UK Visas and Immigration updated its Rights of appeal caseworker guidance on 8 May 2026, covering appeal rights for people refused protection or human rights claims and the caseworkers who decide those claims.
Key facts
- Who: People refused a protection or human rights claim, and Home Office caseworkers deciding those claims
- From: 8 May 2026 (the date the guidance is marked as updated)
- Source: Immigration Act 2014 – appeals: caseworker guidance
The text we reviewed does not describe a change to the cohorts to which section 94B certification may be applied. Section 94B is covered in separate certification guidance, which we have not reviewed here.
The "Rights of appeal (accessible)" guidance, part of the publication Immigration Act 2014 – appeals: caseworker guidance, is marked as updated on 8 May 2026. The publication states that the appeals changes in the Immigration Act 2014 have been fully implemented. The version history in the guidance records version 17.0 as published for Home Office staff on 30 September 2025, with updated references to the Immigration Rules and a change that those with extant permission cannot appeal on human rights grounds.
The guidance sets out the decisions that carry a right of appeal under section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: refusal of a protection claim, refusal of a human rights claim and revocation of protection status.
On section 94B, the guidance says section 92 should be read together with sections 94(7) and 94B. These relate to certification where an appeal that would otherwise take place in the UK must be lodged after the appellant has left the UK. Where a claim is certified under section 94B, there is no right of appeal until the person has left the UK.
The guidance also describes other limits on appeals:
- Section 94(3A) states that a person may not bring an appeal under section 82 against a decision on a claim certified as clearly unfounded under section 94(1).
- Section 96 provides that there is no right of appeal where the claim should have been made earlier. Section 120 imposes an ongoing duty to raise new matters with the Secretary of State as soon as reasonably practicable.
- Further submissions that do not amount to a fresh claim under paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules carry no right of appeal.
- A person with extant permission to remain cannot make a human rights claim, so a refusal of one gives no right of appeal. The guidance cites Mujahid 2021 EWCA Civ 449 and Yerokum 2020 UKUT 377 (IAC). This does not apply to protection claims, or to people whose permission is extended only by section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.
Appeals are made in the first instance to the First-tier Tribunal. Where a case is certified as a national security case under sections 97 and 97A, the appeal goes to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.
What this means for applicants
If a human rights claim is refused and certified under section 94B, there is no right of appeal until the person has left the UK. An appeal that would otherwise take place in the UK must be lodged after the appellant has left.
Where a person has been served with a section 120 notice and requires leave to be in the UK, or has leave only by virtue of section 3C or 3D of the Immigration Act 1971, they must provide a statement of any additional reasons or grounds for remaining in the UK, as soon as reasonably practicable. This is an ongoing duty until they leave the UK or are granted leave. A claim that could have been made earlier may be certified under section 96, which removes the right of appeal if the claim is refused.