The Introduction of Part Suitability: A Fundamental Shift in UK Immigration Decision-Making

On 14 October 2025, the Home Office published its Autumn Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, confirming the introduction of a new and far-reaching framework known as Part Suitability. Coming into force on 11 November 2025, this reform replaces the long-standing Part 9: Grounds for Refusal and consolidates all suitability-related refusal and cancellation provisions into a single, unified part of the Rules.

Part Suitability is intended to operate as the central reference point for all refusal and cancellation decisions across most immigration routes. While many of the underlying principles will appear familiar, the scope, structure and application of these provisions represent a significant tightening of the regime, particularly for applicants relying on family life and human rights grounds.

Understanding how Part Suitability operates is now essential for anyone applying for a UK visa, extension or settlement.

Part Suitability sets out the circumstances in which the Home Office must refuse, may refuse, or must cancel immigration permission. It brings together provisions covering:

• Criminal convictions and offending behaviour
• Use of deception or false documents
• Previous breaches of immigration law
• Exclusion on public interest or safeguarding grounds

Previously, these considerations were scattered across Part 9 and individual appendices, often with route-specific variations. Part Suitability replaces this fragmented approach with a single, standardised framework applying across most routes.

An applicant may meet all the substantive requirements of a visa route, but if they fall within any of the suitability grounds, the application can still be refused or existing leave cancelled.

Part Suitability applies to the vast majority of immigration routes, including:

• Family and private life routes (Appendix FM, Appendix Private Life)
• Work and business routes (including Skilled Worker, Innovator Founder and Global Business Mobility)
• Study and Graduate routes
• Visitor and short-term routes
• Settlement and long residence applications

However, it does not apply to the following, subject to limited exceptions:

• Appendix EU
• Appendix EU (Family Permit)
• Appendix Service Providers from Switzerland
• Appendix Settlement Protection

The long-standing exception for short periods of overstaying has been preserved but relocated. The provisions previously found in paragraph 39E are now contained in SUI 13.1.

Applicants who submit a late application within 14 days of their previous leave expiring may still be protected from refusal, provided they can demonstrate a good reason beyond their control. Specific concessions remain for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and exceptional assurance arrangements.

A notable addition under the new framework is a safeguarding-based mandatory refusal ground for family applications.

Under SUI 6.1, an application for entry clearance under Appendix FM must be refused where the decision maker considers that the applicant’s parent or their partner poses a risk to the child applicant. This provision is expected to be engaged primarily in cases involving children and dependent minors and signals a stronger safeguarding focus in family migration decisions.

Part Suitability significantly broadens the definition of a previous breach of immigration law.

Under SUI 11.4, a person aged 18 or over will be treated as having breached immigration laws if they have:

• Overstayed without a valid exception
• Breached conditions of leave
• Entered the UK illegally
• Used deception in a previous application

This represents a departure from the narrower interpretation previously applied, which largely focused on overstaying and deception. Conduct such as working in breach of conditions or unlawful entry can now trigger refusal provisions.

Where a breach has occurred, mandatory refusal periods continue to apply under SUI 12.1. These range from:

• 12 months for voluntary departure at the applicant’s own expense, to
• 10 years where removal occurred at public expense or deception was used

The deception provisions have been retained but reframed. The test is now whether the decision maker is satisfied that deception has occurred, rather than requiring the Home Office to establish this to a particular evidential standard.

These provisions apply not only to new applications but also to the cancellation of existing leave, including leave extended under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. This gives decision makers broader discretion and increases the importance of accuracy and consistency across all applications.

The most significant practical consequences of Part Suitability are likely to be felt by applicants under Appendix FM and private life routes, which historically benefited from more flexible and bespoke suitability rules.

From 11 November 2025, these applicants are now subject to:

• Mandatory refusal where the applicant has received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, regardless of how long ago the conviction occurred
• Discretionary refusal for any other criminal convictions or out-of-court disposals, irrespective of age
• Mandatory cancellation of leave following a conviction resulting in a prison sentence exceeding 12 months
• Mandatory re-entry bans for immigration breaches, including certain overstaying cases
• Discretionary refusal for current or past breaches of immigration law in in-country applications

This marks a clear shift away from the more protective approach previously taken in family life cases.

Applications under Appendix FM will ordinarily engage Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Immigration Rules continue to recognise that refusals must not be incompatible with the UK’s international obligations.

However, Part Suitability now places clear limits on the operation of the exceptional circumstances provisions in Appendix FM (GEN 3.1 and GEN 3.2). An application cannot succeed under the general provisions if the applicant falls for refusal under certain mandatory suitability grounds, including:

• Exclusion from the UK
• Exclusion from the Refugee Convention
• Conviction resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more
• Persistent offending or offences causing serious harm

In such cases, the threshold for overcoming refusal is exceptionally high and will require compelling evidence that refusal would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences contrary to Article 8.

Part Suitability represents one of the most consequential changes to the Immigration Rules in recent years. By consolidating refusal and cancellation grounds into a single framework and extending them fully to human rights-based routes, the Home Office has significantly tightened the suitability assessment across the immigration system.

For applicants, the message is clear: meeting the substantive requirements of a visa route is no longer sufficient. Past conduct, criminal history and immigration compliance will be scrutinised more closely than ever, with limited scope for exceptions.

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