Challenge UK Visa Refusals

Application for Permission to Apply for Judicial Review against UKVI - Specialist Immigration Solicitors for JR against the UKVI

: Written by: Arshad Mahmood; Last Updated: 08 April 2026

You can apply for permission to the Upper Tribunal or High Court, as appropriate, for permission to apply for Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office UKVI after the Home Office UKVI has either failed to respond to the Pre Action Protocol (PAP) letter within 14 days or they have maintained the decision to refuse the UK visa or immigration application in their response to the Pre Action Protocol (PAP) letter. An application for permission to apply for Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office UKVI must be filed in the court within 3 months of the date of the immigration decision being challenged by way of Judicial Review (JR).

Premium Solicitors, open 7 days a week and 365 days a year, are specialist UK immigration solicitors. The high quality of UK visa and immigration services provided by our best team of fully qualified and experienced SRA-regulated immigration solicitors is self-evident from the 5-star Google Reviews rating by 99% of our clients.

Ask a Question for Free Immigration Advice

Our specialist team of immigration solicitors can provide free, 5-minute one-off advice about challenging your UK visa refusal decision through a Judicial Review (JR). Ask a question online to our specialist team of immigration solicitors for free immigration advice online, or book an appointment online for detailed immigration advice and consultation with one of our immigration Judicial Review solicitors concerning challenging the refusal of your UK visa and immigration application.

No Win, No Fee for Judicial Review (JR) Against The Home Office UKVI

Our specialist team of immigration solicitors can act for your Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office UKVI on no win no fee basis which means you will not have to pay our legal costs if you do not succeed in your Judicial Review and if we do succeed in the Judicial Review (JR) we will recover our legal costs from the Home Office UKVI.

The No Win, No Fee agreement does not cover disbursements or third-party costs, e.g. court fees and barrister fees in relation to your Judicial Review proceedings, and you will have to pay such costs for us to prepare and issue the Judicial Review proceedings. If we recover our legal costs from the Home Office UKVI in the event of succeeding in Judicial Review proceedings, the disbursement which you would have paid would be refunded to you, as such disbursements will also be recovered from the Home Office UKVI. However, if we are not able to recover our legal costs from the Home Office UKVI, you will not be able to recover the court fee and the Barrister's fees. It is also important that if you fail in your Judicial Review claim, the court may order the legal costs of the Home Office UKVI to be paid by you.

Please note that we will only take on your case on a No Win, No Fee basis if we find that there are good grounds to challenge the unlawful decision of the Home Office UKVI.

How To Apply For Permission For Judicial Review (JR)?

You can apply to the Upper Tribunal or High Court, as appropriate, for permission to apply for Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office, UKVI, by using the relevant Judicial Review form for challenging the refusal of a UK visa and an immigration application. The claim form must include or be accompanied by -

a detailed statement of the claimant's grounds for bringing the claim for judicial review;
a statement of the facts relied on;
any application to extend the time limit for filing the claim form; and
any application for directions.

Where you are seeking to raise any issue under the Human Rights Act 1998, or a remedy available under that Act, the claim form must include the information required by paragraph 16 of the Practice Direction supplementing Part 16 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

The claim form must also be accompanied by

any written evidence in support of the claim or application to extend time;
a copy of any order that you are seeking to have quashed;
where the claim for judicial review relates to a decision of a court or tribunal, an approved copy of the reasons for reaching that decision;
copies of any documents upon which you propose to rely;
copies of any relevant statutory material;
a list of essential documents for advance reading by the court (with page references to the passages relied upon). Where only part of a page needs to be read, that part should be indicated, by side-lining or in some other way, but not by highlighting.

Where it is not possible for you to file all the above documents, you must indicate which documents have not been filed and the reasons why they are not currently available. The defendant and/or the interested party may seek an extension of time for the lodging of its acknowledgement of service pending receipt of the missing documents.

You must also lodge sufficient additional copies of the claim form for the court to seal them (i.e. stamp them with the court seal) so that you can serve them on the defendant and any interested parties. The sealed copies will be returned to you so that you can serve them on the Home Office, UKVI and any interested parties.

If you are represented by solicitors, they must also provide a paginated, indexed bundle of the relevant legislative provisions and statutory instruments required for the proper consideration of the application. If you are acting in person, you should comply with this requirement if possible.

Application for Urgent Consideration or Interim Order

If you want to make an application for your permission application to be heard/considered by a Judge as a matter of urgency and/or to seek an interim injunction, you must complete a Request for Urgent Consideration. The form sets out the reasons for urgency, the timescale sought for consideration of the permission application (e.g., within 72 hours or sooner if necessary), and the date by which the substantive Judicial Review hearing should take place.

Where you are seeking an interim injunction, you must, in addition, provide a draft order and the grounds for the injunction. You must serve the claim form, the draft order and the application for urgency on the Home Office UKVI's legal representatives, i.e. Government Legal Department (GLD) and interested parties (by FAX and by post), advising them of the application and informing them that they may make representations directly to the Court in respect of your urgent consideration application.

A judge will consider the application within the time requested and may make such order as he/she considers appropriate. The judge may refuse your application for permission at this stage if he/she considers it appropriate, in the circumstances, to do so.

If the Judge directs that an oral hearing must take place within a specified time, the court will liaise with you or your legal representatives and the representatives of the other parties to fix a permission hearing within the time period directed.

Where a manifestly inappropriate urgent consideration application is made, consideration may, in appropriate cases, be given by the court to make a wasted costs order against the applicant/claimant.

