Legal Update: In a Nutshell - Refugee family reunion rule

What was the case about?

AA (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] UKSC 81 concerned an application by a child, "AA", for entry clearance to the UK to join her de facto adoptive parents, one of which had been recognised in the UK as a refugee. AA was born in Somalia in 1994. Her family were "torn apart" by the conflict there, and her father was killed in the mid 1990s. She became separated from her mother and siblings during the conflict, and around 2002, went to live with her brother-in-law and their two children, both girls. Her sister had, prior to this, travelled to the UK and been granted indefinite leave to remain on compassionate grounds. In 2007, the "adoptive" father, Mohamed, went to the UK and was granted asylum. They then made an application for all three girls, who were living with a neighbour in Somalia, for entry into the UK. AA was refused entry by the Home Office. She appealed to the First Tier Tribunal, which allowed her appeal, but was defeated at the Upper Tribunal, following an appeal by the Home Secretary and later, at the Court of Appeal.