The High Court has refused Saleem Akhtar’s application for judicial review of a decision upholding the refusal of his visa to enter Ireland. Mr Justice David Keane delivered the judgment on 6 June 2019 in Akhtar’s challenge to the Minister for Justice and Equality’s appeal decision of 7 February 2017.
Akhtar, a Pakistani national residing in Pakistan, had been granted an employment permit in August 2016. It named Silver Spoon Foods Limited as his proposed employer, Galway Curry and Kebab House at 20A Mary Street, Galway as his proposed workplace, and chef as his proposed job. The permit was valid from 11 November 2016 to 10 November 2018. The permit letter stated that it was not a residence permit and that separate immigration permission was required to live and work in Ireland.
His initial visa application was refused in December 2016. The reasons included concerns about the quality of an employment letter, a lack of evidence of qualifications and insufficient evidence of the three years’ experience sought for the advertised position. On appeal, Akhtar submitted two employment letters from Pakistan. The Minister upheld the refusal, citing the letters’ limited contact details, spelling and grammar errors, and concerns about whether they established the required experience. The appeal decision also referred to a previous visit visa application in which Akhtar had stated he worked in a different field.
Akhtar argued that the Minister had unlawfully revisited matters covered by the employment permit, failed to consult the department that issued it, breached fair procedures and acted irrationally. The judge found that the employment permit legislation did not require the issuing Minister to be satisfied that Akhtar had the necessary experience; it allowed that Minister to consider relevant information and refuse a permit if satisfied that an applicant lacked the required experience. The visa decision-maker retained broad discretion to assess whether an applicant met the purpose of the visa application.
The court also rejected the fair procedures argument. It said applicants had to put forward the evidence supporting their applications and that the publicly available visa guidance set out requirements for supporting documents, including full contact details for business letters. The judge found the reasons for refusal adequate and rejected the claims of unreasonableness and legitimate expectation.
The judgment noted that Akhtar had not disclosed what information or documents were supplied in support of the employment permit application. The judge also considered that submitting evidence about his experience during the visa process and allowing it to be assessed supported the Minister’s separate argument that Akhtar had waived his objection to that assessment. The court said it was unnecessary to decide whether the availability of a fresh visa application was an additional reason to refuse relief.
The judicial review was refused. The judgment did not decide any fresh visa application or grant permission to enter Ireland.