EEA family permit refused for Jamaican married to German

[Drixi]

I am a German national and have been living and working in the UK for the past 15 years. In June 2005 I met a Jamaican national and we started a relationship. He had been living in the UK on a student visa since end 2002. In May 2006 he was refused renewal of his student visa. He returned to Jamaica in July 2006. We lived together for a few months before he left.

I travelled to Jamaica 3 times in the 2nd half of 2006 and in November 2006 he applied for a visitor visa to come back to the UK to help me after a major operation on my spine and a chance to meet my Dad who lives in Germany. We also got engaged and told immigration that we were intending to get married in 2007. The visa was refused. He appealed to the decision and a court hearing was scheduled in March 2007. My fiance later on withdrew the appeal since our circumstances changed.

In February 2007 I travelled to Jamaica and we got married. My husband applied for an EEA family permit which was refused on the grounds that the ECO believed that we had entered a marriage of convenience. Again, my husband appealed to the decision. I got a solicitor involved who sent all supporting documents to prove that we had a genuine relationship (ie 200 pages of phone bills, letters, photos, testimonials of people that knew us together, letters from my gynaecologist about consultation regarding infertility issues...) to the ECO in Jamaica in June and asked them to reconsider their decision.

I contacted my MP and he also wrote to the UK visas. The deadline of the ECO was 5th September after this date the case goes back to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK for a hearing.

I took a 3 months sabbatical from work and spent this time in Jamaica with my husband hoping the ECO would invite both of us for another interview. Nothing happened although we called the embassy various times.

Yesterday I received a copy of a letter from UK visas addressed to my MP. Here a quote from the letter:

The ECM at our High Commission in Kingston has reviewed Mr. xxx application in light of your representations and the sponsor's letter. However, there is no new evidence to address the points raised by the ECO in the Refusal Notice. Particularly regarding the lack of evidence of the sponsor's divorce certificate from her previous marriage and the statements made by the applicant at interview. Taken together with the applicant's previous immigration history the ECM is satisfied that the decision to refuse entry clearance is correct and in accordance with the Immigration Rules.

As mentioned before, a bundle of documents (which included my divorce certificate from my previous marriage) was sent to the ECO in June. All points raised in the refusal were addressed and proving documents sent. My solicitor told me that the only reason an EEA family permit can be refused is if a marriage of convenience has been entered. Therefore, can the ECM refuse the visa based on statements that were made by my husband at interview and his previous immigration history or is this against Immigration rules? Also, can the ECO still reverse their refusal before the case goes to the court hearing? It seems to me that they conveniently lost my divorce papers and waited with their statement until the very last day so that they can just pass the case back to the AIT in the UK.

Best regards and thanks for your help.

P.S. We are totally distraught by this whole develpment not only because the government has been keeping us apart for over a year now but also because we were trying to start a family from the end of 2005 and due to my age, time is running out for me and I really need my husband with me in Europe in order to have a chance to get IVF treatment.

In addition the solicitor's bill is getting huge, especially if the case also goes to court now.

If I had known earlier this year that this would become such a drama, I would have moved back to Germany and probably we would be reunited by now.

[sammie121]

I guess their attitude is that instead of being apart why not move and make a life in one of your birth countries. I hope you can be reunited soon though, wherever it may be!!

[thsths]

My solicitor told me that the only reason an EEA family permit can be refused is if a marriage of convenience has been entered. Therefore, can the ECM refuse the visa based on statements that were made by my husband at interview and his previous immigration history or is this against Immigration rules? Also, can the ECO still reverse their refusal before the case goes to the court hearing? It seems to me that they conveniently lost my divorce papers and waited with their statement until the very last day so that they can just pass the case back to the AIT in the UK.

Hi Drixi

I can certainly sympathise with your situation. UK visas is really as incompetent and inconvenient as possible, especially concerning the European legislation. Luckily you have quite a number of options, in order of strength:

• You can contact SOLVIT, and indeed you should. They have unofficial channels that may help your application, and they can also clarify your legal situation. Try to give as much details as possible: they have experienced lawyers, but they do rely completely on your input.
• You can complain to the European commission. They may decide to take your case if they expect that it has wider significance. Since the UK is known to be rather short of the European standard, this is possible, but not certain.
• You can move to Germany. Generally German immigration seems to work reasonably well, and you should have no trouble to get a VISA. You can either stay in the Germany for the time being, or apply for a Family Permit from there. The chances of getting the family permit are much better in Germany.
• You can also just wait for the trial. In fact you probably should, and you should also try to reclaim your legal expenses and maybe even damages. If you can prove the circumstances you described (e.g. they "lost" the divorce papers), I think that you have a chance to do this. (Obviously you should ask your lawyer or SOLVIT about this.)
• Theoretical you could also skip the Family Permit and apply for EEA2 directly. This takes 6 months, but there are very strict rules for refusing it, so you could be successful. This is only an idea: you should certainly discuss it with a lawyer first.

Finally I think you should look at the case from their side, too. For example, UK visas is a huge (and bad) bureaucracy, and it is entirely possible that they lost the divorce certificate. Obviously contacting UK visas is usually futile, but you can get SOLVIT to do this for you, and they can sometimes solve these practical problems.

The other interesting fact is that the refusal mentions "the statements made by the applicant at interview". Can you elaborate on this, or is it private? It could show some light upon how the decision was made. Also what is the "applicant's previous immigration history"? If your husband was an over-stayer, UK visas will try every trick in the book (legal or not) to stop him from coming back. Your lawyer should have known this, and prepared for a longer battle.