Spouse visa refusal overturned

[matt_murdoch]

Hi there

Firstly I apologise if this repeating questions posed in other thrreads but i searched through and couldnt find a specific response.

We applied for a spouse visa extension, for my wife, on 26 May 2019. Unfortunately within this week we received a letter (dated 19 July 2019) that the application was rejected.

The letter stated in was rejected on the grounds that we sent an English language certificate from ESB which is not recognised by the Home Office. A minor but stupid oversight on our part.

I have two main queries that i am seeking urgent advice on:

1) We actually only opened this letter today (11-08-2019), almost 5 days past the 14-day period of appeal as I work away from home during the week. However, i did read on the site "You have 14 days to appeal after the date of your decision. If you apply after the deadline, you must explain why - the tribunal will decide if it can still hear your appeal."

Will proving that we live away from home during the week be enough of an excuse? We were there last weekend but clearly got the letter only 1-2 days before the 14 day window ended.

2) Should we even appeal, of reapply for an extension? My wife's BRP expired 7th July 2019, so this means that we cannot reapply for the spouse visa extension from within the UK, correct? However can we still apply for an extension, or do we need to apply for the spouse visa all over again?

And if we do appeal, is it a case of simply doing an english language test and submitting for the appeal, or will they simply say that the original application was incorrect and then ask us to reapply.

Thanks in advance

[matt_murdoch]

To help - Timelines:

FLM R application submitted: 26 May 2019
UKVI appointment (Croydon): 16 June 2019
BRP expiry: 7 July 2019
Refusal letter received: 4-10 Aug 2019 (not sure exactly when)
Letter opened: 11 Aug 2019

[seagul]

Deadlines for asking the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal
How long you have depends on your situation and how you received your refusal letter from the First-tier Tribunal.

Your situation When you must appeal by
You’re inside the UK 14 days after the date on the decision
You’re outside the UK 1 month after the date on the decision
Documents you must send with your application
Include copies of the following documents with your form:

the decision by the First-tier Tribunal
the ‘notice of refusal of permission to appeal’ by the First-tier Tribunal or the ‘refusal to admit the application for permission’
a statement clearly setting out your reasons for why you think the First-tier Tribunal made a mistake
any other relevant documents that you sent to the First-tier Tribunal
You also need to include any written evidence that shows why you think the First-tier Tribunal made a legal mistake.

If your application is late, you must explain in writing why it is late. The tribunal will then decide if it can review your application.

[matt_murdoch]

Hi, I am the OP of this thread and thought I would provide an update based on the advice on a number of solicitors, in case it helps anyone else.

The major factor playing against us was that application had been refused and that my wife had overstayed.

Three options would be available to us:

1. Try and get an out of time appeal. If this is not accepted, my wife would have to go back to Pakistan and start a new, fresh Entry Clearance application. If the appeal is granted, we would have to wait nearly a year for an appeal. In this case the appeal would only be accepted on a human rights basis but would mean my wife would be placed on a 10 year route. The solicitor said this would likely be successful but would take a lot of time. It would however mean she could stay in the country short term.

2. Try and get in a late application with a very good reason as to why we were late. If this was successfully accepted, it would again mean being put on a 10 year route.

3. Go back to Pakistan and apply for a fresh Entry Clearance application. The refusal and overstaying would not play much part in this application as overstaying does not automatically mean banning with spouse visas (an advise from most solicitors - just be honest! Dont subvert or lie) This would mean going onto a 5 year route.

In all 3 options, the last 2.5 years would not be counted towards 5 or 10 year route. The clock has been reset.

We decided to go with option 3. Although it did ruin a lot of plans for us, it does mean (inshaAllah) my wife will return in around 3 months. It would also mean not going on a 10 year route, and will most likely be the most cost effective.

Rubbish situation for us, but i hope this helps someone else in this situation.

[seagul]

An out of time appeal means overstaying and a lot of times an over stayer partner/parent of British national gets FLRFP under 10 years of route. In my opinion if your reasons were really solid then judge may use discretion and also dont forget a lot of posts are also get delayed by the royal mail too.

