Tribunal decisions

The decision

Upper Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Numbers: OA/02431/2015

THE IMMIGRATION ACTS

Heard at Field House
Decision & Reasons Promulgated
On 14th December 2016
On 18th January 2017

Before

UPPER TRIBUNAL JUDGE RIMINGTON

Between

Mrs Yara Alkawarit
(Anonymity Direction Not Made)
Appellant
and

Entry Clearance Officer
Respondent

Representation:

For the Appellants: Mr E Ansah Hammond Lloyd Legal Solicitors
For the Respondent: Mr S Whitwell, Home Office Presenting Officer

DECISION AND REASONS

The Appellant
1. I shall refer to the parties as they were referred to in the First Tier Tribunal that is Mrs Alkawarit as the appellant and the Entry Clearance Officer as the respondent although the application for permission to appeal was made by the respondent.
2. The appellant is a citizen of Syria and was born on 19th April 1995. Her application for entry clearance dated 5th November 2014 as the spouse of Mr Mohamad Kheir Bakdaelia (the sponsor), was refused by the ECO on 11th January 2015 on the basis that the marriage was not shown to be valid. She appealed and that appeal was allowed by First Tier Tribunal Judge R Owens on 24th March 2016 under the Immigration Rules, that is Paragraph 352 A - family reunion) only. The appellant had appealed on the basis of Article 8 but the matter was decided only under the Immigration Rules.
3. The respondent made an application for permission to appeal, and, in an error of law decision promulgated by me on 23rd November 2016 and I found an error of law and set aside the First-tier Tribunal Judge's determination. I also noted that the judge did not address the further matter of the appellant's appeal made under Article 8. The matter was re-listed for hearing in the Upper Tribunal and before me on 14th December 2016. Following a direction for the appellant to produce further evidence, at the hearing in December 2016, the appellant, who was in the United Kingdom with her Syrian sponsor, produced an Entry Clearance visa under the family reunion provisions and also evidence of her pregnancy. Previously the appellant had not been legally represented.
4. In the circumstances, Mr Whitwell took instructions, and both parties to the appeal agreed that the matter should be allowed with their consent.
5. The appellant was granted Entry Clearance in May 2016 on the basis of family reunion, (albeit there was an ongoing challenge) and as a Syrian national the appellant entered the UK lawfully from Egypt, where she had no right of residence and was now in the United Kingdom and pregnant. I bear in mind SS Congo v SSHD [2015] EWCA Civ 317 and Section 117 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; the appellant cannot speak English but it would appear the husband is working, but even if he were not, , under the family reunion provisions there is no maintenance requirement. I indicated that in the circumstances I would have allowed the appeal on Article 8 grounds in any event.
6. That said, I allow the appeal by way of consent under Rule 39 (1) of The Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 because, in the circumstances, I consider it appropriate to dispose of the proceedings in this way.
Order
Appeal Allowed

Signed Helen Rimington Date 14th December 2016

Upper Tribunal Judge Rimington