Maimouna Andrea Kimto v The Entry Clearance Officer

Facts

The appellants, Maimouna Andrea Kimto and Xavier Malick Kimto, are nationals of Chad. On 2 July 2024 they applied for entry clearance to join the Sponsor, Kande Kimto Adamou, under the Immigration Rules' family reunion provisions for sponsors with protection status. The Sponsor is also Chadian. He fled Chad in October 2021 and was granted refugee status in the United Kingdom on 17 August 2023. The First Appellant is his biological niece. After her father, the Sponsor's brother, died, she joined the Sponsor's household at the age of four. The Second Appellant is the Sponsor's cousin once removed. His parents could not support their five children, and he joined the household at the age of 12. The Sponsor and his wife raised both appellants as their own children. In October and November 2023 they obtained adoption documents in Chad. The appellants stayed in the family home with the Sponsor's wife until February 2025, when she and the Sponsor's biological children joined him in the United Kingdom. Since then the appellants have lived with the Sponsor's siblings. On 2 January 2025 the Entry Clearance Officer refused their human rights claims. They appealed under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, arguing that the refusals were incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Both appellants are now adults. The appeals were heard as linked appeals by video.