[Jaune08]

We decided to go with option 3. Although it did ruin a lot of plans for us, it does mean (inshaAllah) my wife will return in around 3 months. It would also mean not going on a 10 year route, and will most likely be the most cost effective

I'm so sorry about your situation. I hope everything goes well for you both.

In my opinion if your reasons were really solid then judge may use discretion and also dont forget a lot of posts are also get delayed by the royal mail too.

Well, that's extremely worrying. Is it frequent that Royal Mail delays important post like HO letters? From your knowledge, is it common?

[seagul]

Well, that's extremely worrying. Is it frequent that Royal Mail delays important post like HO letters? From your knowledge, is it common?

Yes it happens but not very frequently. Also sometimes the post gets delivered to wrong address which mostly happens in apartments/flats in same residential building. But in case of royal mail recorded special delivery it rarely happens.

[Jaune08]

Yes it happens but not very frequently. Also sometimes the post gets delivered to wrong address which mostly happens in apartments/flats in same residential building. But in case of royal mail recorded special delivery it rarely happens.

Thank you, seagul. That's something to keep in mind for future applications.

[matt_murdoch]

An out of time appeal means overstaying and a lot of times an over stayer partner/parent of British national gets FLRFP under 10 years of route. In my opinion if your reasons were really solid then judge may use discretion and also dont forget a lot of posts are also get delayed by the royal mail too.

Very true. We were told it is very likely that we would have won an appeal and be put on a 10 year route, however in our circumstances, the option of going and applying again was more favourable.

However if you cannot leave the country, and dont mind going on 10-year route to accomodate staying, then it is worth going for an appeal.

[vinny]

See also here.

[Fififadi]

An out of time appeal means overstaying and a lot of times an over stayer partner/parent of British national gets FLRFP under 10 years of route. In my opinion if your reasons were really solid then judge may use discretion and also dont forget a lot of posts are also get delayed by the royal mail too.

Very true. We were told it is very likely that we would have won an appeal and be put on a 10 year route, however in our circumstances, the option of going and applying again was more favourable.

However if you cannot leave the country, and dont mind going on 10-year route to accomodate staying, then it is worth going for an appeal.

Hello..

Sorry to hear about your situation - not sure if you're aware, but you can opt for the priority service and get a response quicker than the standard service. It may not apply for people with previous immigration history where the case is deemed 'not straight forward' but it may give you a response quicker? Just thought i'd let you know in case you didn't already know.

[matt_murdoch]

Hi All

I have searched through the forum and could not find a clear answer hence starting my own thread.

Context: Last week my wife (from Pakistan) had her application for entry clearance refused due to not meeting the English language requirement. This was ridiculous as the A1 English certificate was the first supporting document in our scanned pack. After appealing and raising a complaint, thankfully this was overturned within a week.

We received an email telling us this, and also saying to go back to VFS Islamabad to hand in passport.

Question is, how long does it take from handing the passport in, to getting the passport back (with vignette)?

[THO]

I can't talk for your part of the World, but my wife's visa came back in 10 days. That was taken into VFS in Ho Chi Mihn on 8th Oct and returned today 18th Oct. We asked for the visa to start at a date that meant she could leave on 18th Nov and they obliged.

[matt_murdoch]

Hi All

Wanted to share my recent experience with a spouse visa refusal that we managed to get overturned. Thought this might help people in similar situations and imagine this might have occurred previously and will do again.

Background
In July of this year, my wife (from Pakistan - who had been living in the UK for 2.5 years) had her extension - FLR(M) refused due to submitting an incorrect English certificate. Unfortunately we missed the appeal deadline due and the best option suggested by quite a few solicitors was to go back to Pakistan and apply again, as we do not have any children yet.

New Application
We applied for a new entry clearance on 28th August, and I got all the gathered documents sent via VFS London premium scanning service a few days later.

On 7th October, we received an email telling us that a decision had been made and asked my wife to go and collect her passport. To our surprise and shock, the application was refused. And to make matters more surprising, the application was refused on ground of not meeting the English Language Requirement. Despite the english certificate being in the documents that were scanned.

