To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to reassess the use of paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules by the Home Office on indefinite leave to remain cases denied due to tax errors.
Answered on
23 May 2018
It is not the Government’s policy to refuse applications solely due to minor tax errors. Where these are identified, applicants are given a right to explain any discrepancy. Any such case is signed off by a manager before refusal grounds are applied.
We have refused applications where there are substantial differences – often tens of thousands of pounds – between the earnings used to claim points in an immigration application and an applicant’s HMRC records, without a credible explanation from the applicant. We take all available evidence into account before making a decision. Paragraph 322(5) is used where the evidence shows that an applicant’s character and conduct is such that their application should be refused.
As the Immigration Minister advised the Home Affairs Select Committee on 8 May, we will carry out a review of these cases to see how many showed clear evidence of deceit, and how many were minor errors.