OA230782012

For the Appellant: Miss N Braganza, Counsel, instructed by Stevens Machi Solicitors

On 2 nd July 2014 First-tier Tribunal Judge Khawar issued a determination in relation to an appeal by Mrs Nadeem Siddique against the decision of an Entry Clearance Officer who refused her application for entry clearance to the United Kingdom as a returning resident. That decision was made on 9 th October 2012. First-tier Tribunal Judge Khawar found that the decision was in breach of the Immigration Rules and that it breached the appellant's right under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore, Mrs Siddique�s appeal was allowed and the decision was overturned.

The Entry Clearance Officer appeals against that decision. There are written grounds of appeal relating to alleged misconstruction of the Immigration Directorate Instructions and references to the judge�s decision in terms of it being in conflict with Zambrano . But, as has transpired in the course of the hearing before us, this case in fact turns on the First-tier Tribunal�s approach to what was and was not known by the Entry Clearance Officer at the time of the decision and the Tribunal�s approach thereafter to the validity of that decision.

The First-tier Tribunal Judge in considering the Entry Clearance Officer�s decision said this at paragraph 23:

The First-tier Tribunal Judge went on to speculate that had there been a review by an Entry Clearance Manager of the case then the decision �would potentially have been very different�. We use the word �speculate� advisedly. There was no evidence at all as to what an Entry Clearance Manager would or would not have done and no evidence at all as to with what material he would or would not have been provided.