R Uddin v Secretary of State for the Home Department
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | D Gill |
| Judgment Date | 12 December 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] EWHC 4400 (Admin) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Docket Number | CO/6150/2013 |
| Date | 12 December 2013 |
[2013] EWHC 4400 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL
D Gill
(Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)
CO/6150/2013
Mr Biggs appeared on behalf of the Claimant
Miss Dehon appeared on behalf of the Defendant
DEPUTY JUDGE: The claimant is a national of Bangladesh who seeks permission to challenge the defendant's decision of 20 March 2013 to refuse his application of 7 September 2012, for leave to remain to study at Sevenoaks College. The defendant refused the application because, at the date of the decision, Sevenoaks College was not listed on the Tier 4 Sponsor Register. I understand from Mr Biggs today that it appears that the sponsor's licence was revoked in February 2013. The precise date on which the licence was revoked is not material to my decision as such but I shall use the date February 2013 for convenience.
The immigration history is relevant in this case in order to put into context the arguments as they have developed today. The claimant arrived in the United Kingdom with entry clearance valid from 26 August 2009 to 1 December 2011. On 29 November 2011 he applied for further leave to remain as a Tier 4 student. This was refused by way of a letter dated 13 March 2012, a decision which attracted a right of appeal which the claimant duly exercised. His appeal was dismissed by the First-tier Tribunal in a determination promulgated on 18 July 2012. The claimant's application for permission to appeal was refused by the First-tier Tribunal on 30 July 2012 and by the Upper Tribunal on 8 August 2012. This means that the claimant exhausted his appeal rights on 20 August 2012. This was the date on which his leave under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 expired. This is an important date in the context of the arguments. Also important is the fact that the claimant then made his application on 7 September 2012 within twenty-eight days of his Section 3C leave expiring. The defendant's decision to refuse his application on the basis of the revocation of the sponsor's licence was made about six months later, the licence having been revoked, as I said, some time in February 2013.
The principal argument advanced on the claimant's behalf is based upon the reasoning of the Upper Tribunal in Patel [2011] UKUT 00211. In particular, reliance is placed upon paragraph 22 of that determination where the Tribunal said that common law fairness and the principle of treating applicants equally meant that they should have an opportunity to vary their applications by affording them a reasonable time in which to find a course at a substitute college on which to base their application for an extension of stay to obtain the relevant qualification. In Patel, the Tribunal considered that students who had original leave when they made their applications for...
To continue reading
Request your trial