Tribunal decisions

The decision

IN THE UPPER TRIBUNAL
IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM CHAMBER Case No: UI-2025-005534
First-tier Tribunal No: EU/51476/2024
LE/00505/2025

THE IMMIGRATION ACTS

Decision & Reasons Issued:
On 10th of June 2026

Before

UPPER TRIBUNAL JUDGE JACKSON

Between

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT
Appellant
and

Mujtaba Chaudhary, by his litigation friend Mian Khawar Mahmood
(ANONYMITY ORDER NOT MADE)
Respondent

Representation:
For the Appellant: Mr E Tufan, Senior Home Office Presenting Officer
For the Respondent: Ms M Mahmood, litigation friend

Heard at Field House on 26 May 2026

DECISION AND REASONS
1. At the outset I noted that the Appellant is a four year old child residing in Pakistan and in those circumstances, it would be appropriate for a litigation friend to be appointed to act on his behalf. In this case, his grandfather, Mian Khawar Mahmood attended the hearing and was willing and able to act as a litigation friend and suitable for the role. Mr Mahmood is appointed as litigation friend in this appeal.
2. This is the re-making of the Master Chaudhary’s appeal against the Secretary of State’s refusal dated 1 February 2024 of his application for an EU Family Permit to enter the United Kingdom to join his grandfather, an EEA citizen who is also his Guardian appointed by a Court in Pakistan. The Appellant’s mother and siblings also currently reside in the United Kingdom with EUSS leave. The previous decision of First-tier Tribunal Judge Symes was set aside by Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Kudhail in a decision promulgated on 26 March 2026 (included as an annex to this decision).
3. The Appellant is a national of Pakistan, born on 29 October 2022 who applied for an EU Family Permit on 3 November 2023. The Respondent refused the application on 1 February 2024 on the basis that the Appellant did not meet the definition of a family member of a relevant EEA Citizen in Annex 1 to Appendix EU(Family Permit) in the Immigration Rules.
The Legal Framework
4. The relevant Immigration Rules applicable to this Appellant’s application are set out in Appendix EU (Family Permit) and in paragraph FP6 which provides as follows:

“(1) The applicant meets the eligibility requirements for a entry clearance to be granted under this Appendix in the form of an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit, where the entry clearance officer is satisfied that at the date of application:

(a) The applicant is not a British citizen;
(b) The applicant is a family member of a relevant EEA citizen;
(c) The relevant EEA citizen is resident in the UK or will be travelling to the UK with the applicant within six months of the date of application;
(d) The applicant will be accompanying the relevant EEA citizen to the UK (or joining them in the UK) within six months of the date of application; and
(e) The applicant (“A”) is not the spouse, civil partner or durable partner of a relevant EEA citizen (“B”) where a spouse, civil partner or durable partner of A or B has been granted an entry clearance under this Appendix, immediately before or since the specified date held a valid document in that capacity issued under the EEA Regulations or has been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK in that capacity under or outside the Immigration Rules.”
5. Family member of a relevant EEA citizen is defined within Annex 1 as follows:
“A person who has satisfied the entry clearance officer, including by the required evidence of family relationship, that they are:
(d) the child or dependent parent of a relevant EEA citizen, and the family relationship:
(i) existed before the specified date (unless, in the case of a child, the person was born after that date, was adopted after that date in accordance with a relevant adoption decision or after that date became a child within the meaning of that entry in this table on the basis of one of sub-paragraphs (a)(iii) to (a)(xi) of that entry); and
(ii) continues to exist at the date of application; or
…
in addition, where the person is a child born after the specified date or adopted after that date in accordance with a relevant adoption decision, or after the specified date they became a child within the meaning of that entry in this table on the basis of one of sub-paragraphs (a)(iii) to (a)(xi) of that entry (and with references to ‘parents’ in subparagraph (a) below construed to include the guardian or other person to whom the order or other provision referred to in the relevant sub-paragraph of (a)(iii) to (a)(xi) of that entry relates), they meet one of the following requirements:
(a) (where sub-paragraph (b) below does not apply), one of the following requirements is met:
(i) both of their parents are a relevant EEA citizen; or
(ii) one of their parents is a relevant EEA citizen and the other is a British citizen who is not a relevant EEA citizen; or
(iii) one of the parents is a relevant EEA citizen who has sole or joint rights of custody of them, in accordance with the applicable rules of family law of the UK, of the Islands or of a country listed in sub—paragraph (a) of the entry for ‘specified EEA citizen’ in this table (including appliable rules of private international law under which rights of custody under the law of a third country are recognised in the UK, in the Islands or in a country listed n sub-paragraph (a) of the entry for ‘specified EEA citizen’ in this table, in particular as regards the best interest of the child, and without prejudice to the normal operation of such applicable rules of private internal law); or
(b) where they were born after the specified date to (or adopted after that date in accordance with a relevant adoption decision by or after that date became, within the meaning of the entry for ‘child’ in this table and on the basis of one of the sub-paragraphs (a)(iii) to (a)(xi) of that entry, a child of a Swiss citizen or their spouse or civil partner (as descried in the first sub-paragraph (a) in this entry), the Swiss citizen or their spouse or civil partner is a relevant EEA citizen.”
6. The relevant parts referred to above for the definition of a child in Annex 1 are as follows:
“…
In addition:
(a) ‘child’ includes:
(i) an adopted child of; or …
(ii) …
(iii) a child in respect of whom a special guardianship order (within the meaning of section 14A(1) of the Children Act 1989) is in force appointing as their special guardian; or
(iv) a child in respect of whom an order has been made under section 5 of the Children Act 1989 appointing as their guardian; or
(v) a child subject to a permanence order made under section 80 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 vesting parental responsibilities and parental rights in a person who is; or
(vi) a child who has a guardian appointed under section 7 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, or who is living with a person pursuant to an order made under section 11 of that Act, and that guardian or other person is; or
(vii) a child in respect of whom an order has been made under Article 159 of the Children (Northern Ireland) order 1995, or in respect of whom an appointment has been made under Article 160 of that Order, appointing as their guardian a person who is; or
(viii) a child who has a guardian appointed under section 12 or 14 of the Children (Guernsey and Alderney) Law 2008 or section 12 or 13 of the Children (Sark) Law 2016, or who is living in the care of a person pursuant to an order made under section 14 of the 2008 Law or section 13 of the 2016 Law, and that guardian or other person is; or
(ix) a child in respect of whom an order made under Article 7 of the Children (Jersey) Law 2002 is in force appointing as their guardian; or
(x) a child in respect of whom a special guardianship order (within the meaning of section 17A of the Children and Young Persons Act 2001 of Tynwald) has been made appointing as their special guardian; or
(xi) a child in respect of whom an order has been made under section 6 or 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2001 of Tynwald appointing as their guardian;
a relevant EEA citizen (or, as the case may be, a qualifying British citizen) or their spouse or civil partner, but ‘child’ does not include a child cared for by a relevant EEA citizen (or, as the case may be, by a qualifying British citizen) or their spouse or civil partner solely by virtue of a formal or informal fostering arrangement; and …”
7. An adopted child is defined as a child adopted in accordance with a relevant adoption decision, itself defined in Annex 1 as:

“a decision taken:
(a) by the competent administrative authority or court in the UK or the Islands; or
(b) by the competent administrative authority or court in a country whose adoption orders are recognised by the UK or the Islands; or
(c) in a particular case in which that decision in another country has ben recognised in the UK or the Islands as an adoption.”
The appeal
8. The Respondent’s case is simply that the Appellant, as a child born after the specified date, does not fall within the definition of ‘family member of a relevant EEA citizen’ as neither of his parents are EEA citizens and the guardianship granted in Pakistan to his grandfather, who is an EEA citizen, is not recognised in the United Kingdom in accordance with the definition of ‘child’ nor is it a valid adoption recognised in the United Kingdom.
9. The Appellant’s case was that there was only ever an issue raised by the Respondent about the guardianship granted in Pakistan, which is valid there and just wanted to join his immediate family members in the United Kingdom. Following an explanation of the rules and requirements, no further submissions were made on the facts of this particular appeal and Mr Tufan helpfully noted that an application under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights could be made in the alternative.
Findings and reasons
10. The sole issue in this appeal is whether the Appellant can meet the requirements of paragraph FP6 of Appendix EU (Family Permit) to the Immigration Rules, which requires, inter alia, that he is the family member of a relevant EEA citizen. The short answer is that he can not. The Appellant’s mother is a national of Pakistan and neither an EEA citizen nor a qualifying British citizen and although the Appellant’s grandfather is an EEA citizen, the Appellant does not fall within the definition of being his ‘child’ as the guardianship granted in Pakistan is not recognised in law in the United Kingdom, nor is there any valid or lawful adoption recognised in the United Kingdom.
11. For these reasons, the Appellant does not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules and his appeal must therefore be dismissed.

Notice of Decision
For the reasons set out in the Upper Tribunal decision promulgated on 26 March 2026, the making of the decision of the First-tier Tribunal did involve the making of a material error of law. As such the decision of the First-tier Tribunal was set aside.
The appeal is remade as follows:
The appeal is dismissed on all grounds.

G Jackson

Judge of the Upper Tribunal
Immigration and Asylum Chamber

26th May 2026