Mother's settlement visa rejected/ECO letter

[Nazz]

My mothers settlement visa from lebanon has been rejected, need to appeal now does anyone know of good lawyers? has anyone gone through this process of appeal and how much did it cost them?

Here is the ECO's letter

The Entry Clearance Officer’s decision

I have refused your visa application on this occasion because I am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all of the requirements of paragraph 317 of the immigration rules. This decision was made on the merits of this application. However of you have a previous application and immigration history, this may have been considered.

The Entry Clearance Officer’s reasons and supporting evidence
The UK border agency provides information to visa applicants about the types of documents they wil be required to produce so that they can demonstrate to the visa officer that they meet the requirements of the immigration rules. We advise applicants that the failure to submit such documentation may result in refusal of the application. This decision has been made on the basis of the evidence you have supplied. The onus is on applicants to demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the relevant rules. You have declared that the information you provided is complete and true to the best of your knowledge.
I am satisfied that you meet the requirements of paragraph 317 of the immigration rules, except for the following:
You failed to provide satisfactory evidence to show that you are wholly or mainly financially dependent on your sponsor, or if you are, that is dependency of necessity rather than choice.
You have provided a series of Western Union transfer receipts named as (daughter’s name) and not your name. It is also noted that it is considered that you are not living in the most exceptional circumstances. Whilst is acknowledged that your husband is deceased, according to the letter from the embassy of Pakistan in Lebanon this was over four years ago and there appears no reason given why you are more dependent in this regard. You have also not given full details of your personal circumstances such as bank statements.

You have stated that you have a daughter that is in Lebanon but state she is unable to support you. You have failed to provide satisfactory reason for this. Furthermore, you have not provided details of any other family you may have in Lebanon or in Pakistan that could support you. Therefore I am not satisfied that you have no close relatives in your own country from whom you could not seek financial support. 317 (v).
I therefore refuse your application.

Questions;
In the refual letter it was mentioned :

It is also noted that it is considered that you are not living in the most exceptional circumstances

Does this mean they condsidered my mother's age under 65? As the application was submitted on 18/12/09 and my other turned 65 on 24/12/09.

If i appeal, what are my chances of winning? I can argue with most refusal points but the age which i am worreid about (at the date of submiting the application).

Is it best to apply again covering all the points of refusal in the previous application? Or shall i appeal.

A feedback would be appreciated. thanks

[batleykhan]

Cheapest method is to do it yourself.

As the sponsor you can appear on behalf of your mother and say what a solicitor would say but charge you a few hundred quids.

With a minimal amount of knowledge, a few people have done it themselves. However if you are not confident then seek advice from an approved and registered Immigration advisor.

My preference is organizations like IAS or JCWI who solely specialize in Immigration matters rather than solicitors who specialize in little bits of everything.

But the choice is yours.Maybe if you care to explain why she was refused, maybe someone here can pass their experience and advise to you free

[Nazz]

Any feed back will be appreciated as my appeal time is running out.

[John]

Nazz, of course appealing is not guaranteed to result in the victory you seek, and yes I do realise that it is a blunt question, but how do you hope to overturn "It is also noted that it is considered that you are not living in the most exceptional circumstances.".

I note your mother's age. Was proof of that provided? Birth certificate? If so you might want to, yes appeal, but also specifically ask the ECM .... Entry Clearance Manager ... to look at the rejection by the ECO, and point out your mother's age.

[MPH80]

I think you've also got a big hurdle to overcome as there is this other daughter in the same country.

I hope you've got some very good evidence why she can't support her mother. I would imagine life is going to have to be a big struggle for her not to in order for the evidence to be sufficient.

I'd also like to understand those western union receipts in the daughter's name - which daughter? (sorry - not clear if you're a Son or a Daughter). If it's in the name of the daughter in Lebanon - then that would indicate the money is going via her to your mum and you're going to have to show that very clearly.

M.

[Nazz]

Thanks to all replies very kind of you all. again i all ask this specfic question which has'nt been answered yet:

In the refusal letter it was mentioned :

It is also noted that it is considered that you are not living in the most exceptional circumstances.

