AIT 1. Whilst respect for ‘private life’ in Art 8 does not include a right to work or study per se, social ties and relationships (depending upon their duration and richness) formed during periods of study or work are capable of constituting ‘private life’ for the purposes of Art 8.
2. In determining a Tier 1 (post-study) worker case where Art 8 is relied upon, the 5-stage approach in Razgar should be followed.
3. When determining the issue of proportionality in such cases, it will always be important to evaluate the extent of the individual’s social ties and relationships in the UK. However, a student here on a temporary basis has no expectation of a right to remain in order to further these ties and relationships if the criteria of the points-based system are not met. Also, the character of an individual’s ‘private life’ relied upon is ordinarily by its very nature of a type which can be formed elsewhere, albeit through different social ties, after the individual is removed from the UK. In that respect, ‘private life’ claims of this kind are likely to advance a less cogent basis for outweighing the public interest in proper and effective immigration control than are claims based upon ‘family life’ (or quasi-family life such as same-sex relationships) where the relationships are more likely to be unique and cannot be replicated once the individual leaves the UK.
Grubb SIJ, Hall IJ
[2009] UKAIT 00037
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 11 August 2021; Ref: scu.377922