Matusha, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department (Revocation of ILR Policy): UTIAC 17 Jun 2021

1. When deciding whether leave was obtained by deception for the purpose of revocation of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under section 76(2)(a) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 the respondent’s policy, Revocation of Indefinite Leave (Version 4.0) (19 October 2015), is sufficiently flexible to allow the Secretary of State to consider whether ILR granted on a discretionary basis was obtained by deception. There must be clear and justifiable evidence of deception and evidence to show that the deception was material to the grant of leave.
2. Section 4.1 of the revocation policy contains a presumption that ILR ‘would not normally be revoked’ when the deception in question occurred more than five years ago. This part of the policy is framed in non-mandatory terms. Because it is a condition precedent to the exercise of the power under section 76(2)(a) that a person obtained leave by deception, the mere fact of a deception is not likely to be sufficient, taken alone, to depart from the presumption. The Secretary of State retains discretion to depart from the presumption, but should give adequate and rational reasons for doing so.
3. The nature, extent and significance of the deception is likely to form part of the assessment of whether ILR should be revoked or whether it is appropriate to depart from the presumption that ILR will not normally be revoked if the deception occurred more than five years before.
[2021] UKUT 175 (IAC)
Bailii
England and Wales

Updated: 17 August 2021; Ref: scu.666430