Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an estimate of the number of sponsor human rights claims (a) overall and (b) that will result in appeals under clause 17 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill in each of the first three years after commencement.

It is not possible to estimate the number of sponsor human rights claims made in the first three years after commencement as applicants currently apply for entry clearance in their own right and can raise Article 8 grounds as part of that application, or at appeal.

These reforms do not create new rights and entitlements or make it easier for overseas family members to enter the UK. Sponsors will still need to meet a high threshold by showing that refusal of entry would result in a breach of their Article 8 rights.

Every Article 8 case is different and must be decided on its own facts. These reforms are designed to support more consistent decisions, but it is not possible to predict the outcome of individual cases and therefore how many sponsor human rights claims will result in an appeal.

Instead, we will monitor the impact of the reforms by looking at indicators like grant rates, refusal rates, appeal outcomes and the reasons that appeals succeed, to ensure the policy is working as intended.