Suitability grounds for refusal and re-entry bans

The rules set out in the Immigration Rules, Part Suitability are a list of common grounds on which an application for entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay can be refused, which are in addition to any grounds for refusal included in the specific requirements set out in the Parts and Appendices of the Immigration Rules covering the relevant immigration route. Part Suitability also includes grounds for the cancellation of existing entry clearance or permission.

Part Suitability replaced the previous Part 9 of the Immigration Rules from 11 November 2025, from which point it has applied to most routes of the Immigration Rules, with only some limited exceptions. There are not extensive changes from the predecessor Part 9 which had been restructured and rewritten in ‘simplified’ form in Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 813 (which had come into force for applications decided on or after 1 December 2020). However, the extended application to Appendix FM, Appendix Private Life, Appendix Adult Dependent Relative and Appendix Settlement Family Life is a significant shift. These Appendices had previously had their own, in some cases

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