OA044692013

There was no appearance on behalf of the respondent. I was satisfied that the notice of hearing had been sent to the claimant in Pakistan, Sky Solicitors Limited in London and her sponsor in Newport. As there was no explanation for the non-appearance, I proceeded with the hearing in the absence of any representation on her behalf.

The appellant, (the ECO) has been granted permission to appeal the determination of First-tier Tribunal Judge Rowlands allowing the respondent�s appeal against refusal to grant her entry clearance to the UK as the spouse of a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrant under the Points-Based System as being not in accordance with the law and also allowing the appeal on human rights grounds. The judge dismissed the respondent�s appeal on immigration grounds.

The judge found that copy statements were supplied with the application relating to a Barclays Bank account in the sponsor�s name, for the period 23 August to 21 December 2012. At the hearing the sponsor produced specified copies of those statements, meeting the requirements of Appendix C of the Rules and bearing the official stamp of the bank on every page. He found that those statements established that the said account was in credit for a sum in excess of �2,000 for the continuous period from 23 August 2012 to 21 December 2012, a sum well in excess of the required amount.

Nevertheless the judge considered that the ECO�s decision was in accordance with the Immigration Rules because the documents supplied with the application did not meet the specified criteria. He dismissed the appeal on immigration grounds.

The judge relied on the decision in Thakur and found that the failure to afford the claimant the opportunity of correcting the omission amounted to an unfairness. Consequently, he found that the ECO�s decision was not in accordance with the law and allowed the appeal on this basis.