IA045262014

The Appellant, a national of Gambia, date of birth 14 November 1986, appealed against the Respondent's decision, dated 27 December 2013, to refuse a residence permit based upon the Appellant's claim to be an extended family member of an EEA national under Regulation 8 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006. The appeal came before First-tier Tribunal Judge Zahed (the judge), who heard the case on 30 September 2014 and sent for e-promulgation his decision on 20 October 2014. For reasons that have not been enquired into the decision was promulgated by the administration on 15 January 2015.

For the avoidance of doubt there was no material delay between the hearing and the judge's signing off of his decision.

With such limited evidence before him, the judge, was confronted simply by the evidence from the Sponsor in a sponsorship statement and an unsigned statement of which there was nothing to indicate it was ever verified with the Sponsor as being factually correct. The unsigned statement was undated. The judge therefore had to do the best he could with the material before him.

Secondly, it was said that the judge erred in law because he gave no weight to the witness statement of the Sponsor.

It is clear from the evidence that was advanced that essentially what was being relied upon, in the main if not entirely, was the relationship between the Sponsor and the Appellant as evidenced by the statement of the Appellant dated 30 September 2014.