UK court turns down immigration application of Pakistani widow

The woman had applied for permanent stay in UK to Home Office but her application was rejected.

LONDON (Azhar Javaid) - A UK Court has refused the application for stay of a 66-year-old Pakistani widow, whose three children are British citizens and live in the UK. Nadira Mobeen, 66, had applied for permanent stay in the UK to the Home Office but her application was rejected and now a First-tier Tribunal judge has refused her application too on the grounds that she can maintain contact with her family in the UK by using modern technology and the family can support her in Pakistan. Nadira Mobeen’s husband died 15 years ago. Nadira Mobeen has been a very regular visitor to the UK, spending about 12 months in Pakistan after 2011 with the rest of her time in the UK. In 2014, she came to the UK on a visit visa and remained here unlawfully after the expiry of her visit visa. Her application for permission was made on human rights grounds outside the Immigration Rules, invoking her right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Sheryar Khan, a Partner in a Central London Law firm who took up the case of the Pakistani widow on a pro bono basis, said the decision has far wider implications for families who have elderly relatives who want to settle in the UK. Sheryar Khan commented: “The most surprising part of the tribunal’s decision was a failure to acknowledge that family life existed for the purposes of Article 8 as the relationship with her children did not involve more than normal emotional ties. “At the Court of Appeal, Ms Mobeen argued that she did have a family life for the purposes of Article 8, and the refusal of her application was unlawful and disproportionate under Article 8. The second highest court in the U.K. agreed. They were convinced that on the family life point, the lower court had got it wrong. This will affect thousands of applicants seeking family settlement.” The court however held that she could still not meet the high threshold in the adult dependent relative Rules even if she had established family life in the UK; and that she would be financially supported and accommodated by her children upon return. Nadira Mobeen’s family said she will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court of UK.