[2025] UKUT 181 (AAC)

whether the circumstances are exceptional is a question of fact (at [15]).

there is a two-part process in paragraph 89(a): (1) whether there were exceptional circumstances and (2) whether that meant that the applicant could not have applied earlier (at [15]).

the question to be asked is whether there were exceptional circumstances which meant that he could not have applied at any time before he made the application, not whether there were exceptional circumstances which meant that he could not apply by the end of the initial two-year period (at [16]).