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Hi Zeeee,Zeeee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:36 amHi All,
My husband finally got a decision on this visa about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the visa was refused. According to the refusal letter, proof of relationship history was not satisfactory (we were long distance for about two years before we got married, during these period we did not visit each other as we were both in school, however we have been in daily communication all through this time. We got married at the first opportunity I had to visit him).
Also the visa officer was not satisfied with our finances. Although I have a CSEP and earn a little over the minimum threshold required by the sponsor, yet they did not deem it sufficient.
We do not have any proof of financial dependency to attach to the applications apart from maybe Netflix and apple monthly subscriptions.
Few gifts exchanged here and there during birthdays, anniversaries etc all of these were attached to the initial application.
We have decided to appeal the decision as we do not have any other options right now.
We have asked family members and friends to provide supporting letters to proof our relationship further. We are also considering asking family members to provide a letter of financial support and also bank statements saying that they will be supporting us if required. We considered asking a member of the family to deposit some money into his account as proof of funds. However I am afraid that a lump sum deposit in his account might raise another red flag.
Can anyone based on experience or expertise please advise us on what to do. I am beyond stressed at this point and need as much guidance as possible.
@littlerr and @obie please kindly provide me with some advise if you have any.
Hi,discover_ireland wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:35 amHi Zeeee,Zeeee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:36 amHi All,
My husband finally got a decision on this visa about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the visa was refused. According to the refusal letter, proof of relationship history was not satisfactory (we were long distance for about two years before we got married, during these period we did not visit each other as we were both in school, however we have been in daily communication all through this time. We got married at the first opportunity I had to visit him).
Also the visa officer was not satisfied with our finances. Although I have a CSEP and earn a little over the minimum threshold required by the sponsor, yet they did not deem it sufficient.
We do not have any proof of financial dependency to attach to the applications apart from maybe Netflix and apple monthly subscriptions.
Few gifts exchanged here and there during birthdays, anniversaries etc all of these were attached to the initial application.
We have decided to appeal the decision as we do not have any other options right now.
We have asked family members and friends to provide supporting letters to proof our relationship further. We are also considering asking family members to provide a letter of financial support and also bank statements saying that they will be supporting us if required. We considered asking a member of the family to deposit some money into his account as proof of funds. However I am afraid that a lump sum deposit in his account might raise another red flag.
Can anyone based on experience or expertise please advise us on what to do. I am beyond stressed at this point and need as much guidance as possible.
@littlerr and @obie please kindly provide me with some advise if you have any.
I am not an expert on this but I am sharing a friend of mine application checklist whose application has been approved recently.
Applicant (Wife – Indian Citizen):
01. Passport Size Photographs (3 copies)
02. Colour Photocopy of all current and previous passports (All Pages)
03. Signed Visa Application Summary Sheet
04. A letter from the Wife about relationship history (e.g., how the relationship started, how and when they met, how often they visit each other before, during and after the marriage. Proof of Husband’s visit with Airline’s ticket and Boarding Pass, Husband Passport's Arrival/Departure Seal also the picture they took when they visited each other)
05. Original Birth Certificates
06. Photocopy of National ID Card
07. Bank Statements (Last 3 Years)
08. Original Marriage Certificate (Notarised)
09. Invitation acceptance letter (a letter outlining that wife accepted husband’s invitation)
Sponsor (Husband - Lives in Ireland who is an Irish Citizen):
01. Wedding and Family Photos
02. Invitation Letter to wife
03. Screenshot of Mortgage Saver & 365 Monthly Saver Account
04. Bank Statements for the last 3 years
05. Copies of Emirates/Qatar Airways Tickets & Boarding Passes & Immigration - Arrival/Departure Stamps (Last 3 years, husband visited wife for 7 times)
06. Tax Clearance Certificate
07. Income 2020 (€58,000)
08. Income 2019 (€53,000)
09. Income 2018 (€47,000)
10. Payslips from current Employer's for the last 6 months
11. Small World FS Statements (Proof Money sent to Wife's Bank Account from 2017 to 2021 through Small World FS.
12. Facebook Messenger Call Logs Screenshot (For last 3 years)
I believe the above checklist may give you an idea if anything you missed on your initial application.
I know it might be common practice in certain parts of the world, but that is going to be very hard to convince a visa officer that you have not lived together before or even after the wedding.there was also just one visit in our relationship history which was when we got married
Hi Littlerr,littlerr wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:32 pmIt's very hard to speculate what is not satisfactory without knowing the full picture of your story, but let's have a try.
Regarding your history of relationship, you have pretty much summarised the reason yourself:I know it might be common practice in certain parts of the world, but that is going to be very hard to convince a visa officer that you have not lived together before or even after the wedding.there was also just one visit in our relationship history which was when we got married
You said you have daily communications when you were in the long-distance relationship. Have you attached them in the application? This should include *all* calls/texts with timestamps on them (you can blur out any sensitive/private text messages). When I applied for my missus's de-facto application, we printed out at least 10 or 20 pages of text messages / Facebook check-ins etc.
Regarding financial requirements, the salary itself is pretty irrelevant - you could be earning 30K and save a decent amount of money every month; you could also be earning 60K and barely save anything. It depends on where you live and how much you spend in your daily life.
