Tier 1 Entrepreneur Twice Refusal

[sri0805]

Hi All,

I was on PSW until May 30 2013 and was working as an engineer for a reputed Automobile Manufacturer. I had a sponsor who promised to sponsor me the Tier 2 General Visa before my PSW ran out. But the sponsor backed off from sponsoring me at the end of March 2013 citing some issues. I approached a Solicitor and she suggested to apply for the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa with 50k GBP as the investment. I asked mt dad to sell some land in India and brought the money over to UK in June 2013. Before that my Solicitor had applied for FLR(Further Leave to Remain) application with the Home Office so that I could arrange the 50k and get it transferred to UK.

I had registered my Ltd company on April 09 2013 while I was still on PSW and started trading immediately. MY FLR was rejected in June, but I got the 50k transferred to UK within one week after the rejection and my Solicitor made the Tier1 application. My Tier 1 application was refused at the first time and they did not award me any points for the 50k in my business account which I am the sole director of. My Solicitor made an appeal in the court and also made a 2nd Tier 1 application. IN the meantime a case worker from the Home office called my Solicitor and spoke to her saying that she has to withdraw either the court appeal or the Home office application so that either the court or the HO can make the decision on my Visa and convinced my Solicitor that there were only a few documents missing from my Visa application and I won't have any issues in getting the Visa if I include these documents.My solicitor discussed with me and then we decided to withdraw the court appeal and go ahead with the Tier 1 visa application. Unfortunately my Tier 1 was again rejected in September 2013 and my Solicitor asked the HO to reconsider my Visa application was unfairly treated. The HO responded in March 2014 saying that they won't reconsider my Visa application and asked me to make a fresh application or to leave the country.

But the HO never returned all my Original documents which I had submitted including my Indian Passport. I filled in the online form for the return of my documents on May 03 2014 and the HO said that they will send me the documents in 10 working days but I have not yet received the documents as of today (04 September 2014). Meanwhile I lost my business contract with the automotive company on June 20 2014. Right now I am stuck here and my Solicitor has asked me to make a 3rd Tier 1 application and if it gets rejected she has asked me to go back to India.

I am totally devastated and humiliated by the way in which the HO has treated me, as since the time I have been in this country I have done everything legally and even all the bills and taxes of my business was paid promptly. My career depended on my business and I feel like I am fighting a losing battle.

I would be really grateful if any one of you could advice me any way to get out of this nightmare as I am running out of time and losing the will to live in the UK as my family has taken a huge risk by giving me the 50k by selling their property. Looking forward to hear any positive response. Thanks.

[sri0805]

Please advise

[Hope145]

Hi All,

I was on PSW until May 30 2013 and was working as an engineer for a reputed Automobile Manufacturer. I had a sponsor who promised to sponsor me the Tier 2 General Visa before my PSW ran out. But the sponsor backed off from sponsoring me at the end of March 2013 citing some issues. I approached a Solicitor and she suggested to apply for the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa with 50k GBP as the investment. I asked mt dad to sell some land in India and brought the money over to UK in June 2013. Before that my Solicitor had applied for FLR(Further Leave to Remain) application with the Home Office so that I could arrange the 50k and get it transferred to UK.

I had registered my Ltd company on April 09 2013 while I was still on PSW and started trading immediately. MY FLR was rejected in June, but I got the 50k transferred to UK within one week after the rejection and my Solicitor made the Tier1 application. My Tier 1 application was refused at the first time and they did not award me any points for the 50k in my business account which I am the sole director of. My Solicitor made an appeal in the court and also made a 2nd Tier 1 application. IN the meantime a case worker from the Home office called my Solicitor and spoke to her saying that she has to withdraw either the court appeal or the Home office application so that either the court or the HO can make the decision on my Visa and convinced my Solicitor that there were only a few documents missing from my Visa application and I won't have any issues in getting the Visa if I include these documents.My solicitor discussed with me and then we decided to withdraw the court appeal and go ahead with the Tier 1 visa application. Unfortunately my Tier 1 was again rejected in September 2013 and my Solicitor asked the HO to reconsider my Visa application was unfairly treated. The HO responded in March 2014 saying that they won't reconsider my Visa application and asked me to make a fresh application or to leave the country.

But the HO never returned all my Original documents which I had submitted including my Indian Passport. I filled in the online form for the return of my documents on May 03 2014 and the HO said that they will send me the documents in 10 working days but I have not yet received the documents as of today (04 September 2014). Meanwhile I lost my business contract with the automotive company on June 20 2014. Right now I am stuck here and my Solicitor has asked me to make a 3rd Tier 1 application and if it gets rejected she has asked me to go back to India.

I am totally devastated and humiliated by the way in which the HO has treated me, as since the time I have been in this country I have done everything legally and even all the bills and taxes of my business was paid promptly. My career depended on my business and I feel like I am fighting a losing battle.

