Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

You should submit a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter to the Home Office UKVI before you issue the Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against the Home Office UKVI to challenge the refusal of a UK visa and immigration application.

A Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter is a letter written to the Home Office, UKVI in order to try and resolve a dispute concerning an immigration matter before Judicial Review (JR) proceedings are started against the Home Office UKVI.

A Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter may also be called a 'letter before claim' or a 'letter before action'.  All of these terms refer to the same thing.

By sending a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter to the Home Office UKVI, you put the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) on notice that you intend to file a Judicial Review against the Home Office UKVI decision to refuse the UK visa and immigration application and you give detailed grounds and reasons which render the decision of the Home Office UKVI unlawful. You give the Secretary of State 14 days notice to reconsider the refusal decision failing which you will issue the Judicial Review proceedings in the court.

You should send a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter to Home Office UKVI before filing an immigration Judicial Review (JR) in Court and ask the Home Office UKVI to reconsider its refusal decision within 14 days.

When to send a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter?

You can challenge the unlawfulness of UK visa refusal by way of Pre Action Protocol (PAP) against the Home Office UKVI in one of the following circumstances:

• The refusal decision does not confirm your right to appeal or ask for an Administrative Review (AR) of the refusal of your UK visa and immigration application;
• Your Administrative Review (AR) against the refusal of your UK visa and immigration application has been unsuccessful and you do not have the right to appeal against the refusal;
• Your application for reconsideration of refusal of naturalisation as a British Citizen has been unsuccessful;
• The Home Office UKVI has failed or omitted to make a decision on your UK visa and immigration application in a reasonable timeframe and the delay in the processing of the application can be challenged by way of Pre Action Protocol (PAP) letter and Judicial Review (JR), particularly, if you are prejudiced and adversely affected by such delay or omission on part of the Home Office UKVI.

Purpose of Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

The purpose of a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter is to identify the issues in dispute and establish whether litigation with the Home Office, UKVI can be avoided. The letter contains the date and details of the immigration decision (the refusal letter), the act or omission of the Home Office UKVI being challenged and a clear summary of the facts on which the Judicial Review claim against the Home Office, UKVI is based. It also contains the details of any relevant information that the applicant is seeking from the Home Office, UKVI and an explanation of why this is considered relevant.

UKVI response to Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

Immigration Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against the UKVI are not normally issued until the proposed reply date given in the letter before the claim has passed unless the circumstances of the immigration case require more immediate action to be taken. Home Office UKVI, should normally respond to the letter before action (Pre-Action Protocol letter) within 14 days and Home Office UKVI may face cost implications for failure to respond to Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter unless there are good reasons for not responding within that period.

An application for permission to apply for Judicial Review can be filed in the Upper Tribunal or Administrative Court (High Court), as the case may be, if the Home Office, UKVI do not respond to the pre-action protocol letter within 14 days or the Home Office UKVI responds within 14 days but maintains their decision to refuse the UK visa and immigration application.