Failed Asylum Seeker for spouse visa

[calebobo]

Sammad: Yes i am a criminal but my crime was so i can gain employment so as to support my self and my family. But i guess you have relised and apologised so i wont go on about it.

I do know what your all saying about the risk in going on, but am not about to live the life of an overstayer all over again, and get into an endless pointless battle with the HO on the bases of human rights for them to end up telling to go back and apply from my home country anyway.

Me and my partner have thought about this long and hard and this seems the best and quickest way to get this done, and we have 2 adorable kids together and am sure the home office will bare that in mind too.

We going soon and will keep you posted

Thanks for all your help and support

God Bless!!

[HRY2005]

I salute your courage mate, keep us posted and I wish you and your family the best.

[calebobo]

hi guys

i had a plan B in place if the spouse visa was unsuccessful which was to apply for access rights to a child, but i am all of a sudden considering using that as my Plan A instead. It just seem to me its a lot less hassle really. So what do you guys think? is it a stronger more likely application if i apply on the bases of coming back on the basis of my children??

Please offer any contructive contributions and if you know your reply will be a slander in anyway or form, please dont post it

Many Thanks

[Monifé]

I would say the Spouse visa option is the stronger one, and mention the children in your application.

[calebobo]

I would say the Spouse visa option is the stronger one, and mention the children in your application.

Thanks for your responds, is it also true that option is mainly for devorced or seperated partners??

Also will it be better to get married in ghana or apply for COA here and get married here then go to ghana?

[Obie]

I am glad you have been made aware of the fact that the child access option is for divorced people.

I am not too sure whether the ECO will view your conviction under 320(11), in light of the human right aspect of your case, which they are required to take into consideration. You were simply seeking to find a living and not cause harm or distress to anyone. Although they will say you were seeking to frustrate the smooth running of immigration rules.
It is funny that people get locked up for these things in my view.

In regards to 320(18 ), they are also under obligation to take into account your Article 8 rights, and that of your children and to do a proportionality test.

However there is a possibility they will refuse you, you might succeed in an appeal, but there is still some risk. The Prison sentence was minimal, and i am sure the compassionate mitigating circumstances associated with your case, would go in your favour, if the ECO exercise some common sense.

The other option, might be moving to another EU state with your wife for a while and returning after a period of time, and claiming rights under EU rules.

[HRY2005]

I am glad you have been made aware of the fact that the child access option is for divorced people.

Wrong! You only need to be a parent

Having created a Rule for parents to obtain "leave to enter" to exercise rights of access to a child resident in the United Kingdom, provisions were also made (effective from 2 October 2000) to allow parents "leave to remain" to exercise rights of access and "indefinite leave to remain" on the basis of continuing rights of access. The leave to enter provision was also extended to apply to all parents, not just those who are divorced or legally separated. This position was consistent with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (Right to respect for private and family life)

[Monifé]

Also will it be better to get married in ghana or apply for COA here and get married here then go to ghana?

It would probably be easier and quicker to get married in ghana and apply for the spouse visa from there.

[Obie]

Wrong! You only need to be a parent

I think you are very right in saying this rule 246, 247 and 248 does not only apply to divorced couples, yes it does apply to unmarried separated couples with children too. However i am not convinced it applies to married couples, as it could be argued that there is provisions in national law for them, should they wish to establish their family life in the UK.

In view of to the nature of the evidence required, ie Residence Order, Contact Order issued by a court, evidence which couples living in a subsisting relationship will not be able to obtain, it is pretty clear that the purpose of this rules is to facilitate access for absent or non-resident parent, or for children whose parents have separated, and one of the parent have sole custody.

It is also clear that the OP will not meet the requirement of immigration rule 246, so it will be safe to say he will not benefit from that provision.

However i ought not to have said it is only applicable to divorced couple, even though the background of the case that brought about rule 246 involved a divorced couple, who was seeking to establish access with his UK based child.


