Visit Visa for Mother in Law - Help!

[KA941]

Hi All, planning to apply for mother in law visit visa to UK from Pakistan. I will be sponsoring her (have a job and house) but from reading few posts here, my understanding is that more emphasis should be on the circumstances and establishing ties with home country.
Question is what can be done to prove that?
1. She lives with her husband, 2 sons, 1 married with daughter in a house owned by her husband.

2. She is house wife with no bank/income/property, father in law/family business isn’t doing great with not a lot of money in bank.

I think family ties can be established but financial ties (in her case) will be difficult. Is there anything can be done to help this situation? She will be coming for couple of months and will defo return to the rest of family. She will be becoming grandma and other son will be getting married later in the year.

She was refused visa first time in Jan 2017 (under V4.2-V4.10 of Appendix V) as the ECO wasn’t satisfied with the amount of money in husbands bank and even though I was a joint sponsor, they didn’t consider my support? This time I am thinking of sponsoring her with myself and wife.

Is this going to cause issue if I will be primary sponsor?

Any advice/guidance on this will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

Her refusal ground is common but strong because it includes a lot of articles (from 4.2 to 4.10 at the time).

The rules are published here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... -v-visitor

(Appendix V, Visitors)

Expand:
Genuine visitor requirement
Prohibited activities and payment requirements for visitors

It means, at the time they didn't believe she was a genuine visitor and they assumed that once in the UK, she will stay forever.

It's difficult to bounce back from such refusals especially that her own conditions didn't improve dramatically. In terms of immigration, 2017 is not too far. I have seen people refused a visitor visa then refused 12 years later on similar grounds because they applied again with more or less the same situation.

She can still apply. Your sponsorship may increase slightly the odds on her favour as it shows your are taking care of all expenses incurred by the trip but still, the whole picture is bleak for this one to be honest.

Note: if this visit is important for you and you are ready to spend money, get her to apply then if refused, send a pre-action protocol and threaten to go to court.

[KA941]

Thanks for the reply and your assessment of the situation.
I had the same feeling but suppose we can’t proceed further without applying to see the outcome but wanted to find out what else could be done to support the application at the initial stage.

PAP will be the final course of action but want to give it my best shot at the time of application by providing additional documents (if any)?

Her brother in Pakistan is willing to help by bearing expenses and providing financial documents (he’s in a lot better financial position) in support of application, could that make a difference to n your opinion?

Thanks in advance

[Frontier Mole]

It is not of the greatest importance who actually sponsors your mother in law. You could by a millionaire and have the house the size of a castle, it just ticks a fairly simple box - is there accommodation that is free to use and if things go wrong will there be funds to pick the costs.
Yes it shows an ability to support your relatives visit but it is far from being a main consideration.

As you have already said it is about the ties to her home country and the likelihood of her return. On the simple fact provided family ties looks to be well covered.

Financially they had previous concerns - so your focus should be on demonstrating the best financial picture and evidence to support that picture. The more evidence you have the better. The previous refusal is not an insurmountable problem you just have to work a lot harder at setting out the position.

If there is a subsequent refusal and you go to PAP, it really is of little consequence to the Home Office, it is not a big deal. Even if you went all the way to JR and won, it gets you a reconsideration and no better chance of a successful outcome.

Put your efforts into making the application as robust as possible rather than thinking about future legal challenges.

[KA941]

thank you for the reply - I have been unwell hence the late response.

Financially they had previous concerns - so your focus should be on demonstrating the best financial picture and evidence to support that picture. The more evidence you have the better.

thats exactly what I was thinking but whats your recommendation on providing evidence to demonstrate financial stability.
I am attaching, accommodation papers, my bank statement, employer letter. Was also thinking of sending my mother in law £1000 in her bank account to confirm my support of the proposed trip and showing money sent from me?
Anything else you can advice?

Father in law business is small with limited finances therefore mother in law 's brother is willing to support if need be? Is this a good move?

Also in the previous refusal, ECO incorrectly assumed that my 2 brother in law were financially dependent on their father and therefore the expenses were deemed disproportionate to the income? We are planning to provide evidence that both children are financially independent? would that make any difference?

Or would you recommend hiring solicitor to help out? and if so, does the forum has any recommendation?

thanks in advance.

[Frontier Mole]

It is neither your MiL brother or you that they are concerned about. It is the ties to your mothers home country they focus on. One big reason not to grant a visa is the appearance that financially she is not in a position to fund herself and her trip PLUS there is little in the way of financial ties to her home country. No matter how much money you or the brother have or are willing to provide that is not the issue here.

Dumping money in her account is actually a negative as it suggests she can not support herself without you or her brother. Which rings even more alarm bells with the ECO.

In horrible blunt terms - my apologies - if your MiL is poor, has little or no assets or income and the general family circumstances is one of hardship and subsistence then there is very little prospect of her getting a visa. If you have supported her by sending funds that is a negative not a positive to the Home Office.

If you were able to present a good financial picture of HER in the way of HER income / pension, savings, assets / property and strong family ties to return to her home country then she will have a chance. If it is not possible to do so because it is not the case then it is unlikely that any application will be successful.

In essence the underlying point here would appear that the ECO does not think there is enough of a reason to return due to her personal financial position.

By all means get a solicitor involved if you believe the refusal is worth the legal challenge. However I would objectively look at the financial position of your MiL and be honest in your appraisal of her financial position. Your wealth is not her wealth- please bear that in mind.

[manci]

By all means get a solicitor involved if you believe the refusal is worth the legal challenge

In view of the difficulties Frontier Mole outlined and to marshal the best possible arguments for the visitor visa application you may benefit from employing a good immigration lawyer at this stage.

[KA941]

My initial concern (as stated in the start of the thread) was establishing financial ties and it seems like its been reiterated here and which makes sense. Everything else will be ignored (family ties/family commitments , her 60 years of life in home country) as the ECO is concerned about the affordability and family income.

She is in her 60s never worked or had any assets so her financial position will not change at all. With due respect being 'poor' shouldn't be a criteria to get the visa, at least not written in black and white and not something that I am aware of. Have seen friends relatives granted visa in a similar situation/financial position and that's what the sponsorship is for or should be for. We have a whole section on sponsorship in application form and supposedly one will only need a sponsor if their own financial situation is not that strong.

Guess her situation is a bit more tricky given the first refusal and thank you both for the response and advice. I will be seeking professional advice and if there are any forum recommended solicitors, please can you let me know.

thanks