Iraqi Businessman Fights UK Visa Denial Tied to 2007 US Detention

An Iraqi businessman believes he was refused entry to Britain to visit his son because he was detained by US forces in 2007, a court has heard. The 72-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is referred to by the initials DNM, applied for a visa but it was refused in March 2025 on the grounds that his presence in the UK would not be “conducive to the public good”.

DNM owns a business and property in Iraq and has three grown-up children, one of whom is married with children in the UK. He applied to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) and was represented by his son. The commission has now sent the case back to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to be reconsidered after finding that officials did not follow their own guidance when making the decision.

In its written decision, SIAC stated that Ms Mahmood did not set out the reasons for deciding DNM's presence would not be “conducive to the public good”. However, DNM’s conclusion was that the decision was based on his having been detained by US forces in April 2007 for 11 months during the George W Bush administration's “surge” policy in Iraq.

DNM's son told the SIAC that the questioning of his father by the US military was brief and that he faced no charges in Iraqi courts upon release. He noted that his father had never had connections to any terrorist groups and that his uncle, a policeman, was killed in a terrorist bombing.

SIAC concluded that the decision to refuse the visa application was not reached consistently with the requirements in the guidance, criticizing the lack of rigor in the initial refusal, and returned the case to Ms Mahmood for reconsideration.