Spousal Visa Application - Pakistan

[Hashim89]

@Hashim89

Can you please explain your case, it has been refused or stilll pending?

My wife submitted her passport for a marriage visa back in July 2011, it was refused on 12th August 2011. We then appealed in September 2011 and it took till 31st January 2012 when we heard that the original decision to refuse the visa was overturned and we were issued with a call in letter. Then submitted the passport again on 6th February 2012, and currently waiting for it to return..

How about yourself ? What is your situation ?

[5KHAN5]

Salaam,

I have received a hearing date of 26th April 2012. Please can anyone shed some light on what the hearing will entail.

They havn't asked for any further information, just given a date and time to attend?

Should I go by myself? Should I take a soliciter?

I'm really scared and nervous as I don't know what will happen.

The previoous times I have posted I havn't had a reply please I would appriciate if someone could advise on this process.

[General30]

@Hashim89

Can you please explain your case, it has been refused or stilll pending?

My wife submitted her passport for a marriage visa back in July 2011, it was refused on 12th August 2011. We then appealed in September 2011 and it took till 31st January 2012 when we heard that the original decision to refuse the visa was overturned and we were issued with a call in letter. Then submitted the passport again on 6th February 2012, and currently waiting for it to return..

How about yourself ? What is your situation ?

Don't worry hashim inshallah you should hear something by Friday just hang in there and u will hear something by Friday hopefully inshallah
Coz i got reply after 34 days and that's 34 normal days not business days
And the status just changed from under process to ready for collection on the same day I got message from gerrys and judging from my application I think your passport will have been stamped and send back to gerrys and u will get a message when it's ready for collection

[Hashim89]

@Hashim89

Can you please explain your case, it has been refused or stilll pending?

My wife submitted her passport for a marriage visa back in July 2011, it was refused on 12th August 2011. We then appealed in September 2011 and it took till 31st January 2012 when we heard that the original decision to refuse the visa was overturned and we were issued with a call in letter. Then submitted the passport again on 6th February 2012, and currently waiting for it to return..

How about yourself ? What is your situation ?

Don't worry hashim inshallah you should hear something by Friday just hang in there and u will hear something by Friday hopefully inshallah
Coz i got reply after 34 days and that's 34 normal days not business days
And the status just changed from under process to ready for collection on the same day I got message from gerrys and judging from my application I think your passport will have been stamped and send back to gerrys and u will get a message when it's ready for collection

Thanks for the kind words bro. I am hoping that we hear some good news this week Inshallah. Around what time did you're wife get the text msg ?

[Hashim89]

Salaam,

I have received a hearing date of 26th April 2012. Please can anyone shed some light on what the hearing will entail.

They havn't asked for any further information, just given a date and time to attend?

Should I go by myself? Should I take a soliciter?

I'm really scared and nervous as I don't know what will happen.

The previoous times I have posted I havn't had a reply please I would appriciate if someone could advise on this process.

Firstly, it could still be that you're rejection is overturned. The appeal date still does arrive sometimes before the decision is overturned. So, you could still get good news from the British High Commission in Islamabad.

If it does go to a hearing, then a solicitor would be the best way.

[shade00]

Submitted on 22nd feb and got text same day in afternoon saying your application has been forwarded to bhc for processing. wondering what text will we get next.

[sakman]

AOA Sakman,

After the wedding Registrar will issue the families an urdu Nikah Nama and in some areas has an English version as well, if he was requested to bring one along.
Bride and groom are issued one each, take one and get it translated in English, ensuring the Translators details are marked on the back of the translation. Then take the urdu Nikah Nama with English translation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lahore to be attested by them. Details can be found on their website.

Aslamualaykum Mush2012 jzk for the above very helpful advice, it clarifies a lot of confusion.
Do you know if the local union council can attest the english translation of the nikah nama or does it diffenetly have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lahore to be attested? As my wife lives in kashmir. or is there a place in mirpur?
Any help much apprieciated

[General30]

@ hashim we were contacted first thing in morning like 9am Pakistan time

[king2be98]

Do you know if the local union council can attest the english translation of the nikah nama or does it diffenetly have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lahore to be attested? As my wife lives in kashmir. or is there a place in mirpur?
Any help much apprieciated

Do not even think about going to Lahore, you can do everything locally, you can do everything within the region of Mirpur, it's a case of making sure you have the right sources. Your Nikah Namah done by the Imam, a proper Imam by the way will be sorted out by them. They will get it stamped etc, don't worry about that, it's their job, just make sure your dad/uncle has a word with them. As for the English translation, just get it translated by someone in your town centre or the equivalent, again these things people there know, then get it stamped by a notary, be prepared to fork out around 2000 rupees if needs be.

