[2025] UKUT 00229 (IAC)

The requirements for each route, including how to prove the requirement is met, is set out in the Immigration Rules and accompanying guidance. The ‘document checklist’ shared with an applicant when they complete an online application also sets out what evidence they should submit in support of their application. Applicants should provide all information and evidence on which they rely to support their application as part of the application process.

The burden of proof is on the applicant to show that they meet the eligibility requirements of the Rules. The standard of proof is the balance of probabilities (i.e. it is more likely than not that a requirement is met). When applying the suitability requirements the burden of proof sometimes shifts to the Home Office: see suitability guidance for more information.

When you are considering the application, if it appears that the applicant has made an error with, or omitted, supporting evidence, or further information or verification of evidence is needed to make a decision, you should normally provide an opportunity for the additional information to be provided. For example, you should consider contacting the applicant:

if evidence is missing that you believe the applicant has, or could obtain

if evidence is inadequate but could be further clarified – for example, if an employer’s letter has been provided but it is missing relevant information, for example, it does not confirm the applicant’s gross annual salary

You may decide to ask for further information from the applicant, the sponsor, or the awarding body or other organisation to which the information relates. You may also decide to make verification checks of the evidence provided if you think that would help you assess whether the applicant meets the requirements of the route under which they are applying. If you are not sure whether the additional information or verification checks would help, please discuss this with your senior case worker or an appropriate manager.

You must not refuse an application because the applicant has not provided a specific document if the applicant was not asked to provide that specific document. If it is necessary for you to see the specific document in order to decide whether the requirements of the Rules are met, you must first give the applicant the opportunity to provide that document.

You do not need to contact the applicant if evidence is missing or inadequate if you can find the relevant information elsewhere. For example, information may be accessible to you on the case work systems, such as from the Confirmation for Acceptance of Studies (CAS) or from a previous application. You are not required to review all documents held on a person just in case the information could be found there.

You do not need to contact the applicant, or third party (e.g. the sponsor for the applicant’s job or the student sponsor ), if evidence is missing or inadequate if receiving it would make no difference to your decision, for example, because the application would still be refused on other grounds, for example not meeting another eligibility requirement or on suitability grounds. Suitability: false representations, deception, false documents, non disclosure of relevant facts.

If evidence is missing or inadequate, you do not have to offer the applicant an opportunity to prove they meet the requirement in a different way. You do not have to contact them to see if they want to rely on other evidence to show they meet the requirements.

For example:

if the applicant says they are relying on a student loan, but the evidence is not sufficient to show the requirement is met, you do not need to check whether the applicant meets the requirement some other way such as asking for bank statement

if the applicant provides bank statements and they do not show the required level of funds or the evidence is not sufficient to satisfy you, there is no need to check whether the applicant has another bank account that might meet the requirement.

The requirements of each PBS route, including the evidence which must be submitted, are set out in the Immigration Rules. This means applicants should provide all information and evidence on which they rely to support their application at the outset of the process. However, it is recognised that if an applicant makes a minor error or omission with the supporting evidence they provide, then in some circumstances it may be appropriate to contact them and invite them to provide additional information. Guidance on how to consider applications submitted prior to 24 November 2016 can be found in the guidance archive on Horizon.

The circumstances when a decision maker can request additional information are set out in the evidential flexibility rule in paragraph 245AA in part 6A of the Immigration Rules.

Paragraph 245AA only applies to specified documents. Specified documents are route specific and are documents the applicant has to provide in order to meet the requirements of the Rules. A request for further information can only be made under evidential flexibility when the applicant has made a valid application.

Additional information can only be requested once and only in the specific circumstances set out in paragraph 245AA(b). These are where:

documents (for example bank statements) are missing from a sequence – for the definition of this see ‘Documents missing from a sequence’

a document has been submitted but is in the wrong format, for example, where a document contains all of the substantive information required by the Immigration Rules but should have been submitted on letterheaded paper

the document submitted with the application is a copy and an original document is required

a document does not contain all of the specified information – for example, if an employer’s letter has been provided that does not confirm the applicant’s gross annual salary or that the employer needs to employ the applicant in their current role for the foreseeable future

If a specified document does not include all the specified information, you do not need to write to an application where the missing specified information can be obtained from one of the following:

other documents submitted with the application

the website of the organisation which issued the document

the website of the appropriate regulatory body, for example, the Financial Conduct Authority

You must only request additional information under paragraph 245AA if you have reason to believe the information exists and that the applicant would meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules if they were given a further opportunity to provide that information. If the application falls for refusal for a reason which could not be addressed by requesting additional information, for example, under general grounds for refusal then you must not request further evidence under paragraph 245AA. If you are unsure, you must discuss this with your senior case worker or line manager.

If you decide that evidential flexibility does not apply to the case you must accurately and fully record on either CID or Proviso:

whether evidential flexibility applies

if it does why no request for further information has been made

You must explain fully in the decision letter why no request for further information has been made. Suggested wording for your decision letter can be found in the deciding the case section of this guidance.