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The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Hasanaj and Vasa v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA 777.
The appeals concerned individuals who came into the UK after immigration officers at the border stamped their passports with the words “Admitted to the United Kingdom under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016”. The individuals only qualified as extended family members, and so did not have any right of entry under those Regulations.
The Claimants' applications under the EU Settlement Scheme were refused on the basis that they did not hold the ‘relevant document’ required under Appendix EU, which evidenced that residence had been ‘facilitated’ in accordance with national law. They appealed those refusals.
The Court of Appeal held that these stamps demonstrated that immigration officers decided to admit the individuals and allowed them to enter the UK and reside here with their EU national family members. Those decisions had not been revoked and amounted to a ‘facilitation of residence’, such that the refusal to accept the stamps as evidencing the decision to admit them to the UK involved a breach of Article 18(1)(l)(iv) of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The judgment is available here.
And a summary of the case and footage of the oral argument can be found here.
Julia Smyth and Natasha Jackson acted for the Secretary of State.
