spouse visa refused due to overstayed

[bristol]

hi

I am married to my husband couple of weeks ago. He is back in the UK now and I am still in my home country. I overstayed in the UK for 1 month. I applied for spouse visa and it got rejected. The entry clearance officer did not mention anything about my marriage and he did not care about our future life now. He is more concern about me overstaying in the UK.I know what i did was wrong but is he punishing me by not letting me get on with my life. I am appealing to the Home Office in UK now. Will i be rejected again.
Please advise.

[John]

Sorry to hear about the rejection, but can you post more detail about the written reason for rejection. What does it actually say?

And also, can you give some detail about the information that was supplied in support of the visa application?

[Jeff Albright]

I applied for spouse visa and it got rejected.

On what grounds? Reference to the Rule, paragraph No in the refusal letter?

I am appealing to the Home Office in UK now.

Right course of action of course.

[bristol]

well.. it says as follows

"In this particular instance I have also deemed it necessary to access your application against regulation of paragraph 320 of the immigration rules(HC395) and in particular the following section relation to :
Failure to observe the time limit or condition attached to any grant of leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom:'

please advise

[John]

There is the word "also" in that. So what does it say before the part you have quoted?

[chrissy]

John,

I thought the fact that one overstayed would have no bearing on the decision?

[ilm]

Overstaying on its own is not a reason for denying a settlement visa application, but most certainly will have a bearing on the application as it casts doubt on the intentions of the applicant.

The use of the word 'also' in the rejection letter infers this is exactly what has happened here. As John has said, What does it say before the quoted part? This is possibly more relevent to the exact reason for the refusal.

[chrissy]

I see. Thanks for the clarification, ilm.

[Administrator]

.

I notice a few questions I would want answers to, if I was an immigration officer.

Do NOT answer anything you are not comfortable with ... but, this information could have bearing.

1) Which country were you married in?

2) What is your nationality?

3) Your husband is native-born Brit, or is he an immigrant also? Is he naturalized?

4) When you overstayed, what was your reason for being in-country, and by what legal mechanism were you in-country?

5) Were you allowed to work / were you working?

6) Did you get married before your over-stay or after your overstay?

- sub-question, related to 4): did you attempt the fiance visa route?

7) Have you any history of visa troubles, such as denials or other overstays or working on non-work visas in UK or ANY country?

Logically, for one example, if you married after your overstay but had never applied for a finace visa, as an immigration officer I would pretty much conclude that this was a marriage of convenience.

The conclusion might be stronger depending on your country of origin, your husbands country of origin, and if you had come in on a tourist visa for 90 days and suddenly fell in love and married on your 100th day in-country.

Your explanation for why you overstayed for so long is fairly critical. People miss by a day or three & that's normal. A month indicates someone who intentionally overstayed, for reason or not.

Since you provided few details, I built an imaginary case where many factors would be against you.

Folks here might be able to advise you, but a reasonably detailed account of how you entered, how long you were in-country, etc. etc. are fairly critical to providing advice that may be relevant to your circumstances.

The Admin

[Jeff Albright]

I echo these questions. Ilm has made a good point.
Further details needed.

[chrissy]

'Logically, for one example, if you married after your overstay but had never applied for a finace visa, as an immigration officer I would pretty much conclude that this was a marriage of convenience. '

Saying this, there are quite a few posts that talk about this route being costly, in that after the 6 months granted on a fiance visa you have to get married and then reapply for , is it ILR or spousal visa, which also have a high cost attached.

So surely this could have just been a way of cutting costs, rather than a definate marriage of convenience?

[John]

Given that Bristol has not posted the other reason(s) for rejection, I think it is pointless speculating about this.

Bristol, as mentioned by Administrator, it is totally within your rights not to post information, but in the absence of such information do appreciate that it is difficult for others to comment.

[chrissy]

Jeff and John,

I really value your input and would like to know if you could comment on my situation?

My husband is British by birth but grew up outside of the UK. We went to school together and I have known him since primary school.
We started our relationship in 2002 and he left to start a life in the UK later in the year. I then went to the UK, in 2003 as a student, but certain circumstances came about and I ended up overstaying for about 2 years.

We got married earlier this year, then he went back and I am here waiting to put in my application.

Could anyone tell me what they think the chances of us being successful are?

[John]

Could anyone tell me what they think the chances of us being successful are?

Well no, not without knowing some detail about the evidence which will be submitted in support of the application.

For starters, what evidence is being supplied to show that the financial test ..... showing that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds ... and the accommodation test ..... showing that the place where you will live is "suitable" and certainly not overcrowded .... will actually be passed?

[chrissy]

Thanks for the response, John.

We have:-

-My husbands bank statements since November 2006

-A letter from his employer, stating when he started work, his monthly salary, and that he is employed full time and on a permanent basis.

