Immigration Bail UK: What It Means After a Visa Refusal (Kaur Case Explained)

Immigration bail

This is a term that you may encounter frequently, and it has multiple meanings. For one example, if a person is held in immigration detention they may apply for immigration bail, and to be released.

But sometimes the term operates in a very different sort of way, and this is something rather more complicated. If a person makes an immigration application and it is refused and there is no way forward they may find they are put on immigration bail by the Home Office. 

So, for example, a migrant makes an immigration application and it is refused and certified as “clearly unfounded” (and thus there is no right of appeal); this is just such a case. For another example, a migrant submits an administrative review application and it is refused. 

What does being put on immigration bail mean exactly? Well, for one thing it tells the world that such a person’s leave has run out and that they are now an overstayer. 

There are also rules about “exceptions for overstayers”, whereby migrants can in some circumstances submit an application for leave as an overstayer. But if they have been placed on immigration bail an application is no longer possible; at least that is what the immigration rule on applications says. It rather looks as though there is a clash between one rule and another – which prevails?

This issue was resolved (but not to everybody’s satisfaction) in a recent Court of Appeal case called Kaur, which involved just such a matter. Ms Kaur had had her leave to remain application as a Skilled Worker refused and certified as clearly unfounded, and there was no right of appeal, and she had been put on immigration bail. The application had been refused simply because she had been put on Immigration Bail, as the rule stated.

Unfortunately for Ms Kaur the court upheld the refusal decision. The court decided that the immigration rules on applications hold sway, and they override the rules about exceptions for overstayers, so Ms Kaur failed.

There is a lot of important learning here, and if you are affected by these sorts of issues we at GSN Immigration can give you useful advice. 

Oliver Westmoreland

Senior Immigration Lawyer