UI2024002316

             By email dated 14 February 2025, the appellant excused his attendance at the hearing due to his wife's advanced pregnancy which he describes as 'not normal'. He requested that the hearing go ahead in his absence and relies on the case of Lata v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKUT 163 and argues that the hearing should focus on the issues identified by the respondent. Ms McKenzie did not object to this proposal and we agreed to proceed in the absence of the appellant.

             We have therefore made our decision on the basis of the documentary evidence that has been served and the submissions from Ms McKenzie at the hearing..

             As recorded at [1-4] of the error of law decision, the background to this appeal is as follows;

The appellant is a 24-year-old citizen of Albania. On 27 May 2023 he made an application for leave to remain in the United Kingdom under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The basis of his application was that he had been resident in the United Kingdom since 1 June 2020 as the spouse of a relevant EEA citizen, Petya Petrova.

The appellant appealed against that decision to the First-tier Tribunal. In his grounds of appeal the appellant said that he had found his marriage certificate and he served a bundle of evidence which he said demonstrated his relationship with Ms Petrova and his continuous residence in the United Kingdom since 2020. He requested that his appeal be considered without a hearing on the basis of the bundle of evidence he served and the material submitted to the respondent with the application.