Visa Refused - Updated

[toneee]

After months of worrying that my wife would be refused a visa for financial reasons, my wife was refused a visa because the officer didn't believe our marriage was subsisting despite us living together for three years.

He also didn't believe that I was in Zimbabwe, even though I went with my wife to hand in the application and they have a copy of my passport, plus a copy that I sent from the UK, which was certified by a solitor.

What more could they want? If I appeal, with fresh evidence, they told me it goes to the immigration officer first and it may be overturned.

1) What are the actual chances of this succeeding? Even with new evidence, won't the person responsible just dig their feet in, so they don't have to admit to making a mistake?

2) If I give them new evidence discount each of their points, will they just take those into account or will they relook at the financial and housing bits too? Seeing as these weren't mentioned, does this mean we passed on those parts?

3) I intend to write a statement, taking each of the entry clearance officer's points and disproving them. Is this the right approach?

4) I reckon I can prove our relationship easily, so if he still refuses, should I contact my local MP?

To be honest, I think he's made a disgraceful decision.

[bobby12321]

What i think it comes down to is the documentary evidence that you handed in with the application.
I think, if you want the legal guys to help you out here, you have to type out the rejection letter here - word for word.
With those two looked at, you can then decide if your were denied unfairly and if you were, what you can do about it.

I got a feeling you'll be alright, so try relaxing.

[toneee]

I'll be speaking to my wife later to get the exact wording and I'll post it up here.

[MouseyOne]

Hi toneee, sorry to hear about your wife's visa. My mother's visa also got refused recently in Zimbabwe. She also says her friend's visa was reject on the same grounds and the refusal letter is the same word for word.
I get the feeling they are just rejecting every visa from there if its a 1st time application, I may be wrong. I had the same worries about appealing
- won't the person responsible just dig their feet in, so they don't have to admit to making a mistake?

we appealed without solicitors, as we thought we would still be providing the same documents etc. We answered each question raised by the officer, and created different a4 size envelopes with documents inside, outside each evelope we wrote what they were i.e sponsor, relationship, family ties etc. To help them a little as I believe the documents were well over 50.
Most importantly we also provided extra documents where possible for them to refer to.
We also had her send the appeal to us when she finished, so that we could send it for her. They told us, it is sent to the UK anyway, so you could send it direct or send it to the British emb. in Zimbabwe, which we didnt want it to go there, as we heard about the scandal where documents were being stolen and sold to other people. I just don't trust them especially since they didn't return the document from the actual application which were quite a lot - and we have asked for them (still waiting).
I would urge your wife to send the appeal to the UK address, or you could do it for her.
The funny thing is that some of the documents which they kept are the same documents which they want us to resubmit for the appeal i.e. family ties [birth certificates etc] + proof of return ticket [fully paid return ticket- certified copy].

I am assuming you want your wife to move and live with you in the UK?

[toneee]

She has to take it to the entry clearance officer, to give him the opportunity to overturn it. This takes a matter of weeks. The other route takes months.

[MouseyOne]

good luck keep us posted

[toneee]

I looked on the IAS website. According to them:

"The old ‘primary purpose’ rule was abolished in 1997. This required a couple to show that the spouse entering the UK was not doing so for the primary purpose of gaining entry to the UK. This led to many unjust refusals and some entry clearance officers do not seem to realise it has been abolished."

Yet this is one of the reasons the entry clearance officer rejected our application. If I inform him of this and he refuses, should I make an official complaint? Also he stated that he was not satisfied that we had conducted a valid marriage, but we have legal marriage certificate to say otherwise.

The most ridiculous thing was he said he didn't believe I was even in Zimbabwe, yet I was there when we handed in the application, and I managed to get legally married, which required me to go to the local court to get permission. If I hadn't been there, how could I have managed this?

To be honest, I suspect corruption here, and I get the feeling he's looking for a back-hander. As I say, if he refuses to overturn his decision, I would like to make an official complaint against him. Could I do that from the UK, seeing as he's employed by the British government?

[ppron747]

There's a "Contact Us" button on www.ukvisas.gov.uk which leads to details of the complaints procedure.

But I doubt that a failed review of your case would cut much ice with them - nor a "feeling" (unless supported by evidence) that he was after a backhander.

If the review doesn't do the trick, you have two alternatives - an appeal or a fresh, stronger, application. The complaints procedure is best reserved for administrative failures (eg repeated cancellation of appointments, misleading leaflets, loss of documents, rudeness by an individual - or, of course, specific allegations of misconduct, supported by evidence.) Differences of opinion over whether a particular application should have succeeded seem to me to be what the appeals system is there for.

[toneee]

Fair enough. It's my understanding that if I appeal I can submit new evidence and a statement to say why I think he's wrong, then he and whoever's above him can possible overturn the decision.

He wrote that he wasn't satisfied that I was even in Zimbabwe, yet we produced a valid marriage certificate and a copy of my passport. To get the marriage certificate we had to get permission from a Zimbabwean court. How much more does he need? It's things like this which I think are unacceptable.

I have written a six-page letter and supplied new evidence, and given reasons why the new evidence is relevant.

But even if I'm clearly right, do they ever actually overturn their decisions? Also, she is an overstayer. Can they reject her only for that reason? We left voluntarily and we paid for it too.

[toneee]

I'm assuming she can't apply for an EEA family permit to the UK, because I'm British. Actually, could someone clear this up for me. Can she do this in the UK? If not, can she do it in the Republic of Ireland or do I have to move to the continent for this to work. For some reason, I'm under the impression that Ireland won't let us do this.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

[JAJ]

I'm assuming she can't apply for an EEA family permit to the UK, because I'm British.

Not unless you have been exercising Treaty rights in another EEA country, or also hold the nationality of another EEA state.

Remember - it's five years to permanent residence on an EEA Family Permit.

Also - if the authorities don't believe your marriage is genuine you need to address this point, otherwise an EEA permit could be refused too.