Does this mean they condsidered my mother's age under 65 or 65? As the application was submitted on 18/12/09 and my other turned 65 on 24/12/09. Please read the paragraph 317 of immigration rules part (e):

317. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the parent, grandparent or other dependent relative of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that the person:

(i) is related to a person present and settled in the United Kingdom in one of the following ways:

(a) mother or grandmother who is a widow aged 65 years or over; or

(b) father or grandfather who is a widower aged 65 years or over; or

(c) parents or grandparents travelling together of whom at least one is aged 65 or over; or

(d) a parent or grandparent aged 65 or over who has entered into a second relationship of marriage or civil partnership but cannot look to the spouse, civil partner or children of that second relationship for financial support; and where the person settled in the United Kingdom is able and willing to maintain the parent or grandparent and any spouse or civil partner or child of the second relationship who would be admissible as a dependant; or

(e) parent or grandparent under the age of 65 if living alone outside the United Kingdom in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances and mainly dependent financially on relatives settled in the United Kingdom; or
(f) the son, daughter, sister, brother, uncle or aunt over the age of 18 if living alone outside the United Kingdom in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances and mainly dependent financially on relatives settled in the United Kingdom; and

(ii) is joining or accompanying a person who is present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement; and

(iii) is financially wholly or mainly dependent on the relative present and settled in the United Kingdom; and

(iv) can, and will, be accommodated adequately, together with any dependants, without recourse to public funds, in accommodation which the sponsor owns or occupies exclusively; and

(iva) can, and will, be maintained adequately, together with any dependants, without recourse to public funds; and

(v) has no other close relatives in his own country to whom he could turn for financial support; and

(vi) if seeking leave to enter, holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

[Wanderer]

No, it means they don't consider your mother's situation to be dire, ie she's not struggling to survive or has nowhere to live.

You have to remember this visa is provided for those with older relatives in real need, it's not a family reunion visa, UK doesn't have one.

[Nazz]

Respecting everyone’s comment, again the question has not been answered, the ECO in his refusal letter did mention that :

It is also noted that it is considered that you are not living in the most exceptional circumstances.
Part (e) of paragraph 317 states that :
e) parent or grandparent under the age of 65 if living alone outside the United Kingdom in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances and mainly dependent financially on relatives settled in the United Kingdom; or

So upon this criterion did the ECO assume that my mother is 65 or less than 65? Otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned exceptional circumstances.
This what I need to know, because if I appeal the Judge at the tribunal might say that my mother’s age at the date of submission of the application was not exactly 65 (6 days short).

I need someone to comment on this specific point.

[Wanderer]

The rule is 65 or over, exceptions can be made for under-65.

But, the core reason for the denial is the same, under or over 65, there has to be definite hardship.

[Nazz]

Dear All

Exceptional compassionate circumstances only applies to under 65, please read the section e of paragraph 317. So does it mean that the ECO did consider my mother's age under 65 that what I need to know.
Section (e) applies to parent under 65 and not over 65, can someone clarify this.
The reason i am asking is that two immigration lawyers gave me different answers, one said that the ECO did consider your mother's age under 65 (hence no need to appeal a fresh application should be made) other lawyer said that there was no mention of the age.
So i am stuck whether to appeal or make a fresh application.

[stmellon]

Nazz, it's hard to read the mind of the ECO but it does appear from what you've told us that they have most likely calculated your mother's age at the date of application, therefore considering her to be under 65.

You say that this is what you are worried about, but I am more surprised at the lack of financial evidence stated in the ECO's reason - surely that's quite an elementary part of the application process? I hope that this is something you will be able to address easily.

[batleykhan]

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Read the above, I think it will answer your query.

[Nazz]

Thanks for all the replies and to batley Khan, i read the IDI don’t you think its intended for the Indian subcontinent? But it did answer most of my questions. If you guys have other documents that i can read before appealing then please do post them.

[John]

Nazz, those IDIs are for worldwide use. Don't be confused" by the "For example" near the top of the second page. That is all it is, a for example.

[batleykhan]

The rules apply worldwide and not just to Indo subcontinent.

John is right some are just examples .

Remember these are just guidance notes for ECO. Every case is different and dealt with on its merit

[vito0514]

Older dependent relatives