I wonder if this happened before.....

[sicknote]

My girlfriend was refused her PSW visa on the £800 rule. She thought she had sent the proper bank statements but it turned out her bank statements were 3 days short of the required 3 months.

She appealed the decision and provided the judge with 8 months of bank statements proving the £800 was in the account for 8 months.

The judge sitting on her hearing was not happy that they had refused her as she was only 3 days out and said that they should have used some discretion when making their decision.

So 2 weeks ago she gets the results of her appeal which she won. The appeal goes on to mention that discretion should have been used in this instance.

Today she gets a letter from the home office stating they are reviewing her case.

Anyway she phoned her solicitor to find out what is going on and it seems the appeal judge is challenging the home office in regards to how they handle their internal decisions and that they might not be legal.

What do you think could happen here? My girlfriend is devastated.

[cheryl99]

Hi,

From my understanding of what you have said, it seems like it is the appeal judge who is challenging HO, not HO challenging your girlfriend. The decision has been made, did they challenge your girlfriends appeal within 5 days?

The home office is reviewing her case in lieu of the fact that the appeal judge is questioning the legality of refusing visa applications on the basis of being short of the maintenance by a few pounds or for a short period of time. So as the judge may be mentioning your girlfriends case in his enquiry, the home office has to review her case and determine whether they exercised discretion when considering her application the first time, which they did not, hence the appeal.

The judge seems to be arguing the point that the HO may be acting contrary to the law in terms of exercising discretion when considering visa applications.

They have to provide a response, so that may be why they are reviewing her case. Speak to another lawyer, go to legal aid if you dont have money, they may be able to explain it to you. This is just my interpretation, im not a lawyer so check first!

[sicknote]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The home office are appealing the decision as well.

I'm not understanding this process at all.

Why do they give an appeal hearing and then appeal the judges decision? What a total waste of money this is.

Is it possible that they have found something else that is wrong in the application or can they only appeal against why she was turned down in the first place?

[Diokpa]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The home office are appealing the decision as well.

I'm not understanding this process at all.

Why do they give an appeal hearing and then appeal the judges decision? What a total waste of money this is.

Is it possible that they have found something else that is wrong in the application or can they only appeal against why she was turned down in the first place?

They cannot appeal the decision on another issue apart from that mentioned in the rejection letter. It would be best at this stage to get a good lawyer because I don't see the reason why they would appeal the decision with such evidence before them. I wish you the best and I hope you get through this.

[yasa]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The home office are appealing the decision as well.

I'm not understanding this process at all.

Why do they give an appeal hearing and then appeal the judges decision? What a total waste of money this is.

Is it possible that they have found something else that is wrong in the application or can they only appeal against why she was turned down in the first place?

Every party has the right to appeal against the decision in 5 days... HO does it sometimes... The senior judge will look into the case and decide whether HO is correct or not....
You still can appeal for reconsideration if senior judge dismiss you case in HO favor...

[sicknote]

We are both feeling a bit more at ease after reading your replies folks so thanks again.

We are using a lawyer who deals with these cases on a daily basis but for the appeal hearing the lawyer sent only a representative. I hope this was because they thought it was a straight forward case.

There were thousands of pounds in the account during the required months so hopefully the judge will make sense of all this.

[vinata]

Hi there,
I have got exactly the same issue as your girlfriend. My solicitor wrote in the grounds of appeal that the HO decision was illogical and that they should have requested an additional avidence rather than simply refusing my application. And that the discretion should have been exercised differently. My hearing would be sometime in July, so I don't know what is going to happen to my case as well.

Please update on the progress of your case. Has the new hearing date been set up?

Vinata

[sicknote]

Please update on the progress of your case. Has the new hearing date been set up?

Vinata

Hi Vinata.......Hearing date is now the 10th June....Fingers crossed.

[vinata]

Hi Sicknote,

Good luck with the hearing! You should get through it.

I believe that the HO is appealing because your girlfriend didn't provide the statements covering those 3 days when her balance was low, but instead provided additional evidence over the last 8 month. In fact, they are only interested in those 3 days.

It would be good if she could provide some evidence for those 3 days. Maybe you could put her name as a joint holder on your bank account, and she can use it in the court?

Anyway, please keep us updated.

Good Luck!!!!!!

[yasa]

good luck all..

[sicknote]

Just an update to let you know that everything worked out ok in the end and that the original appeal decision stands.

The senior Judge's actual words were "I am very confused with this case".

She couldn't understand why the home had appealed the appeal considering my girlfriend had provided bank statements from June 08 to March 09 showing excess of £800 in her account.

Turns out the home office couldn't understand it either as it appears they didn't get sent a copy of the bank statements from the first appeal. He actually laughed when the Judge presented him with the bank statements.

[yasa]

Just an update to let you know that everything worked out ok in the end and that the original appeal decision stands.

The senior Judge's actual words were "I am very confused with this case".

She couldn't understand why the home had appealed the appeal considering my girlfriend had provided bank statements from June 08 to March 09 showing excess of £800 in her account.

Turns out the home office couldn't understand it either as it appears they didn't get sent a copy of the bank statements from the first appeal. He actually laughed when the Judge presented him with the bank statements.

Thats great news..

[vinata]

Fantastic news!

Congratulations. But, on what grounds did the HO re-appeal?

I understand it was a mistake of the HO, but they couldn't just go to the High Court without specifying why the tribunal judge had made a mistake.

[koolbone]

Congratulations mate. A really ridiculous turn of events, but that's the Home Office for you. They are as inept as inept can be.