Serving JR Bundle On the Home Office, UKVI & Any Interested Parties

The sealed copy of Judicial Review (JR) bundle must be served on the Home Office, UKVI and any person that you consider to be an interested party (unless the court directs otherwise) within 5 days of the date of issue (i.e. the date shown on the court seal).

You should lodge a statement with the court by completing the appropriate form within 7 days of serving the Respondent and other interested parties, confirming that the Judicial Review (JR) bundle was served on the Home Office, UKVI.

Acknowledgement Of Service (AOS)

Any person who has been served with the claim form and who wishes to take part in the Judicial Review (JR) should file an Acknowledgement of Service (AOS) in the court, within 21 days of the Judicial Review (JR) proceedings being served upon them. In immigration cases, the Acknowledgement of Service (AOS) is filed by the Government Legal Department (GLD) on behalf of their client, the Home Office, UKVI.

The Acknowledgement of Service (AOS) must set out the summary of grounds for contesting the claim and the name and address of any person considered to be an interested party (who has not previously been identified and served as an interested party).

The acknowledgement of service must be served upon you or your appointed legal representatives and the interested parties no later than 7 days after it is filed with the court. Failure to file an acknowledgement of service renders it necessary for the party concerned to obtain the permission of the court to take part in any oral hearing of the application for permission.

Decision On An Application For Permission To Apply For Judicial Review

Applications for permission to proceed with the claim for Judicial Review are considered by a single judge on the papers. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that applications are dealt with speedily and without unnecessary expense. The papers will be forwarded to the judge by the court upon receipt of the Acknowledgement of Service or at the expiry of the time limit for lodging such acknowledgement – whichever is earlier.

The judge's decision and the reasons for it will be served upon you / your appointed legal representatives, the Government Legal Department (GLD) and any other person served with the claim form. If the judge grants permission and you wish to pursue the claim, you must pay a further appropriate court fee (or a further Application for Remission of Fee (Form EX160) to the court within 7 days of service of the judge's decision upon you. If you do not pay the additional fee, your file may be closed by the court.

If permission is refused, or is granted subject to conditions or on certain grounds only, you may request a reconsideration of that decision at an oral hearing.

Legal Costs If Your Application Is Unsuccessful

The general rule is that the losing party in a substantive claim for judicial review will be ordered to pay the other parties' costs. However, the Judge considering the matter has discretion to deal with the issue of costs as he/she considers appropriate in all of the circumstances. Costs may be awarded in respect of an unsuccessful paper application. Any application by the Respondent/interested party for costs will normally be made in the Acknowledgement of Service.

How Can We Help?

As specialist immigration solicitors for Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office, UKVI, we can represent you in your application to the court for permission to apply for Judicial Review (JR). Our specialist team of immigration solicitors will carry out all the work on your permission application for Judicial Review until a decision is made by the Upper Tribunal Judge on your permission application. The immigration casework for your application to the Upper Tribunal for permission to apply for Judicial Review will entail the following:

Assessing the UK visa refusal decision and identifying any potential grounds for challenging the UK visa refusal decision of the Home Office UKVI by way of Judicial Review against the Home Office, UKVI;
Advising you about the relevant immigration law and procedure to be adopted by the court in your application for permission to apply for Judicial Review;
Discussing your Judicial Review case in detail with you and advising you about the weaknesses and strengths of your Judicial Review against the Home Office UKVI;
If necessary, instructing an immigration Barrister for drafting of Judicial Review grounds in support of the paper application for permission to apply for Judicial Review;
Completing the relevant Judicial Review form and preparing a list of essential reading;
Preparing an indexed and paginated Judicial Review (JR) bundle containing all the relevant documents to be relied upon in your Judicial Review permission application;
Preparing a cover letter to introduce and support the application for permission to apply for Judicial Review, and filing the application with the court;
Assessing the grounds of defence filed by the Government Legal Department (GLD) in the Acknowledgement of Service (AOS) and discussing the same in detail with you;
Doing all the follow-up work on the Judicial Review permission application until the decision is made by the Judge on your permission application for Judicial Review (JR).

Specialist Immigration Solicitors for Challenging Refusal Decisions

Our immigration solicitors are specialists in challenging UK visa refusal decisions through a Judicial Review against the Home Office UKVI. As one of the best immigration solicitors, we have an excellent track record of helping clients successfully challenge refusal decisions through a Judicial Review against the Home Office UKVI. Our highly experienced and fully qualified immigration solicitors can provide fast, friendly, reliable, and fixed-fee immigration advice and legal representation for challenging immigration refusal decisions through a Judicial Review against the Home Office UKVI.

The high quality of UK visa and immigration legal services provided by our best team of immigration lawyers is self-evident from the 5-star Google Reviews rating by 99% of our clients. Our London-based immigration solicitors are available 7 days a week, 365 days a year, offering unwavering dedication and exceptional legal support for challenging all types of immigration refusal decisions. Our team of highly regarded immigration solicitors brings together more than 6 decades of collective, specialised expertise in successfully challenging the UK visa refusals.

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At Premium Solicitors, our strength lies in the expertise, dedication, and unwavering commitment of our immigration solicitors in London. We understand that immigration matters are life-changing events, and our team is here to guide you through every step of the legal process with professionalism and care.

Our team comprises a diverse group of immigration solicitors, each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. We are united by a shared goal: to deliver the highest level of legal support and advocacy tailored to your immigration needs.