Spousal visa refusal-reapply or appeal

[Flickos]

Hi, I am Australian born uk citizen, having just relocated here from the USA , my husband is Moroccan and we have been married for four years. We applied for a spousal visa and were refused on the grounds that , even though I gave a copy of my passport , we didn't prove my citizenship , and that he didn't prove his past travel information as he didn't submit his old passport, as when he got his new one, the local authorities kept the last one. Sould I appeal the decision or should we just put in a new application? I am preferring speed over cost. Help me please
Felicity

[Lucapooka]

What passport copy did you send with the application, was it a British passport or an Aussie passport? If it was a copy of your British passport then you should have sent a certified copy. If you don't have a British passport then you should apply for one and use that or present other evidence of your British nationality. You can appeal and it might be resolved in under weeks, or much longer if the ECM agrees with the refusal and sends the appeal to the FTT in the UK.

[Flickos]

I put copies of my British visa in , but it wasn't certified, grrr, I went with the orginals but the staff were supremely un helpful. What is th ECM Snd the FTT ? Sorry, I was so surprised it was refused, I'm thinking we didn't take it seriously enough, we fulfill all the requirements and to my mind the proof was there, however apparently it was not. should I contact a lawyer ?

[Lucapooka]

An appeal can take well over six months, but something that existed before the original application but was not included can be added to the appeal bundle and the manager at the visa post (the Entry Clearance Manager) can choose to issue the visa (in a few weeks) rather than send the appeal to the First Tier Tribunal in the UK (which takes six months).

Your British nationality existed before your partner applied and you just need to prove it for the ECM review.

However, your partner's previous travel history is a different matter and it may be that they want to see evidence of an on-going interpersonal relationship. You would have to write the full refusal notice (citing the paragraph in the immigration rules) if you expect further comment on this issue.

[Greenie]

I put copies of my British visa in , but it wasn't certified, grrr, I went with the orginals but the staff were supremely un helpful. What is th ECM Snd the FTT ? Sorry, I was so surprised it was refused, I'm thinking we didn't take it seriously enough, we fulfill all the requirements and to my mind the proof was there, however apparently it was not. should I contact a lawyer ?

what do you mean your 'British visa' what visa do you have?

[Flickos]

Sorry meant British passport.

[Flickos]

you have provided no evidence of your sponsor's nationality or immigration status in the united kingdom.therefore on the evidence available i am not satisfied that you genuinely have a relative whom is legally resident in the united kingdom.Therefore,on the balance of probabilities ,i am not satisfied that you are the spouse /civil partner of your sponsor as claimed or that you meet the requirements of paragraph 281(!) of HC 395.
Further:
 you have provided no evidence of your previous immigration history.you have provided a recently issuedMoroccan passport but no evidence of your previous travel or status in the USA where you were married.you have stated that the morocca n authorities retain your old passport when a new one is issued.This is not the case,and has not been since the introduction of the the new Moroccan biometric passport.this casts doubt on the genuine nature of this application and i am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the paragraph28(!!!) of HC 395.
I have therefore refused your application because i am not satisfied,on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all the requirements of the relevants Paragraph of the United Kingdom Immigration Rules.

[Lucapooka]

 you have provided no evidence of your previous immigration history.you have provided a recently issuedMoroccan passport but no evidence of your previous travel or status in the USA where you were married.you have stated that the morocca n authorities retain your old passport when a new one is issued.This is not the case,and has not been since the introduction of the the new Moroccan biometric passport.this casts doubt on the genuine nature of this application and i am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the paragraph28(!!!) of HC 395.
I have therefore refused your application because i am not satisfied,on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all the requirements of the relevants Paragraph of the United Kingdom Immigration Rules.

281(iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting;

It seems they doubt the nature of your marriage. They concede that you are married but not that you have lived or intend to continue living in an interpersonal relationship normally associated with married couples. You need to challenge this with evidence.

[Flickos]

Ok thanks. Not sure how to go about that.when you appeal, you send the forms to the uk with the rest of the information, dies that then go back to the British high commission in morocco ? How then does the ECM then decide if the visa can be granted before it ges further ? Confused about processes !

[vinny]

See also
SET3.6 What evidence is required of 'intention to live together'?
Appeals
APL07 - ECM Appeal Review

[Flickos]

For all the advice !

[Flickos]

thanks for all your help. my husband was granted his visa on 17th september 2012 and will be joining me in the uk saturday. the whole process was frustrating and the rabat embassy completely disorganised and sloppy but we have it now and are escaping asap.