Approach to deal with refusal
We were 100% certain that this was unjust and due to ECO error, so on the advice of our solicitor, we did the following:

1. Appealed - due to the simple and obvious error - I went for a written appeal and raised this the same day. However i did not upload the appeal documents as required at this stage.

2. Complain - I wrote a complaint (via email to public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk - please note, send this from email of applicant, not spouse/sponsor) and raise issue there, including the relevant proof. I still had the orginal pack that the VFS Premium Service worker put together, and the English certificate was the third page!

3. MP email - Contacted local MP referring to the complaint and appeal

We were thinking all this would take at least a couple of months to get resolved, so were thinking of reapplying, as we really wanted my wife to come back and carry on with our lives.

Overturned decision
A week after my wife collected her passport, on 17th October, we received an email telling us that the initial decision to refuse the application had been overturned. Alhamdulillah.

I have no idea why the decision was overturned,whether it was the appeal, complaint, MP or a combination of all 3 (or indeed the fact the error was so glaringly wrong), but we had our decision done within a week.

My wife will submit her passport again tomorrow (22nd Oct 2019) and we are hoping that this matter can now be put behind us.

Again, i hope all this helps others in some way, to get any unjust decision sorted quickly.

[N_a]

Hi All

I have searched through the forum and could not find a clear answer hence starting my own thread.

Context: Last week my wife (from Pakistan) had her application for entry clearance refused due to not meeting the English language requirement. This was ridiculous as the A1 English certificate was the first supporting document in our scanned pack. After appealing and raising a complaint, thankfully this was overturned within a week.

We received an email telling us this, and also saying to go back to VFS Islamabad to hand in passport.

Question is, how long does it take from handing the passport in, to getting the passport back (with vignette)?

Hi i am in the same position at the moment, spouse visa refused due to financial requirements not being met. Happy to hear you got a quick response-reading this has given me some hope.

[N_a]

Hi All

Wanted to share my recent experience with a spouse visa refusal that we managed to get overturned. Thought this might help people in similar situations and imagine this might have occurred previously and will do again.

Background
In July of this year, my wife (from Pakistan - who had been living in the UK for 2.5 years) had her extension - FLR(M) refused due to submitting an incorrect English certificate. Unfortunately we missed the appeal deadline due and the best option suggested by quite a few solicitors was to go back to Pakistan and apply again, as we do not have any children yet.

New Application
We applied for a new entry clearance on 28th August, and I got all the gathered documents sent via VFS London premium scanning service a few days later.

On 7th October, we received an email telling us that a decision had been made and asked my wife to go and collect her passport. To our surprise and shock, the application was refused. And to make matters more surprising, the application was refused on ground of not meeting the English Language Requirement. Despite the english certificate being in the documents that were scanned.

Approach to deal with refusal
We were 100% certain that this was unjust and due to ECO error, so on the advice of our solicitor, we did the following:

1. Appealed - due to the simple and obvious error - I went for a written appeal and raised this the same day. However i did not upload the appeal documents as required at this stage.

2. Complain - I wrote a complaint (via email to public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk - please note, send this from email of applicant, not spouse/sponsor) and raise issue there, including the relevant proof. I still had the orginal pack that the VFS Premium Service worker put together, and the English certificate was the third page!

3. MP email - Contacted local MP referring to the complaint and appeal

We were thinking all this would take at least a couple of months to get resolved, so were thinking of reapplying, as we really wanted my wife to come back and carry on with our lives.

Overturned decision
A week after my wife collected her passport, on 17th October, we received an email telling us that the initial decision to refuse the application had been overturned. Alhamdulillah.

I have no idea why the decision was overturned,whether it was the appeal, complaint, MP or a combination of all 3 (or indeed the fact the error was so glaringly wrong), but we had our decision done within a week.

My wife will submit her passport again tomorrow (22nd Oct 2019) and we are hoping that this matter can now be put behind us.

Again, i hope all this helps others in some way, to get any unjust decision sorted quickly.

Hi please can you help me. Can you please tell me what you wrote in your complaint to them?

[matt_murdoch]

Apologies for the late response on this.

