Page 28 of 44 Published for Home Office staff on 18 May 2023
In conducting this assessment, you must have regard to all of the information and
evidence provided by the applicant. You must take into account, as a primary
consideration, the best interests of a relevant child.
You must consider whether refusal would result in a harsh outcome or outcomes for
the applicant, which is not justified by the public interest, including in maintaining
effective immigration controls, preventing burdens on the taxpayer, promoting
integration, and protecting the public and the rights and freedoms of others.
The impact on the applicant if the application is refused must be considered and an
assessment made as to whether this produces an unduly harsh outcome when the
factors in the preceding paragraph are taken into account. It is expected that an
individual applying on their own under the private life rules will be assessed on that
basis without wishing for the impact on family life or family members to be taken into
account.
If family members are included in the application, then the other family members
must be taken into account and the application considered so as to produce the
same result as if considered under GEN.3.2. of Appendix FM.
Relevant factors include:
• serious cultural barriers to relocation overseas - this might be relevant in
situations where a person would be so disadvantaged by the social, religious,
or cultural situation in a particular country that they could not be expected to
live there - such a barrier must be one which affects their fundamental rights,
cannot reasonably be overcome, and would present a very serious obstacle:
o in so doing, you should consider the situation in practice and not just what is
provided for in law - so, the fact that a country has a law which criminalises
same sex sexual acts would not be sufficient to show that a homosexual
applicant would face very significant hardship living in that country if the
authorities in practice do not prosecute cases and there is no real risk of
prosecution or persecution
• the impact of a mental or physical disability or of a serious illness which
requires ongoing medical treatment - living in or moving to another country
may involve a period of hardship for any person as they adjust to their new
surroundings, whether or not they have a mental or physical disability or a
serious illness which requires ongoing medical treatment - but independent
medical evidence could establish that a physical or mental disability, or a
serious illness which requires ongoing medical treatment, would lead to very
serious hardship: for example, due to the lack of adequate health care in the
country where the applicant would be required to continue or resume living - as
such, refusal of permission to stay could result in a breach of Article 8
• the absence of governance or security in another country - in some
circumstances, for example where civil society has broken down as a result of
conflict or natural disaster (and such breakdown extends to the country as a
whole), requiring an individual to commence living there may give rise to very
serious hardship that renders refusal unjustifiably harsh - Foreign Office travel
advice should not normally be referred to, as that is generally aimed at tourists
choosing to visit a country for specific purposes and a limited period - rather,