First tier tribunal-case dismissed by FTJ.

[gboko1]

Hi Everyone.
Let me start by thanking the person who took his or her time to create this forum. now to the main point.

I came in the UK with a visitor visa 2011. during my stay here, I meant my wife an EEA citizen in June 2014. we dated and decided to move in together Dec 2014. after moving in, we gave notice for marriage in March 2015. unfortunately, we where told that our proposed marriage will be investigated for 70days to see if the marriage was genuine. during the 70 days, we where visited by the HO early in the morning. after the visit, i was place to always report at the police station.

after the 70 days as elapsed, the HO gave us permission to go ahead with the marriage. after the marriage I applied for RC which resulted in HO re-inviting for a diff interview in Liverpool. me and my wife both went there. I was shocked when the interviewer confirm to me that, on my entry clearance it state that I was married before with a child in Ghana. I told the interviewer that I don't know anything about that. I told him an agent made my application. it's truly written there that an agent made the application for me. to cut the whole story short.
I was refused on that ground, I appeal to FTT, it took exactly 1year to get a date. went to the appeal with my wife as my witness. the surprising thing was that, FTJ didn't even ask me any question non the HO representative. my barrister argued maybe 8mins. the FTJ look tired and said she will go through my Bundle later. after 1week I got a result that case dismissed. now I have requested for permission to appeal to upper tribunal.

The painful thing is that, didn't the HO saw this on my entry clearance before allowing us to go ahead with the marriage. an investigation was made before our marriage was allowed to be registered.

I was never married before and with no child. if there was a child or a previous marriage, I would not be so foolish to go ahead with another one.

however is reading my message, please pardon me for the long message. I don't know how to summarise it lol. as anyone experienced this before? I need help. I'm thinking my Solicitor didn't do enough. I saw some error on the interview transcript of which I told my solicitor about and he didn't do anything about it.

Any shared experience would be highly appreciated. thanks for reading. God bless you all.

[ohara]

First of all, how did you come to the UK on a visitor visa for 3 years?

Secondly, and probably the most important question, why did your entry clearance state that you have a wife and child in Ghana

[noajthan]

Registrar may not have had access to the entry clearance records before approving the marriage.

You and not some agent are responsible for your applications and the information submitted.
Was the 'first wife and child' a cunning ploy to demonstrate home ties and an intent to return home to Ghana after visit?

The onus is on you to prove you were single and free to marry.
Unclear how EEA wife could help by being a witness with questions relating to a time before you had met.

You are clearly an overstayer so best bet may be to return home (yours or EEA wife's home) and either live at home with (second) wife or apply for an EEA FP in usual way.
The EU route may not lead to PR in the normal way now, due to Brexit.

[gboko1]

First of all, how did you come to the UK on a visitor visa for 3 years?

Secondly, and probably the most important question, why did your entry clearance state that you have a wife and child in Ghana

Hi Ohara,

thanks for your message. I came to the UK on visitor visa for 6months. I overstayed my visa. to your second question, an agent helped me to arranged my visa. he was the one that filled in whatever information he wanted just to get me a visa. I was never married or have a child back home. it is written on the entry clearance document that application was made via agent.

The HO did investigation on my marriage for 70days. why would they allow me to go ahead with the marriage. they could have easily stopped me then. it wasn't the marriage registrar that did investigation. the HO did. they came to my house. they must have had my entry clearance details before coming to my house.

[gboko1]

Registrar may not have had access to the entry clearance records before approving the marriage.

You and not some agent are responsible for your applications and the information submitted.
Was the 'first wife and child' a cunning ploy to demonstrate home ties and an intent to return home to Ghana after visit?

The onus is on you to prove you were single and free to marry.
Unclear how EEA wife could help by being a witness with questions relating to a time before you had met.

You are clearly an overstayer so best bet may be to return home (yours or EEA wife's home) and either live at home with (second) wife or apply for an EEA FP in usual way.
The EU route may not lead to PR in the normal way now, due to Brexit.

Hi noajthan;
thank you for your message. The HO did investigation on my marriage for 70days not the marriage registrar. after the 70 days. I was sent a letter that I have complied with the investigation. they gave me authorisation that my marriage can go ahead.

