Unfair settlement visa rejection, Islamabad: HELP

[papa]

These are the pertinent details of my cousin's case:

a) Applied for settlement visa, providing evidence of marriage, adequate accommodation, qualifications of applicant (computer science graduate), work experience and job offer for applicant (applicant in Pakistan).

b) Please note sponsor (UK) was A level student at time of application.

c) Sponsor (UK) received call from Islamabad on 13th July from ECO, saying sponsor must provide evidence of work (payslips), and that the case would be put on hold for six months. Sponsor was to send 3 or 4 payslips, as soon as she had them.

d) Sponsor started work on 23rd July, collecting wageslips, but Islamabad telephoned applicant(Pak) on 10th August asking him to collect documents as his application had been refused. This in spite of the case being on hold for six months!

e) WHY REFUSED:
1) sponsor did not provide evidence of employment by July 31st (Dates mentioned in refusal completely incorrect).

2) Applicant had no qualifications, no work experience, no English, no research into job prospects.

f) WHY I AM SO ANGRY, CONFUSED AND FRUSTRATED!

Two points:
1) Applicant provided evidence of qualifications, work experience and even a job offer from the UK! TOTALLY IGNORED. THE DOCUMENTS PROVIDED SEEM NOT TO HAVE BEEN LOOKED AT (still clipped together as we handed them in)!

2) They put the case on hold for six months then refuse after less than 1 month!

AS I SEE IT:

1) If the applicant has evidence of qualifications, work experience and even a job offer from the UK there should be no need to look at the sponsors financial status.

2)The above deteils were totally ignored therefore sponsor asked for job evidence, which we were collecting in the timeframe given, but they seemed to have made a huge error by refusing 5 months early.


PREDICAMENT:

Is the only option appeal, where and how do I lodge this, can it be speeded up???

HELP, HELP, HELP

[Wanderer]

Wouldn't an A-Level Student be under 18 and therefore unable to sponsor a marriage visa?

I must admit based on whats posted here I'm not suprised the visa was rejected, seems to be based on whatifs and maybes, am I reading right, the sponsor is a student with no income, and applicant is in Pakistan, speaks no English but has a 'job offer' from UK?

If you've not got the six month bit in writing I'd forget about basing an appeal on it.

[papa]

a) The A level student is over 18. She was due to start working and stated this.
b) As mentioned, the applicant is a graduate with work experience in computing. In Pakistan, believe it or not, English is taught at schools, colleges, universities! He also has a job offer to work as a computing technician until he finds work more suited to his qualifications.
c) By law, it is the applicant and not the sponsor who should not be resorting to public funds. They have not questioned any other aspect of the case. He has provided evidence of the above and also mentioned these in the application form.
In spite of this, they state he has no qualifications, no work experience and has not done any job research! Moreover, the applicants documents have been returned as if they have not even been looked at! (Papers still clipped together as he gave them).

[sakura]

I suggest you take a look at this: http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=17697 and read about the changes. It might not be 100% why they refused the application, but may be based on this. A job offer from the applicant...well, normally of course they assume some people will work once they move here, but it must be shown from the sponsor's side that they can provide sufficient support. The sponsor must still be quite young - 19? - and probably does not earn much money; she lives at home, is a full-time student, etc etc. I am not saying that is why they refused, but, from the above link, clearly the sponsor needs to show sufficiency in being a sponsor! So maybe the fact that she's just started working, and that the isn't earning much - and maybe did not provide enough material (to be honest) - let down the application?

However, there may be good grounds to appeal if you feel they ignored the material provided. Have they thought of appealing?

[papa]

We think it is better to appeal and prepare a new application at the same time, as we have heard that an appeal can take a while to be heard.

Now that the application has been refused, can anybody tell me what is the process of appeal, and more importantly, anyway to bring to the attention of the ECO that the reasons for refusal are invalid?

[MSS]

It seems that they are refusing visa's for no reason. My husbands was refused because i had no wage slips, but i had a letter from my employer and bank statements. stupid entry clearence officer

[Wanderer]

It seems that they are refusing visa's for no reason. My husbands was refused because i had no wage slips, but i had a letter from my employer and bank statements. stupid entry clearence officer

Doesn't the application form ask for payslips?

[MSS]

No i provided bank statements and letter from my employer stating how much i was earning - and also land registry documents stating i had my own house - yet still they refused because apparantly i couldnt support him without recourse to public funds

[eliasuk4u]

It seems that they are refusing visa's for no reason.

That's not true. ECO is doing his/her job. If all the documents are according to there tick boxes then there is no reason for refusal unless there is some complication.

My husbands was refused because i had no wage slips, but i had a letter from my employer and bank statements.

Payslip is an important and must document in entry clearance application. you must provide atleast 6 months payslips. Employer letter doesn't provide much details and can be typed yourself on a letter headed paper. But a payslip tells your national insurance number, how much you paid to the govt as tax/NI, your name and address, employers name and address, your bank details if its BACS mode of payments, pensions etc...etc... so its an vital document. Its strongly adviced to provide P60 as part of documents as well.

[MSS]

thanks elias - i wish id known this before...so frustrating, everything else was perfect in the case....damit

[DavidR98]

We think it is better to appeal and prepare a new application at the same time, as we have heard that an appeal can take a while to be heard.

Now that the application has been refused, can anybody tell me what is the process of appeal, and more importantly, anyway to bring to the attention of the ECO that the reasons for refusal are invalid?

An appeal takes a long time. A fresh application might (would) be prejudiced by the refusal of the first one.

As you describe the situation, the refusal was a simple error. Send a polite letter stating specifically why you believe their decision was wrong, and in particular raising the issue of suspending the application for six months.

This approach has worked with the British Embassy in Beijing: my wife's sister was refused a visitor's visa, but after sending such a letter she received an apology and the offer of a visa whenever she liked.

[IMMIGRATION LAWYER]

Appeal time depends on the place you lodge it + representations. The longest I had for my client from India was 12 months. The fastest - Russia - 2 months.

From what you say it looks like the application was quite week and a fresh one may help.

I say may because I have not seen a copy of the refusal letter, list of documents submitted and the ECO records, if any.

The sponsor must proov that she is able to accommodate and maintain herself and her dependant (you) without additional recourse to public fnds. You funds can be taken into consideration ONLY in conjunction with the sponsor's funds. Only your funds are likely to result in your application being refused...

[VictoriaS]

I have seen the most appalling refusal come from Pakistan over the past few months, and I have first hand experience of ECO's not looking at the documents supplied.

Your cousin can reapply and / or appeal, depending on the case. If you want to contact me with the exact refusal statement and your cousin's thoughts, I will be happy to advise as to the best approach.

Victoria

[papa]

We have lodged an appeal (about one month ago) in the UK. We were hoping to have the decision overturned on appeal, but no news so far.
Below is a copy of the reason for refusal and why we think it was wrong.
Please take time to read and advise.


I would be most grateful if you would review the refusal of the above settlement application urgently, as we believe there have been glaring errors and mistakes in dealing with it. This would save us much hardship.

The two reasons for refusal given were:
a) “You state that you will seek to find employment in the UK. However, I note from your application that you have no qualifications or work experience and there is no indication that you speak, write or understand English and in the absence of any evidence that you have conducted any research into job prospects in the area I therefore consider it highly improbable that you would be able to secure employment in the near future to satisfy me that your arrival will not cause recourse to public funds. 281 (v)â€