Post
by 170308 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:09 pm
Hi guys, My husbands appeal is coming up on the 23rd Feb and i'm getting a little nervous to be honest cos i don't know what i should expect and don't feel very prepared!
My husband is from Albania.
Heres a little bit of the background and stuff on the refusal in case it helps:
Under the ECO's decision it says "I have refused your visa on this occasion because i am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all of the requirements of paragraph 281 of the Immigration Rules. This decision was made on the merits of this application. I have also refused your application under paragraph 320 (7B) of the immigration rules"
They go on to say that my husband stated that he entered the UK illegally. When he explained to the ECO that he entered the UK and claimed asylum. Although i have been told that immigration history does not matter in the spouces visa if that's correct?
They also say that they do not believe we are in a genuine relationship, saying that my husband knew very little about me and showed no interest in me. Basically he could not remember the name of the road i used to live on when we first started dating, but knew the exact location of it!
They also brought up the fact that my husband did not know when we met. I used to work in a pub for several years where he was a customer and we could not work out a specific date when we met, other than summer 2005. Obviously i don't keep a diary of dates when i meet people at work!! They also mentioned a receipt which displayed my old address on that was submitted with the paperwork, my husband is adamant that there was nothing of the sort in the bundle because he went through it hundreds of times!!
They also mentioned that we included our tenancy agreement in the bundle but there was no proof of paying any rent. My husband has tried to get hold of his bank statements but Natwest have been useless!! We have since submitted a document from our lettings agents listing all our payments and who has paid it.
They also say we did not have a lot of photo's or cards in the bundle. Thats mainly my hubby's fault, he didnt put many of our cards (bday, anniversary etc) in the bundle so i submitted them later! With the photo's, i don't have many cos i'm not a photogenic person!! we have since submitted a few more that we took when i went to visit my hubby.
Sorry it's a bit long, i wanted to include as much info as poss so i could get a good idea of what i should expect!
So, my questions are as follows:
What should i expect at the hearing? (questions, etc)
What chance do i have of winning?
How long does it usually take after the hearing for my husband to come home? I have heard some people can wait months so i'm trying to work out an average!!
Thanks in advance