If both parents are married, then it is provision for settlement under national law that comes in, and there is a remedy and application process for that, so the UK will not be found in breach of Article 13, which was the essence of that case, as Mr Abdulla had no remedy under national rules.

[Kitty]

If you have the option to use the spouse route, I would take it in preference to the access to a child route. ECOs are not that familiar with the child access provisions, and you are likely to find yourself refused and fighting an appeal.

The IDIs linked to earlier confirm that the leave to enter provision at least "was extended to all parents, not just those who are divorced or legally separated".

However, I fairly recently dealt with an application for entry clearance for access to a child which was refused apparently solely on the basis that the parents were not separated (I say "apparently" because the refusal letter was a pretty poor example of the form and not all that clear). In that case there was no other route into the UK for the applicant because the children's mother was under 21: so no spouse visa. In the end they waited until the mother was 21, and the spouse visa application was successful, but they still had to wait (wrongly, IMO) because the ECO and ECM at Abuja were determined that the lack of separation made the access visa a non-starter.

[calebobo]

Thanks for all the informative contributions to my issue, Many Thanks!

I have got more questions however!!....

1. I have read on the ukba website about the COA maybe getting abolished later on this year! my question is when this is abolished, does it then mean that we can get married here and apply for leave to remain as a spouse without having to return home to apply for entry clearance?

2. Also, whilst i was working legally (permission to work whilst my assylum claim was waiting to be heard) my partner and i claimed tax credits as a couple. (child and working). we are currently putting together our evidence file and wondering if we shd add those joint tax credits claim docs. As an assylum seeker with permission to work, was i allowed to claim a joint tax credits??

Your help will be appreciated once again

Thanks

[calebobo]

we submitted our spouse visa application on Friday 11th Feb and got an email on Tues 15th Feb stating the below

Dear *****

You recently applied for a visa for the United Kingdom, however your application has been deferred for further information and consideration.

Please be assured that we are not requesting any further information from you or your sponsor at this time.

When our enquiries are completed VFS will contact you and arrange for you to collect your decision. It is our aim to complete our investigations and checks within the shortest time possible in order to minimise the inconvenience to our customers.

VFS Address
House No 2 Lenshie Crescent
North Labone
Accra
Tel: 021 764015

Yours sincerely
Entry Clearance Officer


I didnt hide anything from them, i submitted about a 5 inch supporting documentation to back the application but i am honestly panicing abit at the moment, should i worry????

Many Thanks

[elv15]

Hey Goodluck, dont panic, just keep praying. Did you use any lawyer or solicitor?

[calebobo]

Hey Goodluck, dont panic, just keep praying. Did you use any lawyer or solicitor?

No unfortunately!
There was so much cost involved, getting my partner and my 2 kids over to ghana that we couldnt afford it

[calebobo]

I have today been issued the spouse visa
I will post a bit more details on how i made the app and the docs i added later tonite.

Thanks so much for all the support and guidance to every1 thats helped and advised.

[mochyn]

Congratulations.
Going back to Ghana was the quickest and by far the best option.
Now you can relax in the knowledge you are legal.
Spousal visas are great as they give the partner the right to work and they override the overstaying aspect of immigration but you had the courage to go home and do the right thing instead of waiting for DL or article 8 and waiting for a long time.
I salute your courage.
Welcome back to the UK

[calebobo]

Thanks mate, not back in the UK yet, got about a week yet lol

anyway below is the app details, the supporting docs we added and my immigration history

Arrive in UK May 2004
Over stayed till Feb 2008 when i got arrested driving got found out i was an overstayer.
Got charged with possession of a false ID document (which i used for employment and worked illegally with) and served 3 month of a 6 month sentence still in Feb 2008. I also claimed asylum in Feb 2008

Before i got out of jail i wrote to UKBA and told them to release me because i won’t abscond and they did.

