OA220942012

For the Respondent (Mrs Saleem): Mr O Popoola, Legal Representative of Community Legal Centre

This is an appeal brought by the Entry Clearance Officer against a decision of First-tier Tribunal Judge Napthine. For ease of reference I shall refer throughout this determination to the Entry Clearance Officer, who was the original respondent, as �the ECO� and to Mrs Saleem, who was the original appellant, as �the claimant�.

The claimant is a citizen of Iraq who was born on 16 January 1982. She is married to Mr Razi Tofiq Fatah, a British citizen, on 9 July 2012 and applied for entry clearance as a spouse the following day. On her application form she states that this was an arranged marriage.

The application was refused by the ECO on 14 October 2012, and the notice of immigration decision giving the ECO's reasons for refusal, is dated the same date. The ECO was not satisfied that there was a genuine subsisting marriage between the claimant and the sponsor or that the couple intended to live together permanently in the UK. Also, the ECO was not satisfied that either the maintenance/financial requirements or accommodation requirements set out within the Rules were satisfied.

The claimant appealed against this decision and her appeal was heard before First-tier Tribunal Judge Napthine sitting at Hatton Cross on 27 January 2014. Her husband, the sponsor, Mr Fatah attended that hearing, at which he gave evidence. Both the claimant and the ECO were represented at that hearing.