Click here to read the full case.
This appeal sees the Court of Appeal considering again the controversial “date of award” requirement under the now closed Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrant route – that is, the requirement that the applicant must have made the application “within 12 months of obtaining the relevant qualification”. The A was one of many who applied under the route, shortly before it closed, at a time when he had completed his studies but not yet been awarded his degree.
His representative sought to distinguish the decisions in Nasim and others (Raju: reasons not to follow?) [2013] UKUT 00610 (IAC), and Rasheed and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 1493 by founding the argument on the text of the application form which at § G5 referred to the option to send “an original letter from the institution giving details of the awarding body, and confirmation that the certificate of award will be issued”. This, it was argued, created a legitimate expectation that the strict requirement of the rules would be waived.
The appeal was dismissed with the Court of Appeal following Nasim and Rasheed. The Court held that § G5 required “confirmation that the certificate of award will be issued” which the A’s letter did not. Moreover, part G as a whole is concerned with the nature of the qualification, and not with the date on which it was awarded, which is dealt with in part K.