Lucy Coen Successfully Appeals Home Office Refusal in Refugee Family Reunion Case

Lucy Coen successfully appeals Home Office refusal in refugee family reunion case

Lucy was instructed by Jayne Mercer of Community Integration Advocacy Centre [CIAC] to represent her client, the sponsor, in the First-Tier Tribunal against the refusal of an application for refugee family reunion, made outside of the Immigration Rules.

The sponsor a refugee from Eritrea, applied for her sister and mother to join her in the UK, having been separated from them when she fled Eritrea and arrived in the UK as a child under the ‘Dubs Scheme’ in 2018. The sponsor’s sister and mother subsequently fled Eritrea and resided in Ethiopia and are recognised by UNHCR as refugees.

Lucy successfully argued that family life existed between the sponsor and her mother and sister sufficient to engage the protections of Article 8 of the ECHR and the decision by the Home Office to refuse them permission to enter the UK was a disproportionate interference of their family life.

Since the successful outcome the Home Office have sought permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, their applications have been refused by both the First Tier and Upper Tribunal.

CIAC, a charity based in Hull, completed successful Exceptional Case Funding to obtain Legal Aid but could not find a Legal Aid representative to take on the case so completed both the family reunion application and the appeal on a pro bono basis. 

Lucy has a wealth of experience in asylum, immigration and nationality matters before the First -Tier and Upper Tribunal and is happy to discuss cases at an early stage to ensure a case has the best possible chance of success at appeal.