MD & Ors v The Entry Clearance Officer

Facts

The appellants, MD, FD and HA, are nationals of Somalia who applied for entry clearance as family members of the sponsor, a Dutch national of Somali origin resident in the United Kingdom since January 2026 and granted settled status in August 2019 under the EU Settlement Scheme. Two of the appellants are the sponsor's nieces and one is her sister. The sponsor had obtained a guardianship order in respect of her nieces, their mother being unable to care for them by reason of mental illness and their father having been murdered, and said she had supported the appellants financially since 2012, so that they were entirely dependent upon her. Earlier applications for entry clearance had been made in 2019 and 2020 and refused. The Entry Clearance Officer refused the present applications on 14 February 2024 on the grounds that a niece or sister is not a relationship falling within the definition of family member in FP6(1), that the appellants had not acquired a relevant document in the form of an EEA family permit for the purposes of FP8A, and that the Kenyan guardianship order did not satisfy the definition in Annex 1 to Appendix EU (Family Permit). The appellants appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, relying on the Withdrawal Agreement, Article 8 ECHR and the children's best interests.