UI2022003377 & UI2022003378

      The appellants are citizens of Pakistan born on 1 February 1966 and 20 March 1992 respectively. They are mother and son.

      Their appeals are against the decision of the Entry Clearance Officer ("ECO") to refuse their applications for a family permit pursuant to Regulation 8 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 ("the EEA Regulations") to join, Mr Mohammed Iqbal, the sponsor, who is a Dutch national exercising Treaty rights in the UK. The appellants are the half-sister and nephew of the sponsor respectively.

      Their appeals were allowed by First-tier Tribunal Judge Ripley on 23 February 2022. The ECO sought, and was granted, permission to appeal against that decision, and by a decision promulgated on 3 July 2023, Upper Tribunal Judge Frances found that the First-tier Tribunal had materially erred in law and set aside its decision, with a direction to the appellants to file and serve further evidence and witness statements no later than 28 days before the rehearing of the appeal in this Tribunal.

      In setting aside the decision of the First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal Judge Frances preserved its findings at [9] and [10] which read as follows:

"9. The issue in these appeals concerns only the dependency of the appellants on the sponsor. There is no dispute that the sponsor is an EEA national and that he resides in the UK and is exercising treaty rights here. It is also not disputed that the first appellant is a relative of the sponsor, his half-sister and the second is also a relative, his nephew.