When the Home Office makes a decision with no right of appeal — or simply refuses to make one at all — judicial review is the remedy of last resort, and often the only one left. Connaught Law's immigration judicial review solicitors challenge unlawful refusals, delays, detention and removals before the Upper Tribunal and Administrative Court, at the speed these cases demand.
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How We Can Help
When Judicial Review Applies
Judicial review examines whether a decision was lawfully made — illegality, irrationality, procedural unfairness — rather than whether it was right on the merits. It's available only where no adequate alternative remedy exists, which in immigration means the many decisions carrying no appeal: most claims are heard in the Upper Tribunal, with some in the Administrative Court. Framing matters: a strong JR pleads specific public law errors, not disagreement.
Decisions We Challenge
The recurring targets: visit and other refusals with no appeal right, maintained refusals after administrative review, certification decisions that strip appeal rights, unreasonable Home Office delay on pending applications, unlawful detention, curtailments, sponsor licence revocations, and removal decisions. Delay claims deserve mention: where an application has sat undecided for years, a pre-action letter alone often produces the decision.
Urgent Cases & Injunctions
Where removal is imminent or detention continues unlawfully, judicial review moves in hours: urgent applications for interim relief to stop a removal, bail alongside detention challenges, and out-of-hours applications where necessary. These cases turn on speed and evidence discipline — the file has to be strong enough for a judge reading it at midnight.
Process & Time Limits
Claims must be brought promptly, and in any event within three months of the decision — and "promptly" has teeth; waiting until month three can itself be fatal. The sequence: a pre-action protocol letter giving the Home Office a chance to concede (many cases end here), then the claim, the permission stage filtering arguable cases, and a substantive hearing for those that pass.
Outcomes & Costs
A successful JR usually quashes the decision and sends it back to be retaken lawfully — it rarely orders a visa granted, and honest advice includes that limit. Costs follow the event both ways: winning typically recovers costs, losing risks paying the Home Office's. That's why our merits advice before issue is blunt: JR is a scalpel, and we'll tell you plainly whether your case gives it something to cut.
Before JR: The Alternatives
Because JR requires exhausting alternatives, the first question is always whether a fresh application, administrative review or appeal is available and adequate — and sometimes the pragmatic answer is that reapplying is faster than eighteen months of litigation. We run every route, so the recommendation follows the case, not the service list.
How We Work
Merits first, in days not weeks: the decision analysed against public law grounds, alternatives checked, limitation diarised from day one. Then the pre-action letter drafted to win without proceedings — precise errors, precise remedy, realistic deadline — and where the Home Office doesn't concede, the claim issued with grounds settled to counsel standard. Throughout, you'll know prospects, costs exposure and exit points before each stage commits you.
Why Connaught Law
01Won at pre-action where possibleA forensic protocol letter resolves many claims without a court fee — the cheapest win in public law.
02Urgent-work readyRemovals and detention don't wait for office hours. Neither does our JR practice.
03Senior attention throughoutYour claim is run by our experienced immigration team, not passed down — with direct access to the person handling it.
04Blunt merits adviceJR carries costs risk. We tell you your real prospects before you're exposed to it.
Fee structures are set out on our fees page — costs and risk explained before any claim is issued.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is judicial review in immigration cases?
A court challenge to the lawfulness of a Home Office decision — whether it applied the law correctly, followed fair procedure and reached a rational conclusion — used where no appeal or adequate alternative exists. It reviews how the decision was made, not whether a judge would have decided differently; success normally means the decision is quashed and retaken.
How long do I have to bring a judicial review?
Promptly, and at most three months from the decision — with "promptly" enforced, so the practical deadline is often shorter. Urgent cases, like imminent removal, are measured in days or hours. Whatever the timescale, the pre-action letter should go early: it's frequently what resolves the case.
Can judicial review stop my removal from the UK?
It can — an urgent application for interim relief can suspend removal while the legality of the decision is examined, where the challenge has real merit. These applications are prepared in hours and judged strictly, so contact us the moment removal directions are set, with every document you have.
What can I do about Home Office delay on my application?
Unreasonable delay is itself challengeable. A pre-action letter threatening judicial review very often produces the overdue decision within weeks; where it doesn't, a delay claim compels one. If your application has been pending far beyond service standards with no explanation, this route exists precisely for you.
No appeal right — or no decision at all?
Send us the decision, or the silence. We'll assess the public law grounds, your deadline and your realistic prospects — before you're committed to anything.
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