3-month period for maintenance funds..Please help urgently!!

[jcs]

Can anyone please help me with this query regarding Tier-1 (General).

What is considered as 3-month period immediately before the application? If I had made my application on 30th May 2008, what would be the start date for covering the 3-month requirement for maintenance funds?

Please help me with this info urgently!

Thanks!

[CoolestGuyC]

(roughly) 90 days before 30 May, 2008

[MrBaboo]

What is considered as 3-month period immediately before the application?

There was a recent update to the guidance notes clarifying the difficulty in this area:

For applications submitted outside of the UK, all
evidence must be dated no more than 7 days before
the application is submitted.

For applications submitted in the UK, all evidence
must be dated no more than one month before the
application is submitted.

(page 31 of http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... yguide.pdf )

[jcs]

I had submitted my application from India (VFS - Chennai) on 30th May '08 and had submitted the latest bank statements from my 2 bank accounts as evidence. India bank statement was dated 24th May '08 and UK bank statement dated 25th May '08. The balance in my Indian account was above £2800 from 29th February '08 to the date of application. But still the EC got refused saying that prior to 29th Feb '08 I had insufficient funds in the account. I do not understand why are funds prior to 29th Feb '08 considered when my application date was 30th May '08? Can I highlight this as a mistake in the Administrative Review?

I had also submitted my UK bank statements as evidence, however that was not considered since they were online statements (even though stamped by the bank) but there was no letter from the bank. I was not able to submit a letter since my bank in UK said they could not issue such a letter. That's the reason I got the statements stamped, but due to practical difficulties I could not get the latest statement dated 25th May '08 to be stamped. I had clearly mentioned these difficulties in the covering letter also. Please can somebody guide me on how to approach with the Admin Review? If I can get my UK bank statement (that was submitted with the application) stamped now will that help, even though it is mentioned not to send any supporting evidence?

Thanks!

[MrBaboo]

Sorry to hear about your refusal.

My guess is as follows:

Although they offer the concession to allow documentary evidence that is up to 7 days old if outside UK or 1 month if in UK but you still need a full 3 months worth of evidence in total.

With the evidence of yours they actually accepted, it shows funds from 29th Feb to 25th May which is less than 3 months. You probably should have also supplied evidence covering 25th Feb to 29th Feb too.

To put it another way, if I were to apply from within the UK with my luxurious 1 month documentation concession and did what you did, then I'd only supply 2 month's worth of documentation in total. Clearly this is not what they are asking for.

[MrBaboo]

I won't comment on your chances for a successful Administrative Review but defer to more experienced forum members...

[geriatrix]

Reading this will be useful. Sorry we are, to hear about your refusal, but cluttering the board with duplicate posts is not going to help you change the rules.

Coming back to your concerns, I agree with MrBaboo.

Though you provided bank statement (Indian account) dated within 7 days preceding your application, but you failed to provide evidence that you've maintained the min. balance for a full 3 month period (24th Feb - 24th May).

In my opinion, *online statements* of a UK bank wouldn't have been considered without a supporting letter from UK bank - for an application made in India. But as I said, it's my personal opinion! Even if stamped online statements are indeed acceptable by BHC, then again you didn't provide the latest statement with a stamp on it. Honestly, it is not the ECO's problem if you maintain funds in a UK bank and cannot get things done as required and/or on time. Since you applied from India, you must also follow the rules applicable in India at time of your application.

So, unless you can prove that the ECO made a mistake in not considering your UK bank statements as evidence of maintenance funds, IMHO, the chances of a positive outcome are as good as none. Again, personal opinion!

regards

[jcs]

Thanks MrBaboo and sushdmehta for your comments and opinions. sushdmehta, the maintenance requirement is that the funds should be in the account for 3 months immediately prior to the application date (30th May in my case). In that case, why should the 3 month period be considered from 24th Feb?

[MrBaboo]

Thanks MrBaboo and sushdmehta for your comments and opinions. sushdmehta, the maintenance requirement is that the funds should be in the account for 3 months immediately prior to the application date (30th May in my case). In that case, why should the 3 month period be considered from 24th Feb?

By your definition your application should have been rejected but on other grounds - you didn't submit sufficient evidence for 25th May - 30th May.

They were kind and sensible enough to accept slightly older evidence (6 days old) fully recognising how difficult it is to get same-day documents from banks. But they still require 3 full months - ie from the last date on the evidence you submit.

You can't have it both ways, I'm afraid.

[geriatrix]

Personal bank or building society statements covering the three-month period immediately before the application:The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:
• the applicant’s name;
• the account number;
• the date of the statement;
• the financial institution’s name and logo;
• transactions covering the three-month period;
• that there are sufficient funds present in the account (the balance must always be at least £2,800 or £800, as appropriate).

In essence what has happened in your case is that you followed the condition highlighted in blue, but you have failed to meet the condition highlighted in red (oversight, maybe).

Hope this removes any doubts.

regards