Outside the Immigration Rules and human rights applications

This topic covers applications for leave to enter or remain on human rights grounds, and on grounds other than those set out in the Immigration Rules. This includes applications that:

1. •

   request that the Home Office exercises its discretion to grant leave outside of the Immigration Rules (the Rules)

2. •

   request that the Home Office grants leave outside of the Rules in line with a published concession, and/or

3. •

   allege that the refusal and/or, in the case of leave to remain applications, the removal of a person consequent to the decision, would breach their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR)

Article 8 of the ECHR confers the right to respect for a person’s private and family life, home and correspondence, but is a qualified right which means that a contracting state can interfere with the right in certain circumstances. As from 9 July 2012, the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) adopted a more codified approach to the assessment of Article 8 claims, formulating Immigration Rules