-Pictures of us together

-Letters, emails and mobile phone bills

-Tenancy agreement

-Marriage certificate

-Payslips

[John]

Chrissy, is it clear from the financial information that your husband can support the two of you, and that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds?

And the accommodation aspect, does the tenancy agreement name you? Giving you the ability to live there? If not, your husband should get a letter from the landlord/agent stating that you can live there.

Also details of the property ... how many rooms (excluding any Spam, bathroom and toilet, whatever their size) exceed 50 sq. feet in size? And assuming the visa application granted, how many adults will live there? How many children? And if children, their ages?

[bristol]

hi

Sorry for not replying to your comments. I was not at home. Anyway thanks for all your comments. They were helpful . However these are your answers

1. I am Malaysian and I got married to my husband in Malaysia. I was not allowed to get married in the UK cos i was under visitor visa.
2. I overstayed due to his ill grandma..His grandma was very ill and she wanted me to stay..She keep staying she wont be alive any longer. She wanted everyone to be close to her for CHristmas. I did metion to her about my visa and it made her worst. I did not want anything to happen to her if i left that.
3. I went to UK in 2001 under student visa to study. However my circustances changed drastically and i had to quit my studies.i was working part time and i did not want to dissapoint my parents and keep looking for some other courses that mite be more suitable. only than i met my husband.
4. i did not apply for fiance visa.
5. My husband is white British. He is born there.

Sorry everyone for not posting my comments earlier.

Thanks anyway..Please help.. Please tell me if what i did was wrong and is there any chance of me being with my husband.

[chrissy]

Well, the tenancy agreement shows how many rooms there are. It is a one double bedroom flat.
We dont have any children so it is just going to be the two of us living in the flat.

Getting the letter from the landlord to say its ok for me to live at this address shouldnt be a problem as he has expressed that he did not have a problem with such an arrangement verbally.
As it is a six month tenancy, we will include a letter from the landlord stating that we are going to extend the agreement.

My husband has actually just taken on a second job to try and increase the amount he earns to help support us, so we will be including details of that job in the application as well.

We have also included, in the application, my certificates (qualifications) and a job opportunity survey basically showing what I can hope to earn once I join him and that it shouldnt be too much of a problem for me to get a job.

Thanks again, John.

[Jeff Albright]

Thanks anyway..Please help.. Please tell me if what i did was wrong and is there any chance of me being with my husband.

There is always a chance for you going to live with your husband but you need to follow the procedure correctly and adopt the right approach in your application.

John has asked you important questions in his post No 2 and No 4. Unless you cite exactly what refusal notice says, there is pointless to speculate.

Your application was assessed on the documents you provided and on the information you had given to the ECO. The refusal letter should address the points where the required criteria are lacking or were not met in your application. If you copy of your refusal letter here, you will give a better picture of the reasons why that happened. We will then be able to advise how to make your new application look right.

Why do you say you are applealing to the Home Office? Have you followed the correct procedure of appeal, filled in the form and handed it back to the ECO?

[chrissy]

Can nobody give me any advice with regards to my application? Please, I am getting pretty nervous.

Thanks

[John]

My husband has actually just taken on a second job to try and increase the amount he earns to help support us, so we will be including details of that job in the application as well.

Chrissy you ask for comments. Quite rightly in an open forum like this you are not posting specific information, which is why I asked my question in the way that I did. :-

Chrissy, is it clear from the financial information that your husband can support the two of you, and that you will not need to claim certain Public Funds?

To which you have replied, effectively, well he has got a second job. But that does not answer my question. It just means it is more likely that the financial test is passed.

Without posting the detail, can you at least post the answer to this question. Taking his net income from both employments, and then deducting the housing costs, how much is left per month? That will at least make it possible for others to say ... financial test definitely passed ..... to .... financial test definitely failed ... or somewhere in between those two extremes.

[chrissy]

Thanks for the clarification John.

My husband earns, in total, about GBP 1800.

His main expenses are as follows:-

Rent GBP 575
Digital TV GBP 20
Council Tax GBP 100
Groceries and other expenses GBP 200

That leaves about GBP 900. So I would say we have a disposable income ranging between GBP 600-900.

[John]

That looks fine. That is, based upon that information it looks like the financial test is passed.

[chrissy]

Thanks alot, John. You have been a great help.

One other question. We have copies of our marriage certificate, that were certified by a commisioner of oaths. However we were not given the originals, as the marriage officer said he had to hand the originals to the relevant department (I am assuming to have the marriage registered) Will these copies be alright to use?

[chrissy]

Hi

I spoke to someone earlier on this week and they suggested that I should try getting a new passport and applying for my spousal visa using it. However I am a bit skeptical. Can anyone advise whether this is a good idea or not?


Bristol, what is happening with your situation?