Guidance
The Home Office writes guidance to explain the law for people who are applying for immigration permission (leave), for employers and for education providers. It also publishes guidance for Home Office staff who make decisions about those applications and who have to enforce the law.
The guidance can contain requirements that will lead to the grant or refusal of leave, but only if those same requirements are in the Immigration Rules too. However, guidance can include provisions that are more generous than the Immigration Rules. These are called concessions and can be relied on, but they can also be removed from guidance without warning.
When applicants can rely on guidance
If the Immigration Rules said that only students aged 21 or older could bring a partner to the UK, but the guidance said they had to be at least 18 years old, an applicant should be able to rely on the more generous provision in the guidance. Keep a copy of the current guidance as evidence, in case it is later questioned.
When applicants can not rely on guidance
If the Immigration Rules said that applicants must have £1,000 in funds and the guidance says this sum is £1,200, an applicant who provides evidence of £1,000 should not be refused and would be able to challenge any refusal on the grounds that the guidance must not be less generous than the Immigration Rules. This is because the Immigration Rules are approved by Parliament, but the guidance is not.
