Student not Studying, FLR (M) Spouse visa granted. My Story.

[elv15]

Hie. Below is my interesting story, i will try to make it short.

I arrived in UK in January 2005 on a 6 year student visa expiring in October 2010 (strange but true as my course was for 6 years). I studied at college until November 2005, because of personal reasons i stopped studying and my sponsor stopped sponsoring me. I applied for other courses but because of lack of funds i failed to enrol with any college. In may 2006 i started working for an agency and doing almost 40 hours a week. In march 2007 i got a job in the public sector, they never asked me for proof to work and i never used any fake documents and i had a genuine NI number. Job was full time permanent.
In January 2009 i met my British spouse (formally a refugee from my country of origin) and started dating, in May 2009 we stared living together and decided to marry in early 2010, as i was not studying and working full time we consulted a few solicitors to get some advice, we decided to apply for COA through these popular immigration solicitors, we paid them £700 and i regret it so much. To our surprise i was granted COA within about 8 weeks. By this time i had registered with this forum. We got married in mid 2010 and saw a few immigration experts who gave us different advices, I finally came across this highly recommended OISC registered adviser, I saw her and i was very impressed, she knew what she was talking about and was very honest and clear on what options we had, risks involved etc, she gave me all the possible options. We eventually decided to apply for FLR M before my visa expired. Apart from me breaching my student visa, we qualified for everything else like maintenance, accommodation and evidence of cohabitation. They applied at the end of October a few days before my visa expired and i received an acknowledgement letter a week later. Then we didn't hear anything from ukba until February 2011 when they called me for biometrics which i did straight away. To our surprise, on the 23 of March our application was returned as invalid because they said we had used the old form, that was not true because we applied in October and the new forms came out on the 29th of November, with my advisers help, they immediately submitted a new application with a strong cover letter explaining that it was their fault and they should consider it under the rules in place when we initially applied. By this time we where so stressed and we really thought our application would be refused because i breached my student visa for 5 years. On the 1st of April i received an acknowledgement letter for the new application and to my surprise i received an invitation for biometrics a day later. I had my biometrics done on the 4th of April. On the 13th of April we received a letter from UKBA requesting further documents like my pay slips, bank statements, proof of cohabitation etc which my Lawyer sent to UKBA. It gave me some bit of hope that i might get Discretionary leave to remain. On Thursday 5 May i received an email from the my adviser that UKBA had granted me 2 Years Spouse Visa, i was shocked and didn't believe it. I went to collect and for real UKBA granted me the 2 year spouse Visa. This was a huge surprise as we didn't expect that.


With our application we was honest and told the Home Office everything about me not studying for 5 years and working full time. My adviser compiled all the documents and sent both applications with strong cover letters. I can never thank her enough. Although i have never posted my full story here, this forum kept me going and i would like to thank all the members and regular contributors to this forum. I advise anyone with an immigration problem to contact qualified immigration adviser who have experience. There are people who often advise people with similar cases to just go home and apply, its not that easy to just go so i would say get professional help before making a decision.
If any one would like to ask me about my experience please feel free to ask.Forgot to say i didn't even stop working during my application process.

Regards.

[terriblescream]

Congrats, and thanks for sharing all the info>

[elv15]

Thanks

[Greenie]

elv15 - out of interest what is your country of origin? this and the fact that your wife was a refugee prior to being granted british citizenship was probably a factor in the decision in your case.

[elv15]

Im from Zimbabwe Greenie, yes you are right, me too i think that might have helped, although my wife has been to Zim about 7 times since she got her BC lol.

[Greenie]

in that case yes your nationality is definitely relevent because although UKBA are threatening to start removing to Zim they haven't started to do so yet.

I say this as I think that while is is very good for you that you got your two year visa I think it is very unusual (as you are also aware) particularly because of the extent of your non-compliance with the terms of your student visa. I think others who read your thread need to bear this in mind that all cases are decided on their own merits, and no two cases are exactly the same, combined with the discretion of the caseworker. I would exercise caution in thinking that your result is one that can reassure others that their cases will have the same outcome.

[elv15]

Spot on Greenie, even me i was very surprised because i breached my student visa for so long, out of 6 years i only studied 10 months and been working full time. It is very unusual to get a visa in my case because i have seen many people on this forum who have been refused for breaching by just a few months. So you are right, every story is decided by its own merits.

[cherize]

hi, good to hear about that. i almost have the same case with you.
could you please tell me the name and how to contact your solicitor?
as ive been looking for solicitors who could help me on my problem.
much appreciated!

[elv15]

hi, good to hear about that. i almost have the same case with you.
could you please tell me the name and how to contact your solicitor?
as ive been looking for solicitors who could help me on my problem.
much appreciated!

Ive sent you a private message.