Below is what i wrote, but i have removed some more sensitive detail.

To:
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

I am writing a formal complaint about the refusal of my entry clearance application (XXXXX).

The application was refused on the grounds that I did not have a valid A1 english language certficate. I find this astounding and surprising since this was part of the application scanned in the VFS Global UK scanning hub. The document attached shows the first 3 pages scanned by VFS UK Premium Service, and shows clearly the English certificate being present on page 3 - the separator for the English requirements was placed in front of the Certificate by the VFS Global staff member, who went through checking the supporting documents carefully.

To make matters more ridiculous, a reference was made to my initial English language certificate taken in 2016 (expiring in 2018) which was not included in the application. So please tell me how the ECO could find a reference to the old certificate and not the new one?

This refusal is also a breach of your Article 8 right to family life as we are now both separated.

I have also lodged an appeal for this case, but have no desire to wait up to 6 months for a decision for me to come home - so please have some understanding and admit an error was made and overturn the decision without us having to go through such a drawn out process.

I hope you can be empathetic enough to understand the frustration and heartbreak we've been going through over the last few months to deal with this quickly.

Thank You

Yours...

[Remti]

Apologies for the late response on this.

Below is what i wrote, but i have removed some more sensitive detail.

To:
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

I am writing a formal complaint about the refusal of my entry clearance application (XXXXX).

The application was refused on the grounds that I did not have a valid A1 english language certficate. I find this astounding and surprising since this was part of the application scanned in the VFS Global UK scanning hub. The document attached shows the first 3 pages scanned by VFS UK Premium Service, and shows clearly the English certificate being present on page 3 - the separator for the English requirements was placed in front of the Certificate by the VFS Global staff member, who went through checking the supporting documents carefully.

To make matters more ridiculous, a reference was made to my initial English language certificate taken in 2016 (expiring in 2018) which was not included in the application. So please tell me how the ECO could find a reference to the old certificate and not the new one?

This refusal is also a breach of your Article 8 right to family life as we are now both separated.

I have also lodged an appeal for this case, but have no desire to wait up to 6 months for a decision for me to come home - so please have some understanding and admit an error was made and overturn the decision without us having to go through such a drawn out process.

I hope you can be empathetic enough to understand the frustration and heartbreak we've been going through over the last few months to deal with this quickly.

Thank You

Yours...

Hi . My husbands Visa was also refused on grounds of not providing payslips which i know is unfair as they should contact you for these documents and im aware they have contacted others due to missing documents. Im not even sure how to appeal it looks so complicated. I just wantsd to ask if your wife has recieved her visa?

[geoeng]

Hi . My husbands Visa was also refused on grounds of not providing payslips which i know is unfair as they should contact you for these documents and im aware they have contacted others due to missing documents. Im not even sure how to appeal it looks so complicated. I just wantsd to ask if your wife has recieved her visa?

They "may" contact you if you haven't submitted specified document, usually only in certain circumstance as outlined in Appendix FM-SE
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... d-evidence

If you have any questions about the refusal or the appeal process, feel free to start your own thread and hopefully someone can help guide you in the right direction.

[seagul]

. I just wantsd to ask if your wife has recieved her visa?

Yes

Unread post by matt_murdoch »Mon Nov 11, 2019 4:09 pm

Online application submitted:- 28/08/19
Biometrics:-06/09/2019 Islamabad - paid for non-priority however VFS were insistent it was Priority....
Supporting document scanned in London:- 06/09/19 (Premium Service)
ECO email:- ‘Application with Clearance officer 23/09/19
Email to collect passport :- 09/10/19
Passport Collection made:- 10/10/19
Decision: REFUSED (see link below for detail)
Complaint and Appeal raised: 10/10/19
Email received that decision overturned (and to re-submit passport): 17/10/19
Decision: OVERTURNED
Passport re-submitted: 22/10/2019
Call to collect passport: 31/10/2019
Passport collected: 04/11/2019
Vignette end date: 04/12/2019
what a stressful time but Alhamdulillah everything was sorted in the end

immigration-for-family-members/spouse-v ... l#p1846704