VA178352013 & VA178362013

This appeal is not subject to an anonymity order by the First-tier Tribunal pursuant to rule 13 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014. Neither party has invited me to make an anonymity order pursuant to rule 14 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 (SI 2008/2698) and I have not done so.

The appellant (hereafter the ECO) appeals against the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Designated First-tier Tribunal Judge Manuell) allowing the respondents' appeals against a decision taken on 21 August 2013 to refuse entry clearance as family visitors.

The respondents are citizens of Georgia, brother and sister, born there in 1997 and 1994. They applied to visit their father, Mr Boris Gelashvili ("the sponsor"), who is lawfully resident in the UK as the spouse of an EEA national.

The ECO accepted the respondents' identity and nationality but doubted their account as to how they were supported in Georgia by their mother and thus how their studies would continue. The ECO was not satisfied that the respondents were genuinely seeking entry to the UK as visitors or that they intended to leave the UK at the end of their visit. The applications were refused and the appeal was reviewed by an entry clearance manager on 14 January 2014 who maintained the decision.

The Secretary of State sought permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal on the basis that the First-tier Tribunal had erred in law because the proportionality assessment was inadequate. The judge did not find any reasons why the sponsor could not visit the respondents in Georgia. The decision did not interfere with family life between the sponsor and the respondents.