I'm devistated and don't actually know where to start with explaining, but will try....
* I was born in London, grew up in South Africa (I am a British citizen); my Mum was born in South Africa, and lived in England until she was about 15 years old.
* My Mum is now 79 years old, living in South Africa; I have been back in England for the past 11 years.
* My Mum was reliant on my brother financially (they lived within five minutes drive of each other), but his business went down and he's in around £40 000 of debt.
* My brother and his partner moved my mum out of her accomodation when they had to move because they couldn't afford their rent - they moved her out because of (1) affording the rent and (2) they moved around 45 drive minutes away and we were all concerned for my mum's safety.
* They now live in a tiny one bedroom flat (my mum is sleeping on the sofa and has no space of her own) - since March this year. We all assumed it would be temporary as we were sure she would be granted a settlement visa and felt that she was in the safest place for the moment until her visa came through and she could move here.
* My sister (born in South Africa but British by marriage and has lived here in England for 14+ years) owns several properties, and her income comes from renting them out. She is our mum's sponsor on the application since it is she who is financially able to support our mum.
* We provided everything they asked for, paid the (£700 ! ) fee, and waited. It was refused because they said there was insufficient proof my brother couldn't support our mother there, and there were no tenancy agreements included in the application (they hadn't asked for these before).
* So, we put in an appeal - with the tenancy agreements, plus an affidavit from my brother along with his bank statements and bills, a letter from a solicitor confirming his financial situation and a letter from my sister...
We've just received the notice saying they've still refused it - on the grounds that:
"These documents are not relevant in showing that the appelant has now addressed the ECO's concerns.
Whilst the appelant has demonstrated that her son in South Africa is experiencing financial difficulties, she has not demonstrated that she is wholly or mainly financially dependant on her sponsor in the UK. In fact in a letter submitted with the grounds of appeal the sponsor states that her brother in South Africa has been the main "financial supporter" of the appellant. The sponsor makes reference to some payments made from her to the appelant via her sister in the UK, but these do not consitute financial dependency on the part of the appelant. It is significant that the appelant's sponsor has not been providing regular financial support despite her brother's financial difficulties, which appear to have been ongoing for a while. Furthermore, no evidence has been provided to show that the appelant is dependant on the sponsor in ways other than financial. (My sister explained in her letter that my brother has BEEN the main financial supporter for our mum, but of course, since his business went under and he's now in all that debt, he's unable to support her any longer. My sister has given me money to send to our Mum via Moneygram and we've sent money over with friends whenever there's anyone going over - she said this in the letter, I don't know why they haven't seemed to grasp it?
"Paragraph 317(e) states that we can consider any compelling and compassionate grounds if the applicant is under 65 (Does anyone know why this is please? Surely the older a parent the more important it is they're with their family and the more "compassionate" the grounds??) and living alone. The appelant is over 65 and lives with her son. I also note that there appears to be no explicit provision for divorced parents over 65 under paragraph 317. However I have considered if there are any exceptional compassionate circumstances in this case. No reason has been put forward for why the appelant's sponsor could not provide financial support to the appelant in South Africa. (Again, my sister explained in her letter that it's dangerous in South Africa for our mum to live there on her own!)
"I acknowledge that the appelant has provided evidence of her sponsor's properties in the UK. The sponsor states in a letter submitted with the grounds of the appeal that she reinvests much of her money and that is why she is often overdrawn. However the fact that she is often overdrawn coupled with the lack of financial support for the appelant leads me to doubt that adequeate funds would be available to maintain the appelant in the UK without recourse to public funds. (As my sister pointed out in her letter, in order to qualify for any kind of public funds, she'd need to sell all her properties and spend all the proceeds! She has 11 properites! The going overdrawn was just for a period of time after her partner was killed in an accident earlier this year and the properties were being managed by him before he died. So cashflow was sticky for a while. Also as she said she tends to reinvest money - but she would obviously not reinvest money that is needed to support our monther!!
"Given all of the above I maintiain the decision to refuse entry clearance."
I'm feeling really frustrated and would so appreciate any advice or suggestions. I'm so, so worried about my mum. She's living under very difficult conditions. My brother's partner is driving her crazy and she has nowhere to go - not even a room to be alone in. She goes and sits in her car just to get some alone time. It's extremely dangerous in Johannesburg.
Although she's 79 years old, she's fit and healthy - no medical problems at all.
There's an immigration solicitor here in Gloucester who will do the hearing for us for £400. But I was wondering if anyone here could advise what our chances are of winning?
The main points are:
1. My brother is in £40 000+ of debt (and we included the documentation to prove that - affidavit and lawyer's letter etc.)
2. Their concern that there would be any recourse to public funds seems absurd considering my sister has all those properties, surely that must be a good point - she can't possibly access public funds if she owns that amount of property?
3. South Africa is a dangerous place for most people, it's certainly too dangerous for a 79 year old woman living on her own.
Is there any chance these points would be considered as grounds to overturn the decision in an appeal hearing?
Do we try and do the hearing thing? Or the other option is - although her mother was born in South Africa, her grandfather was English and her grandmother was French. On her father's side, her father was Italian but gave up his Italian passport for a South African one when he moved there.
Is it worth trying for Ancestry and how do we find the information we need for that if that's the way to go please?
Thanks v much in advance.
