What to do within 14 days after permanent residency is denied? Full process of submitting administrative review (AR)

The 14 days after the permanent residency application was rejected, the most valuable thing is not the probability of overturning the decision, but your legal status has not yet been terminated.

This is my judgment: the vast majority of people apply for an administrative review (Administrative Review, abbreviated as AR) in order to "reverse the visa refusal," but end up wasting £80; the real value of these 14 days is that it can maintain your 3C leave (Section 3C, under the Immigration Act 1971, automatic extension of stay), allowing you to legally remain in the UK and continue working while waiting for the result. Understanding this point will help you decide whether or not to apply, and when to apply.

Walk through the actual process after receiving the rejection letter.

Can I submit an AR after a permanent residency rejection? Please check the last page of the rejection letter.

The body of the refusal letter explains "why it is refused," and the last page explains "what you can do." AR and appeal (appeal to the First-tier Tribunal) are mutually exclusive under the rules: AR is only applicable when the decision does not include the right of appeal; conversely, decisions that include the right of appeal cannot go through AR.

This is the most common pitfall for those who take the Appendix FM spouse route or long-term residency routes involving private life claims. If your application is deemed to have raised a human rights claim and is rejected, Home Office usually provides the right of appeal, not an Application for Reconsideration (AR). At this point, submitting an AR will be considered invalid, and you will lose the 14 days while waiting for the invalidation decision. For permanent residency routes such as Skilled Worker or Global Talent that do not involve human rights claims, the rejection letter usually provides an AR.

After confirming the ability to proceed, the second pitfall is harder: AR only reviews one thing - case working error. Appendix AR defines it very strictly, roughly referring to applying the wrong rule, incorrect application of the rule, miscalculating the score, miscalculating the period of stay, not considering all evidence submitted with the original application, or making an error in assessing the submitted evidence.

The most widely circulated statement in the industry is "AR is to make up for the missing materials and then submit them." This statement is wrong. In principle, AR only considers the file that the adjudicator had at the time of the original decision, and new materials submitted later are not included in the review (except for extremely narrow situations involving allegations of fraud). Therefore, the approach of "I missed submitting a pay slip, so I will make up for it with AR" does not work; while "I submitted complete 12 months of pay slips, but the adjudicator said I didn't meet the standards after only reviewing 9 months," this is the actual point where AR can be effectively applied.

Similarly, miscalculating the number of days absent is the most common and most arguable type of dispute in AR. Before submitting, re-calculate your own出入境流水 (entry and exit records) according to the Appendix Continuous Residence criteria (both the departure day and arrival day are counted as being in the UK, only full days out are counted). It's best to use 永居计算器 to calculate precisely down to the day. Compare your numbers with those on the refusal letter side by side; this is more useful than writing a 1000-word appeal.

That 14 days started running from the day you hadn't even opened that email yet.

关键在"视为送达日"这五个字。Immigration Rules Appendix SN（Service of notices）规定：决定以电子邮件送达的，视为在发出当天送达；以邮政方式寄往英国境内地址的，视为在寄出后第二个工作日送达（不含寄出当日和非工作日）；寄往境外的是第28天。现在绝大多数永居决定走eVisa账户加邮件通知，意味着那封你周五晚上没点开、周一才看到的邮件，法律上从周五就开始计时了。14天是自然日，圣诞节、复活节、你出差在外，都不停表。差一天都不行——AR一旦被判超期，就只剩司法复核这条又贵又慢的路。

时限之外，这14天还有一层身份意义。

If your permanent residency application was submitted in-time (before the original visa expires), the 3C leave will continue your status during the processing period; after a rejection, the 3C will not immediately end, but will continue until the AR period ends; if you submit an effective AR within the period, the 3C will continue until the AR is resolved. Conversely, if you decide not to apply for an AR and instead submit a new application, the 3C will end at the moment the 14-day period is over - after that, your work rights, rental rights, and NHS fee status will change. This is why I said the main function of AR is to "keep your status stable," not to "win."

The fee is £80. The refund policy is written in Home Office "Administrative Review" Decision Maker Guidelines (August 3, 2026 edition): the £80 will be refunded only if the AR is found invalid, or the review result is to revoke the original decision and approve, usually within three weeks from the date of the decision; no refund will be given if the original visa refusal is upheld. The official service standard is 28 days to get a result, but it's not uncommon for it to take longer in practice. There are three possible outcomes: revocation of the original decision, upholding the original decision, or upholding but replacing or adding new reasons for the visa refusal. In the third case, you can submit another AR against those new reasons, and this time it will be free of charge.

If you can't tell whether this rejection letter you're holding is for an AR or an appeal, don't guess it yourself - pay £5 on justiscript.com and a qualified UK lawyer will give you a written response within 24 hours, available in both Chinese and English, which is much faster than asking on forums, and much cheaper than missing the 14-day deadline.

After receiving the rejection letter, please do these four things in order.

1. Turn to the last page of the rejection letter, confirm whether it says administrative review or appeal, take a screenshot of the date when the decision email was sent, count 14 days from the date of service and mark it in your calendar.

2. Compare each rejection reason item by item to determine whether it belongs to a case working error. If it is "I did not submit all the documents," AR cannot save the case, and you should prepare for a new application directly.

3. Confirm whether the original application was submitted on time. If yes, submit an AR within the deadline to extend 3C; if uncertain, arrange work and lease arrangements assuming it will be discontinued.

4. Immediately check for any new reasons for rejection after receiving the AR result. If there are new ones, the 14-day window will be reopened once and it is free.

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney. Fees and rules are subject to the latest announcement from GOV.UK.

[Data source] gov.uk/ask-for-a-visa-administrative-review; Home Office "Administrative review" caseworker guidance (2026 edition); Immigration Rules Appendix AR and Appendix SN; Home Office immigration and nationality fees, 8 April 2026

Dealing with a UK legal matter? JustiScript can help