Your Skilled Worker visa application has been refused. Your employer still wants you to start, your documents appear to support the application, and you need to decide what to do next.
The immediate temptation may be to submit another application with a stronger explanation. Alternatively, you may want to challenge the decision because you believe the Home Office has made a mistake.
Before choosing either approach, establish what the refusal actually says, which evidence the Home Office considered and what permission you currently hold. The right response depends on those details.
Our view is that a useful refusal assessment should answer three questions: what went wrong, whether the available procedure can address it, and what taking that step would mean for your immigration position.
Read the whole decision before choosing a response
Begin with the complete refusal notice, including the sections explaining your rights and deadlines. Keep the email or other correspondence through which you received it.
Separate the decision into its individual reasons. A refusal may concern sponsorship, salary, English language, financial evidence or the genuineness of the proposed employment. It may also raise concerns about information supplied in the application.
Do not assume that the paragraph you disagree with most is the only issue that matters. If several requirements are said to be unmet, your response needs to account for each of them.
Also establish whether the application was refused, rejected as invalid or treated as withdrawn. These descriptions identify different decisions and should not be used interchangeably.
For a Skilled Worker refusal, paragraph SW 17.2 provides for administrative review under the applicable review rules. That does not create a general right to take an ordinary Skilled Worker refusal to an immigration tribunal.
Identify the deadline immediately
The usual administrative review deadlines for a refused application are:
| Application or circumstances | Usual deadline |
|---|---|
| Entry clearance application made outside the UK | 28 calendar days from receiving the refusal notice |
| Permission-to-stay application made inside the UK, where the applicant is not detained | 14 calendar days from receiving the refusal notice |
| Certain cases involving immigration detention | 7 calendar days from receiving the notice |
The current administrative review fee is £80. Check the provisions applying to your decision, particularly if detention is involved.
Send the complete notice to the person assessing your case at the outset. Mention the date you received it, any earlier correspondence and whether a representative received it for you.
An initial enquiry, document assessment or discussion with your employer does not submit an administrative review. Plan backwards from the applicable deadline so that there is time to assess the decision and prepare the appropriate response.
What administrative review can address
Administrative review examines whether an eligible decision was wrong because of a caseworking error. Relevant errors include applying the Immigration Rules incorrectly or failing to follow applicable published guidance. The review is conducted separately from the original decision-making team.
A useful challenge connects the disputed conclusion to a specific requirement and the relevant evidence.
For example, if the refusal says that a document was missing, establish whether it was actually submitted. Locate the uploaded document, its contents and any available submission record. If the dispute concerns salary, identify the calculation the decision maker used and why you say that calculation was incorrect.
Simply stating that the application was strong or that the employer urgently needs you leaves the central question unanswered.
A focused assessment should distinguish between disagreement with the outcome and an identifiable error in reaching it. That distinction helps determine whether administrative review has a proper basis and what the grounds would need to explain.
New evidence requires careful analysis
Administrative review generally examines the original application. It is not an unrestricted opportunity to replace the evidence or present a different case.
However, the rules contain exceptions permitting additional evidence in specified circumstances. These include certain refusals involving false representations or deception, particular previous immigration breaches, and issues concerning requests for documents or evidential flexibility. The relevant exception must be identified rather than assumed.
Evidential flexibility is particularly important where the refusal concerns something missing or unclear. Current Home Office guidance says decision makers should normally provide an opportunity to supply additional information where supporting evidence appears to have been omitted or requires clarification, subject to the policy’s limits. It does not require them to explore every alternative way an applicant might qualify.
In R (Ganeshamoorthy) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] UKUT 229 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal examined these issues in a Skilled Worker case. It explained that the exceptions allowing additional evidence have distinct requirements, including a substantive failure to follow the evidential flexibility policy under paragraph AR 3.3(e).
The practical consequence is that “you cannot provide new evidence” is too broad an answer. Equally, obtaining a better document does not by itself establish that a reviewer must consider it.
Keep documents submitted with the original application separate from material obtained afterwards. Both may be useful to an adviser, but their role in the case may differ.
When a fresh application may be more suitable
A fresh application may deserve consideration where the proposed case has materially changed.
Perhaps the employer now offers different terms, the intended role has changed, or the applicant proposes to rely on a different basis for meeting a requirement. Those developments need to be assessed alongside the question of whether the original decision was correct.
The practical test is whether the proposed new application answers the problems identified in the refusal.
A useful preparation exercise is to take each refusal reason and write down:
- The finding made by the Home Office.
- Whether you dispute that finding.
- The evidence supporting your position.
- What would be different in a new application.
If the only difference is a longer covering letter, the underlying problem may remain unresolved.
Before proceeding, check the rules applicable to the new application, including any transitional provisions on which you intend to rely. An earlier application date or sponsorship arrangement should not be assumed to settle eligibility for a later application.
For someone already in the UK, the assessment must also establish whether an application can properly be made from within the country and what happens to their existing status.
A fresh application needs the sponsor’s involvement
Where a Skilled Worker application has been decided and refused, the Certificate of Sponsorship is recorded as used. It cannot simply be reused for another Skilled Worker application. A fresh application normally requires the employer to assign a new certificate.
That makes the employer’s continuing support a practical part of the decision.
Confirm whether the job remains available, whether the proposed salary and duties are unchanged, and who will arrange the new sponsorship. The person offering reassurance may not be the person authorised to assign the certificate or approve the necessary expenditure.
