IA227232015

The appellant is a national of Nigeria, born on 28 September 1977. He appeals with permission against the decision of First-tier Tribunal Judge J S Pacey who dismissed his appeal against the decision of the respondent dated 16 June 2015, who refused his application for a residence card under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 ("the 2006 Regulations"). His appeal was decided on the papers.

The appellant applied for a residence card as the husband of his sponsor, a national of France. She had worked for Spark Legend (UK) Ltd in permanent employment. The respondent however noted that the company had been dissolved on 17 March 2015 and the appellant had failed to provide evidence that his sponsor was working.

In his skeleton argument before the First-tier Tribunal it was asserted that the sponsor had been employed by Spark Legend but was now employed by Apex Recruiting Agency, a sister company. Evidence had been supplied to this effect [6]. The appellant also stated in his witness statement that his sponsor is now employed by Apex Recruitment Agency.

In paragraph 4 of her witness statement, the appellant's sponsor stated that both Spark Legend and Apex Recruiting Agency were owned by the same organisation and when Spark Legend was dissolved, those who had been working with Spark Legend were absorbed into Apex Recruitment [9].

The Judge had regard to a letter from Spark Legend dated 22 November 2013, confirming the sponsor's employment. There was a payslip dated 6 December 2013 and a letter from Apex Recruitment Agency Ltd dated 24 August 2015 in which it was stated that the sponsor had been employed by them since 1 August 2015.