There is only 1 real requirement - you need to convince the officer that your salary (which is the only recognised income for CSEP holders) can support *both you and your spouse*. They are some simple maths questions that can be easily worked out from your bank statements and salary slips:
- (a) How much net salary do you get every month (after all deductions)?
- (b) How much is your monthly rent/loan/mortgage commitment?
- (c) How much is your spending after that (health insurance/grocery/restaurants/leisure/transport etc)?
If you add your spouse to it, you will basically need to multiply (c) by 2.
(a) - (b) - (c) x 2
If you have kids, you then need to multiply (c) by 3 or 4 or more.
If your current accommodation doesn't allow a second person, you might need to mark up (b) as well.
(a) - (b) x 1.5 - (c) x 2
What will the balance look like? Will you still have money left every month? That's what you need to convince the officer.
Hi Littlerr,littlerr wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:32 pmIt's very hard to speculate what is not satisfactory without knowing the full picture of your story, but let's have a try.
Regarding your history of relationship, you have pretty much summarised the reason yourself:I know it might be common practice in certain parts of the world, but that is going to be very hard to convince a visa officer that you have not lived together before or even after the wedding.there was also just one visit in our relationship history which was when we got married
You said you have daily communications when you were in the long-distance relationship. Have you attached them in the application? This should include *all* calls/texts with timestamps on them (you can blur out any sensitive/private text messages). When I applied for my missus's de-facto application, we printed out at least 10 or 20 pages of text messages / Facebook check-ins etc.
Regarding financial requirements, the salary itself is pretty irrelevant - you could be earning 30K and save a decent amount of money every month; you could also be earning 60K and barely save anything. It depends on where you live and how much you spend in your daily life.
There is only 1 real requirement - you need to convince the officer that your salary (which is the only recognised income for CSEP holders) can support *both you and your spouse*. They are some simple maths questions that can be easily worked out from your bank statements and salary slips:
- (a) How much net salary do you get every month (after all deductions)?
- (b) How much is your monthly rent/loan/mortgage commitment?
- (c) How much is your spending after that (health insurance/grocery/restaurants/leisure/transport etc)?
If you add your spouse to it, you will basically need to multiply (c) by 2.
(a) - (b) - (c) x 2
If you have kids, you then need to multiply (c) by 3 or 4 or more.
If your current accommodation doesn't allow a second person, you might need to mark up (b) as well.
(a) - (b) x 1.5 - (c) x 2
What will the balance look like? Will you still have money left every month? That's what you need to convince the officer.
Thanks Littlerr.littlerr wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 5:57 pmI feel sorry for you but I honestly don't know how to best address the issue on the financial side. It is what it is. I've been through it when I was on minimum salary many years ago, and I was pretty sure that had I had to sponsor my partner on that salary with the level of our spending, it would definitely be rejected. Even though we have large amount of savings, it was not going to be considered as part of spouse visa applications. You might want to talk to some immigration solicitors in Nigeria to see what's the best way to sugarcoat that.
On the accommodation side, I know for Chinese applicants they rarely call the accommodation providers to validate these details, but that's not to say that it doesn't happen in other countries. Maybe it was a common practice in the embassy in Nigeria - I honestly don't know. Anyway, if you have moved your address, there is no harm mentioning that (in fact you are obliged to inform them of the new address).
Hi Littlerr,littlerr wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 7:38 pmI don't suppose there is a fixed value. As long as your salary/spending makes reasonable sense for two people, visa officers are usually fine with them.
What I'd suggest is that you should do the maths for them. Give them a few new payslips and bank statements. Write a cover letter. Lay out how much you earn every month, how much you spend on monthly commitment and grocery on average, and just tell them that if you add a second person, how much you will get and how much you will have left.
I'm not an immigration lawyer and I don't deal with visas too much these days, so I honestly can't give you an answer. Yes study visa is an alternative but previous visa refusals are always a big problem, although in the case of a study visa, your financial conditions become irrelevant - it would be to prove that he has sufficient funds to cover his study with his and your existing savings (rather than depending on how much you earn every month), and that he has genuine interest to study in that area. Study permissions usually cannot be converted to spousal permissions until after the student is graduated.
Zeeee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:36 amHi All,
My husband finally got a decision on this visa about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the visa was refused. According to the refusal letter, proof of relationship history was not satisfactory (we were long distance for about two years before we got married, during these period we did not visit each other as we were both in school, however we have been in daily communication all through this time. We got married at the first opportunity I had to visit him).
Also the visa officer was not satisfied with our finances. Although I have a CSEP and earn a little over the minimum threshold required by the sponsor, yet they did not deem it sufficient.
We do not have any proof of financial dependency to attach to the applications apart from maybe Netflix and apple monthly subscriptions.
Few gifts exchanged here and there during birthdays, anniversaries etc all of these were attached to the initial application.
We have decided to appeal the decision as we do not have any other options right now.
We have asked family members and friends to provide supporting letters to proof our relationship further. We are also considering asking family members to provide a letter of financial support and also bank statements saying that they will be supporting us if required. We considered asking a member of the family to deposit some money into his account as proof of funds. However I am afraid that a lump sum deposit in his account might raise another red flag.
Can anyone based on experience or expertise please advise us on what to do. I am beyond stressed at this point and need as much guidance as possible.
@littlerr and @obie please kindly provide me with some advise if you have any.