R v Secretary of state for the home department ex parte Sylvester Brakwah
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 02 February 1989 |
| Date | 02 February 1989 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
Queen's Bench Division
Divisional Court
Glidewell LJ, Pill J
G Deve for the applicant
D Pannick for the respondent
Cases referred to in the judgments:
Khawaja v Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentELR [1982] Imm AR 139: [1984] 1 AC 74.
Adesina v Secretary of State for the Home Department [1988] Imm AR 442.
Illegal entrant visa national granted leave to enter as visitor then enrolled as student and worked whether material deception on application for visa and on admission the distinction between wish and intention. Immigration Act 1971 s. 33(1) HC 169 para. 21.
The applicant for judicial review was a citizen of Ghana. He had applied for and been granted a visa as a visitor and was subsequently given leave to enter for six months, with employment prohibited. Shortly after his arrival he enrolled as a student of banking and took part-time work with it seems, the approval of the Department of Employment. After he came to the notice of the authorities and enquiries had been made, the Secretary of State decided that he was an illegal entrant, having deceived both the entry clearance officer and the immigration officer as to his intentions. There was evidence that he had been granted three years' study leave by his employers in Ghana after the grant of the visa and before his departure for the United Kingdom. The applicant had agreed that before he left Accra it was in my mind [to study] if the conditions are favourable.
It was argued before the Court that the applicant had had no more than a wish to study, at the material times.
Held:
1. The applicant had been properly categorised as an illegal entrant.
2. While there was a philosophical distinction between a wish and an intention, it was a distinction of no real significance in the case: somebody who enters wishing to study if he can get into a college and do something if he does get into a college can properly be described as intending to study at the time when he seeks entry to the country.
Glidewell LJ: This is an application for judicial review, namely for an order of certiorari to quash a notice dated 24 July 1988, issued on behalf of the Home Secretary indicating that the applicant is an illegal entrant to this country. I say at once that we propose to refuse the application.
The applicant, Mr Sylvester Anthony Kweku Brakwah, is a native and citizen of Ghana. He is now 30 years of age. In January last year he applied for a visa in order to visit the United Kingdom. He is subject to immigration control. He requires leave to enter the United Kingdom if he is to do so under section 3(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, and he comes from a country where a visa is required to be obtained before entry if the immigration officer at the point of entry, Heathrow in this case, is to grant leave to enter.
As I have said, he applied for that visa. He filled in an application form and was interviewed by an entry clearance officer. We have a record of that interview, which is quite short. On 1 February 1988 he was granted a visa, entitling him to visit the United Kingdom as a visitor for a short visit.
It seems that he was employed by a bank in Accra in Ghana, and...
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R v Secretary of state for the home department ex parte Maxwell Chikwendu Nwanurue
...Secretary of State for the Home Department [1989] Imm AR 135. R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Sylvester Brakwah [1989] Imm AR 366. Secretary of State for the Home Department v Abu Mowla [1991] Imm AR 210. Illegal entrant leave to enter sought and granted as visitor i......