Bringing My Partner Back to the UK After Mandatory Ban

[gdm485]

Hi I was hoping someone would be able to give me some advice on which route I should take as I'm having problems considering how I should go about bringing my partner back to the UK.

I'm a british citizen and my partner's an indian national. She came here on a Tier 4 student visa in 2011 and we have been living together for slightly over 2 years (I've got joint tenancy agreements and individual bank statements covering this period), we were last living together in September 2014 before she voluntarily departed. We have spent 3 weeks together in Thailand last month as a holiday.

She applied to extend her student visa in Jan 2014, however we did not hear from the HO for quite some time. We had also changed address in April 2014 but despite contacting the home office, we were not provided with a progress update. We found out from someone at the previous address in Aug 2014 that immigration officers had visited with a warrant for my partner. Upon contacting the HO we were told that a curtailment letter was sent out to the previous address however this was returned undelivered (we did not receive this as we were not residing there and also had wrote to the home office to change her address on file in April 2014). All the HO stated was that my partner doesn't have valid leave despite us not receiving any correspondence regarding this.

After realising she had no valid leave to remain, we decided to opt for voluntary departure and she departed in September 2014. The immigration decision stated "You are specifically considered a person who has sought leave to remain in the United Kingdom by deception following information provided to us by Educational Testing Service (ETS), that on 19 June 2013 an anomaly with your speaking test indicated the presence of a proxy test taker."

It was only when we were given this decision letter was that we actually knew the reason behind the immigration officers visiting. Also though it doesn't state anything on the decision letter, I believe there's a 12 month mandatory ban which I have filed an appeal to lift, explaining our situation.

My question is that which options are available to me to bring her here again. I would consider marriage, but she currently has a divorce case going on (indian divorce cases can take a really long time for those who know, especially as it is not mutual, despite both of them living apart for the past 5 years). She is resolving her case right now but from what I'm told it could take quite a few months.

I was thinking of applying under the partner route but considering she isn't actually divorced yet and not free to marry would this be a problem even if we submit evidence of divorce proceedings? Also would the fact that we last lived together in September 2014 and she didn't have valid leave be a problem in calculating the 2 years living together.

Also what are the chances of this ban being lifted because then she could maybe apply for a visitor visa? I could also sponsor her through my company by applying for a license and issuing a certificate of sponsorship but not sure how the deception decision will impact this. Any advice regarding this would help me a lot as I am quite stressed as I can't really see any valid options

[MPH80]

Unfortunately deception attracts a 10 year ban - not a 12 month one. If UKBA are right and there was a proxy that is exceptionally serious. This applies to all visa paths except the family route.

The spouse visa path does not follow the same ban cycle - there are different rules and deception, unless in that application, won't result in an automatic refusal.

However, there is a catch all ban - 320(11) - which can be used if the ECO decides (and gets permission) which can result in a discretionary ban.

You need to get them to lift the original decision. You need to prove she took that test.

M.

[gdm485]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was under the impression that if you chose to voluntarily depart that only a 12-month ban was applied which is exactly what we did?

[Casa]

320(7a) applies. 10 years if they practised deception (which includes using false documentation) in support of a previous visa application. That's why you've been advised to prove that there wasn't a proxy involved in the language test.

[alil2014]

ETS was suspended from the approved list earlier in the year due to the undercover report which showed large-scale fraud in their english tests.

Was the english test taken before you partner arrived in the UK in 2011 or was it taken in June 2013?

If it is 2011 then it seems quite odd that 2 years later ETS have notified the UKVI that there was an anomaly in the test. If the test was taken by your partner without a proxy then you have nothing to worry about, but need to clear her name during the appeal before your partner re-applies otherwise most likely it will lead to a refusal.

[Casa]

From the OP's post the test was taken in June 2013. "that on 19 June 2013 an anomaly with your speaking test indicated the presence of a proxy test taker."
Voice recognition is likely to have been used to detect a proxy test taker for the test.