied on to the relevant absence. An extension and an ILR refusal should not be challenged using the same template.

• ECAA extension guide
• ECAA settlement / ILR guide
• Official continuous residence and absence rules

03

What Administrative Review can put right

AR asks the Home Office to correct a caseworking error. A different person on an independent team considers the review. It is a review within the Home Office, rather than a tribunal appeal.

A useful challenge identifies the rule or published guidance that was wrongly applied, shows the relevant evidence and explains how correcting the error changes the decision. Examples include a material document overlooked, an incorrect calculation, a requirement added to the Rules or a failure to follow the applicable evidence policy.

We test each refusal reason against the original application. Correcting one point may leave another refusal reason to answer. A successful AR can lead to the refusal being withdrawn for reconsideration; it does not itself guarantee a grant.

• Home Office Administrative Review guidance

04

Can new evidence be used?

Sometimes. Where the current Appendix Administrative Review applies, AR 3.3 identifies specific circumstances in which evidence not before the original decision-maker can be considered. These include certain false-representation or deception decisions and a failure to follow the published evidential flexibility policy.

The relevant question is why the evidence can be admitted. An accountant’s explanation, a corrected calculation or further medical evidence needs to be tied to the particular error and the applicable rule. AR is not a general opportunity to rebuild an unsuccessful application with any new material.

Where it applies, the relevant evidential flexibility guidance requires consideration of missing or inadequate evidence and explains when further information should be requested. A refusal without a request does not automatically succeed on review. We assess what was missing, what the caseworker knew and whether following the policy could have affected the result.

• AR 3.3: when additional evidence may be considered
• Home Office evidential flexibility guidance

05

Check your status before travel or a fresh application

Section 3C can continue existing permission where a valid application to extend or vary that permission was made before that permission expired and remained undecided when it expired. Where it applies, it can continue through the AR window and an in-time pending review, with the existing conditions. Simply having a right to AR does not create section 3C leave.

A fresh immigration application can withdraw a pending AR and end section 3C protection. It can also prevent a later AR of the earlier refusal. The choice must account for your right to work, business activity, residence history and family members.

Leaving the UK, or requesting your passport back to travel outside the UK, can cause the AR to be treated as withdrawn. Leaving the UK also ends section 3C leave. Obtain advice before booking travel, withdrawing a review or submitting another application.

• Home Office section 3C guidance
• GOV.UK: withdrawal, travel and new applications

06

How long does AR take?

On 24 September 2026, GOV.UK says an Administrative Review can take 12 months or more. It says the Home Office will provide an update if no decision has been made within 6 months. Those statements are not a guaranteed completion date for your case.

A long wait needs practical planning. If you have already applied for AR, tell us the submission date, any updates and the concrete effect of the delay. We can explain the scope of advice on follow-up and whether a further legal assessment is needed.

• Current published AR waiting-time information

07

AR, a fresh application and reconsideration

AR is appropriate to investigate where the original decision contains a reviewable error. A fresh application may be relevant where the requirements can now be met on a different or stronger factual basis. Its suitability depends on whether you can apply, the outstanding refusal reasons and the effect on your existing status.

A letter asking the original team to reconsider is not an AR. The published reconsideration procedure excludes decisions carrying an appeal or AR right. Correspondence identifying an error must not be treated as a replacement for lodging a valid challenge in time.

If AR has already been refused, obtain prompt advice on the decision and remaining options. A further AR may be available if the refusal was maintained for different or additional reasons. Judicial review is a separate legal procedure with its own requirements and time limits. Where it is relevant, the scope of work and any specialist referral must be agreed.

• Official limits on reconsideration requests
• Refusals, delays and complex immigration cases

08

How Strand Legal can help

Start with a short enquiry. Tell us whether the refusal concerns an ECAA extension or ILR, whether you are a businessperson, worker or family member, when you received the decision, your current location and any stated deadline. Mention an existing AR or another pending application.

We will explain the proposed service, scope and fees before you instruct us. Detailed review of the refusal, original evidence and grounds begins after the file is opened. You do not need to send a full document bundle with your initial enquiry.

• Make an ECAA refusal enquiry

Common questions