QJ v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, QJ, a citizen of Pakistan, arrived in the United Kingdom in September 2014 with leave to enter as a Tier 4 student valid until 30 August 2015, that leave expiring on 29 September 2015. He then applied for leave to remain on private life grounds, which was refused, as were six further applications made between December 2016 and August 2018 under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. On 25 March 2019 he claimed asylum on the basis of his sexual orientation as a gay man, saying that he had realised his sexuality at 14, had begun dating men after arriving in the UK, and that when he told his father in 2019 his father disowned him and threatened to kill him if he returned. The Secretary of State refused the protection claim on 25 October 2021, and he appealed under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. The First-tier Tribunal allowed his appeal in a decision promulgated on 25 January 2023, given in his absence. The Secretary of State appealed successfully, and the Upper Tribunal, in a decision promulgated on 20 November 2023, remitted the appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for a fresh hearing with no findings preserved. The appellant provided no evidence and did not attend the remitted hearing.