DO NOT worry about the nonsense some of the people here are saying, last year my friend got his wife's VISA sorted and he didn't even have half the shit people here are droning on about.

[sakman]

do you know if i can get it translated in the UK and then send it back to pakistan to get it stamped

[Mush2012]

do you know if i can get it translated in the UK and then send it back to pakistan to get it stamped

AOA Sakman,

you could do if you felt this suits you rather than getting it done in Pakistan.
It would just add the time it takes to get the Nikah Nama to the UK and then back to Pakistan securely into the equation.

Regarding your earlier post, I was passing on the advice that has been given to me in this regard, many have had the translation attested by Notaries and many have had it done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is whatever you feel the most comfortable with, as once you hand in your application there is no turning back from your decision on how to present your documents.

It is because of the lack of consistency by the ECOs in granting visas that applicants are going beyond what is necessary to ensure that in their case they do not get a refusal.

I have read of applicants sending the bare minimum and being granted a visa and many other cases where the same if not more evidence has been presented to the ECO and it has been refused.

I would suggest you decide yourself how you want to play their game, give absolutely everything you possibly can and if they do still refuse, you/your solicitor will be able to get the visa granted on appeal as it is the Judge who decides then.

But I think you’re like me, you would rather do everything in your power to avoid a refusal in the first place.

Zakman, give duas and then act in a manner you are comfortable with, and you have no doubts in your mind, Allah (swt) will assist you.

Allah hafiz

[syma]

Hi everyone,

i went for my interview yesterday n lets just say it wasnt the best experience of my life, hopefully i'll be able to submit the additional documents soon n get this out of the way.

[MelC]

Syma, there is no guarantee that you would or would not get the visa after paying the fee owing to the Uni.

yes the ECO can do "this".

for all they know at this time, you could be hoping to get the visa to escape paying the outstanding fee?

[syma]

will i be called for an interview again?

[king2be98]

when she told me yesterday that i owe this amount thats the first time i came to know of it, it wasnt even a surprise it was a shock really..

also y would anyone 'get married' to escape £5800, its not a small amount but cmon its not life changing amount as well..i earn 3 times the average wage in my country i dont need to pull stunts like this for money

Firstly if you earn 3 times the average wage, which is about £20.3k, then you'd be earning £60k give or take and that's at least £40k after taxes, if you really do earn that amount of money, then you're very lucky the ECO has given you the opportunity to pay off the amount and not reject your application.

I don't actually think you earn that much, very few people do at a young age, even the most highly qualified individuals take several years to get up there.

Pay it off and get it out the way, how on God's earth can one not know they owe someone almost £6k?

Personally without sounding too harsh, I think if people owe that kind of money anywhere they should be refused. The University itself must be right peeved, as many students fail to pay off the full amount in fees before returning home. Recently they've introduced the process, when all money is paid off or you don't become a member of the alumni and you don't graduate and you don't get your certificate.

Bottomline, you have no choice really, pay the amount you owe and then hope that the ECO is in a good mood. I think you'll be fine as they could have simply rejected the application in the first place and not call you in. It also raises the question, how have you stated that you meet the English language requirements? If it's through a degree at the university, then you can see how easy it was for the ECO to get this ifno.

[nadiii]

^^^ agree with above, if you owe £6k you owe £6k, its not optional, the Uni provided you with an education in return for a fee.

I dont mean to be harsh or point fingers at you specifically but this is a small example of why Pakistani immigrants and residents get a bad name in the UK.

I think you have a good chance of getting your visa once its paid.

[syma]

where has Naila gone when u need her

[king2be98]

i would really appreciate iff ppl can give me constructive advic rather then think they have a easy paki target here..

We are giving you constructive advice, pay off what you owe, you'll get rejected otherwise and you will get rejected in future if you decide to re-apply.

£5800 is A LOT of money, you need to get in touch with your Uni and sort it out once and for all.

[syma]

***

[hamid1991]

My wife got called to pickup the passpoort, can anyone tell me if the BHC is open for collection on friday from 2-5, she can't pickit up tomorrow cuz she have to come all the way from afghanistan. wullahi so nervious for the quick answer, could it mean it is refused?? folks any suggestions !!

pls make duas for me.

@syma; feels sorry for you hope you will still be granted visa after you have paid your uni fees may allah give you tafiq.

applied for EEA family permit

________________________

Islamabad OC 27/01/2012
Forwarded to bhc 10/02/2012
Called from bhc to verify occupation 29/02/2012
Ready for collection 07/03/2012

[Gregarious]

@hamid1991

Hope she will be fine, it is better to call collection point or BHC, rather coming all the way from Afghanistan,

Brother Hamid,

Would you like to explain this thing

"Call from BHC to verify Occupation" was that call to you from British High Commission for verification.

