Overview
Administrative review asks the Home Office to look again at its own decision for caseworking error. It is quicker to lodge and far cheaper than an appeal, and for the decisions it covers, mainly points-based and other non-human-rights refusals, it is often the only direct challenge available. Its limits matter as much as its uses: it reviews the decision on the material already provided, it is decided by the Home Office rather than a judge, and lodging the wrong challenge can cost you the right one.
Deadlines run from the decision. Call 0330 174 4233.
When Administrative Review Applies
Your decision letter tells you whether administrative review is available. Broadly, it covers eligible refusals where no right of appeal arises, typically work, study and other points-based decisions. If you applied from outside the UK and were refused, you apply from outside the UK; in-country refusals have their own review route, and border cancellations another.
Deadlines And Fee
From outside the UK, you must apply within 28 days of receiving the decision, online, with a fee of £80.00. In-country deadlines are shorter. The review is limited to identifying caseworking error: the reviewer checks whether the decision-maker applied the rules correctly to what was before them. New evidence is generally not considered, which is the fundamental difference from an appeal.
Current Timescales, And What They Mean
The Home Office currently states that administrative review results can take 12 months or more, with an update promised if no decision arrives within 6 months. Your rights are not affected by the delay, but life plans often are, and the waiting period is a factor in choosing between review, reapplication and judicial review. For time-critical cases, a fresh corrected application is often faster than a successful review.
The Traps
- Making any other immigration or visa application withdraws your review automatically, and the fee is not refunded
- You cannot request a second review unless the first found new refusal reasons
- Administrative review cannot fix an application that was itself defective; it fixes caseworker error
- Using administrative review where judicial review was needed can burn the JR time limit
This is why the first step is always reading the refusal against the rules: the right remedy follows from why you were actually refused.
How We Help
We assess your position honestly before anything is submitted, prepare and check every document against the current Rules, and deal with the Home Office on your behalf from first advice to decision. Offices in Leeds, Sheffield and London, with clients across the UK and worldwide.
We assess whether caseworking error is genuinely arguable, draft the review grounds precisely against the error, and advise honestly when reapplication or judicial review is the better route. Where the review window is closing, we act the same day.
FAQs
Is administrative review worth it at £80.00?
When there is a real caseworking error, yes, emphatically. When the problem is your evidence, no; the review will confirm the refusal and cost you months.
Can I submit new documents?
Generally no. The review looks at the decision on the material provided. Missing evidence points to reapplication instead.
What happens if the review succeeds?
The decision is corrected, normally resulting in the grant your application should have received.
What if it fails?
The refusal stands. Depending on the case, reapplication or judicial review follows. The failed review’s reasoning often shapes the next step.