If the refusal questions the job itself, ask the employer to examine the actual duties, reporting arrangements and business need. A revised job description should accurately explain the role. It should not merely repeat language that appears more favourable to the application.
Our Certificate of Sponsorship guidance explains the certificate’s role in the wider application process.
Reapplying can affect a pending review and your permission
The timing of a fresh application can have consequences beyond the application fee.
Making a new immigration application can withdraw a pending administrative review. Applying for review of the earlier decision after submitting a new application can also result in the review being rejected.
For someone in the UK, establish whether their permission is being extended by section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. Where section 3C already applies following an in-time application, it can continue during the relevant administrative review period. A right to review does not itself create section 3C leave for someone who did not have it.
A fresh application can bring that protection to an end. The Home Office’s section 3C guidance gives an example in which an in-time application is refused and a fresh application is submitted during the review period. Section 3C leave ends the day before the fresh application, and does not continue while that new application is decided.
This is why “apply again quickly” can be incomplete advice. Before submitting anything, establish the sequence of applications, decisions and expiry dates, and the legal effect of the proposed next step.
Check work, travel and family arrangements separately
Where section 3C leave continues, the existing conditions generally continue with it. It does not automatically give you the work permission sought in the refused application.
This matters when the refusal concerns a change of employer. The proposed employer’s willingness to keep the offer open does not establish permission to start that job. GOV.UK states that someone changing sponsored employment should wait for confirmation of their new permission before starting the new role.
Travel also requires attention. For an administrative review pursued from within the UK, leaving the UK or requesting the return of a passport to travel can cause the review to be withdrawn. Check the position before making travel arrangements.
If family members applied with you, gather their decisions as well. Eligible dependant decisions can be included in an administrative review in specified circumstances, but this needs to be addressed expressly.
A sensible family plan records each person’s application, decision, permission expiry and required action. That avoids one person’s deadline being overlooked while attention is focused on the main applicant.
Allegations of deception need a different level of attention
A refusal alleging deception or false documents requires close examination of the precise finding.
Home Office guidance distinguishes deliberate deception from information that is incorrect without proven dishonesty. Those findings can have different consequences. An allegation should therefore be assessed against the evidence and the applicable suitability provisions, rather than treated as an ordinary missing-document problem.
Preserve the original records. These may include correspondence with a bank, employer, test provider, recruitment agency or previous representative. Keep the documents as received and record who supplied them.
If you disagree with an allegation, identify exactly what is wrong with it and what independent evidence supports your explanation. A general statement that an agent handled everything may leave important questions unanswered.
Submitting a fresh application does not resolve a disputed finding in the earlier refusal. Before deciding how to proceed, obtain an assessment of the allegation, the available response and its significance for future applications.
A successful review does not always mean an immediate visa grant
Administrative review can result in the refusal being withdrawn and the application reconsidered. It can also leave the refusal in place, including where some reasons are removed but others remain, or where different or additional reasons are given.
This makes it important to assess the whole decision. Correcting one point may be valuable, but the overall outcome depends on what remains.
Timing also matters. At the date of writing, GOV.UK states that administrative review can take 12 months or more. That is a significant planning consideration for an applicant and an employer waiting to fill a vacancy.
Discuss how long the employer can realistically keep the role available and what you can manage financially during the process. Those practical questions should inform the choice alongside the legal merits.
A fresh application should not be selected solely because it appears faster. Its eligibility, evidence and effect on your immigration position still need to be established.
What if you want to appeal instead?
Administrative review and an immigration appeal are different procedures.
A tribunal appeal requires a legal right of appeal. For example, refusal of a human rights claim may carry appeal rights, subject to the applicable provisions. An ordinary Skilled Worker refusal should not be treated as creating that entitlement simply because the consequences are serious.
If the decision raises issues beyond an ordinary administrative review, an appropriately authorised specialist should assess the available remedy and its deadline.
Be clear about the professional’s proposed role. An initial assessment, administrative review, fresh application and court challenge involve different work. The scope, responsibility and fees should be explained before instructions are agreed.
Prepare a complete record for the assessment
The most useful starting point is a clear record of what happened.
Provide the complete refusal notice, the submitted application form, the evidence supplied with it and any requests for further information. Include the responses to those requests and the relevant correspondence with your sponsor or representative.
Add a short chronology showing the application date, previous permission expiry, decision date and date the decision was received. Flag any approaching deadline immediately.
Where possible, supply the actual documents rather than a recollection of their contents. An adviser needs to compare the refusal with the material submitted, including any inconsistencies that may not be obvious from the decision alone.
Explain your current circumstances too. Whether the employer still supports you, whether you are working, and whether family members have related applications can materially affect the practical options.
Understand the refusal before committing to the next step
Knightsbridge’s Refusal Analysis examines the refusal letter alongside the submitted evidence relevant to the agreed issues. The purpose is to explain the findings, identify unresolved questions and clarify the next steps to consider.
Our Administrative Review service information explains our initial triage role and how we can arrange a referral where specialist advice or representation is required. We confirm whether the matter falls within our authorised scope before accepting the agreed work.
Tell us when you received the decision and provide the deadline at the outset. Requesting an assessment does not submit a challenge or extend the time available.
The aim is to reach a supported decision about what happens next, with a clear understanding of the refusal, the available procedure and your current immigration position.