My duas for me.


Regards

Gregarious

[syma]

My wife got called to pickup the passpoort, can anyone tell me if the BHC is open for collection on friday from 2-5, she can't pickit up tomorrow cuz she have to come all the way from afghanistan. wullahi so nervious for the quick answer, could it mean it is refused?? folks any suggestions !!

pls make duas for me.

@syma; feels sorry for you hope you will still be granted visa after you have paid your uni fees may allah give you tafiq.

applied for EEA family permit


________________________

Islamabad OC 27/01/2012
Forwarded to bhc 10/02/2012
Called from bhc to verify occupation 29/02/2012
Ready for collection 07/03/2012

Thankyou, hopefully ur wife will get the visa cnt believe she has to come all the way down here what a hassel..

[hamid1991]

@hamid1991

Hope she will be fine, it is better to call collection point or BHC, rather coming all the way from Afghanistan,

Brother Hamid,

Would you like to explain this thing

"Call from BHC to verify Occupation" was that call to you from British High Commission for verification.

My duas for me.


Regards

Gregarious

@ Gregarious,

hahah ' My duas for me' anyways yeah I was called by british high commission for verification, they should have called my accountant but for some reason they called me and thanks for your advance to call the bhc.

________________________

Islamabad OC 27/01/2012
Forwarded to bhc 10/02/2012
Called from bhc to verify occupation 29/02/2012
Ready for collection 07/03/2012

[hamid1991]

My wife got called to pickup the passpoort, can anyone tell me if the BHC is open for collection on friday from 2-5, she can't pickit up tomorrow cuz she have to come all the way from afghanistan. wullahi so nervious for the quick answer, could it mean it is refused?? folks any suggestions !!

pls make duas for me.

@syma; feels sorry for you hope you will still be granted visa after you have paid your uni fees may allah give you tafiq.

applied for EEA family permit


________________________

Islamabad OC 27/01/2012
Forwarded to bhc 10/02/2012
Called from bhc to verify occupation 29/02/2012
Ready for collection 07/03/2012

Thankyou, hopefully ur wife will get the visa cnt believe she has to come all the way down here what a hassel..

Thank you

[Hashim89]

Hi everyone,

i went for my interview yesterday n lets just say it wasnt the best experience of my life:s
to cut it short the reason they called me over was & in the end where my conversation with ECO ended was on this: they verified with my university and i owe them £5800 outstanding dues for the third year. it was carelessness on my part really which the uni at the time they didnt pay attention to. but now the ECO has clearly told me 'email me the receipt for when you've paid it only then i"ll proceed with the visa application'.
when i asked her will i get the visa for sure once ive paid this & is this the only thing between now and me getting a visa this is what she said ' first pay it off send me the receipt then i"ll proceed with it'..'u need to pay this before u can go back to england to live'..'the sooner u get me this evidence of payment the sooner i can process your app'..

now my concerns are;

1) first off its more then Rs800,000, thats back brteaking money for me. i got in touch with the Uni yesterday first they said on the phone they could arrange insalments but finally said they will only accept a full payment

2)secondly i wasnt told thatyes i will get the visa 100% if i pay this fee, what if the ECO still refuses it after breaking my bank

3)CAN THEY ACTUALLY DO THIS? STOP MY APP TILL I PAY MY DUES?? does that have a legal status or they are thinking she will pay any amount now becuase she's married and has to be with her husband??

yesterday was officially the worst day ever..
iwould appreciate some constructive advice from experience members and moderators if possible..

Thankyou..

Hi Syma,

It seems like what the ECO has an issue with is the validity of you're university degree, because when they were carrying out the check on you're university education, the issue with the fees would have been brought up by the University.

Which University is it ? Also, I would maybe speak to you're bank and possibly arrange a loan if possible to pay it off as it seems like more than an average person would have lying about. You're 3rd year fees seem to be recorded as unpaid although I don't see much of a correlation between fees and you're degree and more of a mistake on the part of the Uni. They shouldn't have allowed this to happen in the first place.

Its quite possible that if the ECO rejects you're application, it will be overturned upon appeal without you having to pay the dues. I am sure of that because it is the University responsibility.

They have put you in a tight spot here and it oozes corruption in my view. I am sure the ECO and the University stand to benefit from this financially which is really unfortunate for you.

It is also suspicious saying you will get you're visa "100%" upon receipt so they're looking for financial gain here.

This is going to sound cruel from me, but I would say that if you can't pay it then say you can't , they might even still process you're visa but its likely they will reject it. It could take 3 - 4 months but getting it overturned and not having to rake out such a sum it might be better in the long run...

Obviously, I don't know what you're financial status is but its what I would do if that helps.