I would be really grateful if any one of you could advice me any way to get out of this nightmare as I am running out of time and losing the will to live in the UK as my family has taken a huge risk by giving me the 50k by selling their property. Looking forward to hear any positive response. Thanks.

Oh dear! I can imagine how you feel! Sad to learn of your refusal! Your case is quite technical and requires expertise. I think your solicitor is inexperienced and didnot advice you properly as you should have gotten visa 1st time. It's always best to show the investment money in your personal account Not business account to avoid headache. I suggest you seek 2nd opinion especially if you still have the 50k(in your personal account), have maintenance money for 90days, registered company pre 11th of July and can proof business activity. If you are in london or willing to travel I know an experienced solicitor who may be of help if you like(obviously this means spending more). Sometimes reading the policy guidance and browsing this forum is sufficient to apply and get visa. Best wishes!

[sri0805]

Hi Hope145, thanks for your reply. Can you please give me the contact details of the solicitor you mentioned. I can come and see him asap. Thanks.

[Hope145]

Hi Hope145, thanks for your reply. Can you please give me the contact details of the solicitor you mentioned. I can come and see him asap. Thanks.

I sent you P.M with the solicitor's details, If you don't receive the message as you're newly registered then send ur email through.

[sri0805]

Hi Hope145, please email me the contact details on srizulu13@live.com Thanks a lot for your help.

[Hope145]

Hi Hope145, please email me the contact details on srizulu13@live.com Thanks a lot for your help.

No worries! I sent you an email! Goodluck with it all!

[Momi]

You should have chosen an expert solicitor. Feeling really sorry for you.

[tanvir1985th]

Dear Sri0805,
Your whole case is so heartbreaking and confusing to me. My questions to u
1) did u make the first tier 1 application before the FLR was decided or after?
2) if u applied for tier 1 after the FLR was refused did u get the appeal right straightway or went for judicial review for appeal right?
3) have you been given another appeal right after reconsideration from the case worker?

From my understanding of what you said few things are not possible. No1 u can't get a appeal right if yr FLR was refused and your visa was expired and then u made the tier 1 application. if u were given appeal right, that appeal right should be in place after reconsideration unless it was given by mistake. So the solution is simple if there is still an appeal right then there is a chance of making the 3rd application( but no guarantee that it won't be invalid) within 28 days of the last refusal or go for judicial review. Hope it helps

[sri0805]

Thanks for your responses Momi and Tanvir.

1) I made the first Tier 1 application after the FLR was refused. They gave me 28 days to make an application or else asked me to leave the country. I made the application within 14 days.

2) My solicitor went for the appeal after the Tier 1 was refused first time. Then a court appeal was made simultaneously with a 2nd Tier 1 application

3) No, I was not given an appeal right after the 2nd refusal was done. My solicitor requested for a reconsideration, but even that was refused after 4 months of time. They asked me to make a third application or else to go back.

I have made a few appointments with new solicitors next week, hope that they can help me.

[Olasunkanmi]

@ sri0805, did your solicitor submitted a Judicial review letter after your re-consideration request was also rejected?

If not, then your case is now more complicated than before.

What date was the last reconsideration request rejected as you can still submit a JR PAP letter if its not more than 90days?

[sri0805]

@Olasunkanmi: I got the the HO letter in March 2014 end. My Solicitor we will make a 3rd application after she had a discussion with a Barrister. I requested the HO for sending all my Original documents back (which also includes my passport) on May 03 2014, so that I could make the 3rd application. But the HO has not yet send the documents to me and I have tried calling their helpline number and nobody never ever even picked the call.

So I am basically stuck between hell & HO. I know it's really complicated and I am totally devastated now. Should not have trusted the solicitor blindly.

[Olasunkanmi]

@ sri0805, you should not have requested for your original documents from HO as they are very unlikely to send them to you in order for you to make a fresh application except if you decide to leave the UK.

To submit a further application you should have simply completed the required application form and send them all original documents that you can obtain again apart from those that are already with them which you can't get again like your passport e.t.c.

About your solicitor it will be very unfair to comment about her without knowing the full issue between the 2 of you, but one simple rule in immigration cases which I expected her to have follow is that you must always have either a pending application or a pending appeal/JR. The reason why she refused to follow this simple rule is something you need to ask her and if she cant give you genuine reasons, I will suggest that you report her to the legal Ombudsman.

''If you've complained to your solicitor about poor service or about their bill, and you aren't satisfied with your solicitor's response, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333, who can help to resolve your complaint for you. - See more at: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-pu ... UnV7d.dpuf''

If your business is fully active and you are sure the investment funds is still very intact, you can complain directly to your solicitor by email to keep the records and then submit a fresh application with the guidance of an experienced legal professional.
If the application get refused again which is very likely, then you go for judicial review and then give all evidence of your previous solicitors errors and also HO wrong advice asking you to withdraw your case from court of appeal. This is just my opinion and I expect you to now consult an experienced legal professional for advice.