New 'Part Suitability' Rules For 2025 And Onwards

The new Part Suitability framework is the Home Office's updated, consolidated system for assessing whether a visa application must be refused, may be refused, or can be cancelled because of an applicant's past behaviour. It brings together all suitability criteria into a single, comprehensive section of the Immigration Rules, replacing the former Part 9: Grounds for Refusal. Designed to cover issues such as criminal convictions, deception, overstaying, and wider compliance with UK immigration law, the framework standardises rules that were previously scattered across multiple visa routes. This allows decision-makers to apply the same suitability tests across most categories, creating a more consistent and stricter structure for determining an applicant's good character and immigration conduct.

For anyone who has been refused before, overstayed, breached conditions, or has any form of criminal record, Part Suitability now determines exactly how those issues will affect future applications. Matters that were previously assessed with more discretion or flexibility—especially in Family and Private Life routes—may now lead to mandatory refusal under the new thresholds. In practice, this means past conduct carries greater weight than before, and applicants need to understand how the framework applies to their circumstances before attempting a new application.

Purpose of This Change

The primary goal of introducing Part Suitability is harmonisation and simplification. The new rules aim to create a single, unified reference point for suitability checks, ensuring that decision-makers apply consistent criteria across almost all visa routes, rather than relying on route-specific rules. This move also strengthens the integrity of the immigration system by tightening the rules in certain immigration routes concerning criminality, deception, and breaches of immigration law, reinforcing a stricter approach to good character requirements.

Application

The Part Suitability framework applies to the vast majority of visa categories, including all major Work Routes (such as Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility), Study Routes (Student), Visitor Routes, and the previously more flexible Family Routes (Appendix FM) and Private Life applications. However, it does not apply to routes such as Appendix EU (the EU Settlement Scheme) and Appendix EU (Family Permit), most of Part 11 (Asylum), Appendix Settlement Protection and Appendix Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Stricter Standards for Certain Routes

Part Suitability removes previous concessions and flexibility for applications made on the basis of Family and Private Life. The new rules mandate a standardised and higher threshold for suitability. Previously, an applicant on a Family Visa with an older custodial sentence of 12 months or more might have avoided mandatory refusal if 10 years had passed since the end of the sentence. The new standard (SUI 5.1) deletes this flexibility, meaning refusal is now mandatory if the sentence was 12 months or more, regardless of how long ago the conviction occurred. Family and private life applicants are now fully subject to the standard re-entry bans for previous immigration breaches (such as overstaying or deception), which were often waived under the former human rights-based suitability considerations.

New Provisions That Were Not Under Part 9 Previously

While much of Part Suitability restructures and retitles old provisions, it introduces or significantly enhances certain grounds:

• Safeguarding and Family Risk (SUI 6.1): A new mandatory ground for refusal is established for child applicants under Appendix FM if the decision-maker considers the child's parent or the parent's partner poses a risk to the child, making explicit the priority of child protection.
• Explicit Re-Entry Ban Codification: The rules explicitly set out the mandatory refusal periods (re-entry bans) for previous breaches of immigration law, which now apply consistently to family routes:
  • 12-month ban for a person who left voluntarily at their own expense after a breach.
  • 2-year ban for a person who left voluntarily but at public expense.
  • 5-year ban for a person who left or was removed more than six months after being notified of their liability for removal.
  • 10-year ban for a person who was deported, removed at public expense, or used deception in a previous application.

Impact on Future Applications

The introduction of Part Suitability signifies a shift toward a more rigorous and less flexible UK immigration system. We foresee two major practical changes: all applicants, especially those on Family, Private Life, and Settlement routes, must prepare for higher scrutiny of their entire history regarding both criminal convictions and immigration compliance. Secondly, applications will be assessed against a standardised framework where the mandatory refusal grounds apply, leaving less room for discretion or human rights-based exceptions to override serious suitability concerns. This makes it essential for all applicants to meticulously review their past conduct before submitting a new application, and for some applicants to have their applications refused outright when it would not have prior to 11 Nov 2025. Applicants will face greater challenges in their applications and appeals.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.