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

永居被拒后的那14天，最值钱的东西不是翻案概率，而是你的合法身份还没断。

这是我的判断：绝大多数人递行政复核（Administrative Review，简称AR）是冲着"把拒签翻过来"去的，结果£80打了水漂；真正让这14天有价值的，是它能把3C leave（Section 3C, Immigration Act 1971 下的自动延续居留）撑住，让你在等结果的这段时间里合法留在英国、继续上班。想清楚这一点，你才知道自己该不该递、什么时候递。

下面按拒签信到手后的真实顺序走一遍。

永居拒签后能不能递AR，先看拒签信最后一页

The body of the refusal letter explains "why it is refused," while 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 carry an appeal right; conversely, decisions with an appeal right cannot go through AR.

This is the most common pitfall for those who take the Appendix FM spouse route or the long residency route with 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 deemed 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 including applying the wrong rule, incorrect application of the rule, miscalculating the score, miscalculating the stay period, not considering all evidence submitted with the original application, or making an error in assessing the submitted evidence.

The most widely circulated statement within the industry is "AR is just about supplementing the missing materials and submitting them again." This statement is wrong. AR generally only reviews the file that the decision-maker had at the time the original decision was made; new materials submitted after the fact are not included in the review (except for extremely narrow situations involving allegations of fraud). Therefore, the approach of "I missed submitting a pay stub, so I will make up for it with AR" does not work; whereas "I submitted complete 12 months of pay stubs, but the decision-maker said I didn't meet the standards just by looking at 9 months" 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, recalculate your own出入境流水 (entry and exit records) according to the Appendix Continuous Residence criteria (both the day of departure and the day of return to the UK are counted as being in the UK, only full days away are counted). It's best to use 永居计算器 to calculate precisely down to the day. List your numbers side by side with those on the refusal letter; 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.

The key lies in the five characters "deemed delivery date". Immigration Rules Appendix SN (Service of notices) stipulates: if the decision is delivered by email, it is deemed delivered on the day it was sent; if sent by post to an address within the UK, it is deemed delivered on the second business day after posting (excluding the day of posting and non-business days); for overseas addresses, it is the 28th day. Now, the vast majority of permanent residency decisions are delivered through eVisa account plus email notification, meaning that the email you didn't open on Friday night and saw only on Monday is legally counted from Friday. 14 days are natural days, and the clock does not stop for Christmas, Easter, or your business trip. Not even a single day late — once AR is deemed overdue, the only remaining option is judicial review, which is both expensive and slow.

Outside the time limit, these 14 days also have a significance of identity.

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 expires; if you submit a valid AR within the period, the 3C will continue until the AR is decided. 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, NHS fee status will change accordingly. This is why I said the main function of AR is "to stabilize your status," not "to win."

The fee is £80. The refund policy is outlined in Home Office "Administrative Review Panelist Guidelines" (August 3, 2026 edition): the £80 will be refunded only if the AR is deemed invalid, or the review result is to revoke the original decision and approve, usually within three weeks of the decision date; no refund will be given if the original refusal is upheld. The official service standard is 28 days to issue a result, but it is common for it to take longer in practice. There are three possible outcomes: revoking the original decision, upholding the original decision, or upholding the decision but with revised or additional reasons for the refusal. In the third case, you can submit another AR against those new reasons, and this time it will be free.

If you can't tell whether this rejection letter you're holding is for an AR or an appeal, don't guess on your own - pay £5 on justiscript.com and a qualified lawyer in the UK 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. 翻到拒签信最后一页，确认写的是administrative review还是appeal，把决定邮件的发出日期截图存档，按视为送达日往后数14天，标进日历。

2. 逐条比对拒签理由，判断它属不属于case working error。属于"我材料没交全"的，AR救不了，直接准备重新申请。

3. 确认原申请是否in-time递交。是的话，在期限内递AR以延续3C；不确定的，先按"会断"来安排工作和租约。

4. 收到AR结果后立即看有没有新增的拒签理由。有新增的，14天窗口重开一次，且免费。

This article 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