In Feb 2009 exactly a year after i seeked asylum i wrote and requested a working permit since they've not called me for an asylum interview or made a decision on my asylum case yet. I got granted it a week after the request.

My asylum interview was heard in may 2010 and refused in June 2010, i appealed to the tribunal and got rejected then appealed again to the upper tribunal and it also got rejected in oct 2010.

I left the UK, on 5th Feb 2011 with my family consisting of my partner and our 2 children.

We got married in Ghana on the 11th Feb 2011 and submitted my spouse visa application on the same afternoon after the registrar office ceremony

So these are the details of the docs i submitted.

Completed settlement visa form (spouse visa) - Fees £812
English Test certificate (which i got from the UK)
Tuberculosis Test Certificate for UK travellers (which i got in Ghana, Accra)

Ghanaian Marriage Certificate
Marriage Ceremony Pictures

For my wife’s finances i added the following
12 months sole bank statement
12 wage slips (she works part time)
2 X P60 (for 2 years)
Working and child tax credit statements
Child Benefit Documents
Letter from employer
Cover letter explaining her incomings

We also added for our joint finances;
12 months joint bank statements

My finances;
12 months sole bank statements
Wage slips since i was issued the work permit
Offer letter for my employment as a financial assessor
Cover letter explaining my employment history and my finances
A copy of my CV

IDs;
My original passport with photocopies
My wife's certified copy of passport and birth certificate
My 2 daughters certified copies of their passport and birth certificate
Mine and my wife's certified copy of her driver's licences including the counterparts
The log book of our family car
Certified copies of my ARC (IND Asylum Registration Card)
Certified copies of my national insurance card and all the documents from the DWP.

We also included several utility bill some in joint names and some in just my name and other's in just my wife's name

Several personal statements from close friends and family and we included personal statements each as well. Mine stated how much i love my children and my wife and also touched on my prison sentence including the criminal convicted and explained why i worked illegally. I also tackled my asylum case in my personal statement.

We also included about 200 different family phones of us as a family and with close friends and family and also every birthday, Christmas, Easter and father's dad card i have ever received from my family.

I also included almost every correspondence i have ever received from the HO regarding my immigration and asylum case and also all my asylum appeal documents.

Our objective was nothing was irrelevant and we basically added anything and everything we thought will help the application. We ended up with about 5 inch thick of original documents and everything we sent had to go with a photocopy of the original and it must have been close to 10 inch of docs altogether.

So the app was submitted on the 11th Feb 2011
We got a text from VFS that it’s been forwarded to the UKBA on the same day,
On 15the Feb. 2011 i got an email from UKBA that the application had been deferred for further information and consideration and nothing was needed from us.

Then on the 18th Feb 2011 i got a text from VFS that my decision was ready to be collected.

I collected the same day and had been issued a 27 month spouse visa like they normally would.

I will keep you all updated on my progress.

Thanks to everyone once again, and the most thanks to God Almighty!!!
Prayers do work brothers and sisters.

[mochyn]

Spousal visa issued in less than 7 days!
Even with such a convoluted history with deception and previous refusals, this must be some kind of record!
Time to keep the nose clean now!

This must be a wake up call to those who are still here in the UK illegally and avoiding the Authorities

[calebobo]

Spousal visa issued in less than 7 days!
Even with such a convoluted history with deception and previous refusals, this must be some kind of record!
Time to keep the nose clean now!

This must be a wake up call to those who are still here in the UK illegally and avoiding the Authorities

well it was actually issued within 5 days because UKBA didnt get the application docs until Monday 14th and issued it friday 18th.

Trust me mate, with what i've been through, never again! my advise though to all overstayers with a family life is return home before you get arrested.

BE SAFE!!!

[calebobo]

I am back in the UK and i arrived at heathrow on the 25th Feb. I was delay for about 10 mins because of my previous conviction of possession of a false ID document, they asked me about 3 questions about and verified my entry clearance wasnt a fake as well. But within 10 mins i was let through.