ArgieBee wrote:You may want to look up the recent (from the summer) Owolabi and R Alvi cases. The tribunals found that the tier 2 visa could not be refused based on the job and salaries listed in the codes of practice.
The decisions seem to be based on the fact that the codes of practice are not lawful as they have a substantive affect on the Immigration Rules but are not set before parliament for approval.
Note both of these cases were decided with reference to the immigration rules before they were amended by the Statement of Changes in July 2010 (HC382).
Note that Alvi primarily concerned the fact that the appellant's application was refused because his occupation was not NQF level 3 or above, whereas the rules at the time did not require this, rather they required that the occupation be 'skilled'. The rules were since changed in July 2010 to refer to the NQF 3 requirement.
In Owalabi, the court did found that reliance on a list of skilled occupations was not lawful because the list of skilled occupations had not been laid before parliament and were capable of being amended by the secretary of state, however the court very clearly states that:
We would draw attention, as did the Court in R (Alvi) at para 40, to the fact that the relevant provisions of Appendix A were amended in July 2010 (the court clearly had in mind HC382 which as already noted was published on 22 July and came into effect on 12 August 2010. To what extent those amendments have altered the legal position is not a question before us. Our conclusions are confined, therefore to the provisions of Appendix A pre-dating 12 August 2010
I think it is also important to know that the codes of practice, are specifically referred to in the rules.
Roggiewaters I would suggest that you seek advice from a competent immigration solicitor on your appeal.
