VA135492013 & VA136922013

This is an appeal against the determination of First-tier Tribunal Judge Bircher, promulgated on 25 th February 2014, following a hearing on 11 th February 2014. In the determination, the judge dismissed the appeals of Mr Ajaykumar Shah and Mrs Urvi Shah. The Appellants subsequently applied for, and were granted, permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, and thus the matter comes before me.

The Appellants are husband and wife. They are citizens of India. They were born on 8 th August 1971 and 3 rd July 1967 respectively. They applied for entry clearance to visit their brother and brother-in-law respectively, but on 5 th July 2013, their application was dismissed by the Entry Clearance Officer on applying paragraph 41 of HC 395.

The Appellants� claim is that the husband is a self-employed trader and earns approximately �444 per month and that the couple have two children, and that they are likely to return back to India at the end of their visit.

The judge was satisfied that the Appellants had strong ties to India. They had submitted affidavits from the Appellants. There was an affidavit from their son. However, the ECO had raised a legitimate enquiry in relation to their financial circumstances, and yet failed to address this in the Grounds of Appeal, such that there was no explanation as to how Mr Shah, the principal Appellant, was involved in his business, and who would be managing the business during the two months that he intended to be in the UK.

The grounds of application state that the couple have two daughters who are studying in India and that they would remain behind and be looked after by their aunt who will take them into their home.