I just learnt that I am the one who is responsible for my application. I didn't know that before I left my country. it's a normal practice in my country that an agent assist you with visa application. because I didn't have any knowledge on how to apply for it. You are right. I think the reason the agent added those information was a cunning ploy to demonstrate home ties and an intent to return home to Ghana after visit.

I requested for a document from my home country to prove that I was single back in my country. A signed and stamp document from my local registrar and affidavit sworn from the high court by my parents. stating that I am a bachelor in my country before I left. but the Judge overlooked the document saying that. there are so much bribing and corruption in my country. the problem here is this, How can I divorce someone I'm not married to. if I was married before then it would be easy for me to divorce and marry to my EEA partner.

I think the onus still lies on the HO to provide the application form that was submitted in Ghana. showing where I signed that I was married before. there was no marriage certificate.

this is so stressful. I have never ever experienced such hassle in my life. it is depressing and can kill.
regarding the EEA FP you made mention of, is it the same thing as living together? i made some research regarding living together. what I found was that, you can apply for that if you can prove that you and the EEA have lived to together for more than 2years. the downside is that, you have to also prove that previous marriage has been dissolved. i.e. no previous marriage. so I don't know where that lives me. my life is in total chaos.

One last thing, is it a normal practice for a judge not to ask me any question on the day of the court. neither the HO representative. I wasn't given any chance to defend myself. it was suppose to be an Oral hearing although my barrister did talk. I thought the main reason for requesting for an oral appeal is for you to have an opportunity to speak to the Judge and answer any question thrown at you.

thank you

[noajthan]

Most unfortunate.

Whoever filed the original visa application has dug a hole for you.
It is unclear how you can climb out if evidence from home country is overlooked and is not enough to refute the original declarations you must have signed for.

A FP is a family permit - a kind of entry visa to re-enter UK on EU route.

I have not had to endure an immigration court proceeding. In my battles with UKVI it is HO who blinked first and threw in the towel (just days before before the court date) so I never had my day in court.

You may want to look at a period of life in wife's country.
You are unlikely to acquire PR in UK now (if just starting out) whereas in a.n.other EU country you could.
Good luck.

[Obie]

This is a difficult matter. You got yourself into many mess, and the burden would have been on you to provide evidence of no impediment.

When matter involve facts rather than law, judges tends to be reluctant in granting permission, especially if the judge said he or she took account of everything, but came to the conclusion that you could not be believed.

[gboko1]

I know it's a difficult matter and I'm confuse. what other way can someone prove that he wasn't married before? the thing is, I wasn't given any chance to even talk on the hearing day. no question or whatsoever. will EU law stop when UK trigger article 50 in march?

From what I have read, the FTJ concentrate on error of fact while the UTJ concentrate on error of law.

[Obie]

If there is an error of law, then you are entitled to permission to appeal.

[Frontier Mole]

You are in a lose lose situation. There is very little point in contesting the case further as your credibility is completely eroded.
Whichever way you turn you hit a barrier of truth or lies you can't overcome.

1. To gain entry you lied about having a wife and child. You are blaming the agent - given the circumstances of a visa application you either deceived at the time or are deceiving now. So one way or the other you lose.

2. You overstayed your visa by years. Credibility massively damaged and you are shown to have been deceitful and untrustworthy. Why would anyone give credence to an individual that breaches the law and overstays?

3. Your country of origin is noted for a high abuse trend of forged / counterfeit documents. Even if the documents are real the issue is you. You are not credible and unless there is a source that can be relied on beyond reproach anything submitted on your behalf is considered fairly worthless. Why would any document be given weight when it is self serving and from an untrustworthy source to support at the very least an overstayer.

4. The FTJ would have given scant regard for submissions from your family again they are self serving. The weight of evidence against you and your conduct essentially points to a complete disregard for U.K. Immigration law. The case is cut and dried in the average persons eyes,

5. Blaming the HO for your predicament on the basis that they investigated your marriage approval gets you no where. It is an approval and nothing more. It still remains your decision to marry from that point. There is no compulsion to do so and any declaration you make to the Register at the point of the marriage is yours and yours alone. You have given two differing official bodies two different accounts of your marital status. One has to be false.

You will have a mountain of issues to overcome to remain in the U.K. and given the circumstances and your wish to blame anyone but yourself for your actions you are not readily going to persuade anyone you are the innocent party.

I wish you luck but perhaps it is better to consider other EEA countries or your spouses country of origin to make a new start in?