I wanted to firstly mention that I have an ILR, on the basis of which I applied for my wife's visa. I hired a lawyer and he recommended a list of documents. The only difference was that I used my 'savings' as opposed the my job for the process. Despite having £100k+ in my account the ECO in his rejection letter mentioned
'Your husband's sponsorship letter states that he is a CEO, however you have provided zero documentation relating to his company. This goes against the whole idea of applying for spouse visa on the basis of savings.' The immigration lawyer I hired wasn't able to advice me on it.
Second problem which I faced was that I never kept the money in one account for more than a few months. The ECO wants to see that the total of £62,500 in one account for over six months. I obviously moved my money into different accounts, say every couple of months, for better interest rates. According to the ECO 'To establish savings held for a minimum of six months we must look at the lowest balances dating back to six months prior to the date you submitted your application'.
Needless to say my wife and I were extremely frustrated to see what just had happened. The ECO could have called me and I could have provided details of other bank accounts I had. But they didn't bother.
APPEAL
=====
I knew I had a strong case, I met all the guidelines laid down by the home office. So I decided to contact the minister of immigration, Mark Harper and my MP. They both were extremely helpful. Within three days I heard from 'Treat Official Team' who I believe are the team who gets involved in case of rejection is referred to the MP. From then it has been backwards and forwards with emails for 5 months. They said that they would make an exception in my case and allow me to submit 6 month's bank statements of a different date, in order to show that I have the savings. I did so and just 3-4 days back they decided to overturn the case.
Conclusion
=======
I can't explain the toll this has taken on my wife and me
I had to travel to see my wife in Nepal every month. This affected my business I had to close one of my business, because I couldn't manage it from far and reduce commitments to others. I probably lost £40k+ in the process, on lost business, travel and fees. I can't explain the mental trauma this has put me through, it has taken my normality away from me. But I said to myself that I would get her the visa she deserves and I'm glad I did it. Not sure what happens next for us. But I just wanted to say, don't loose hope being persistent is the only way to get a Spouse Visa in my opinion.
All the best!
==================
Applied at VFS Kathmandu
Applied for Visa - 25/03/2013
Date of Visa Refusal - 11/06/2013
Appeal MP for help - 25/06/2013
Response from Treat Official Team - 28/06/2013
Home Office's email to make exception - 29/07/2013
Email asking to submit originals of bank statements - 22/10/2013
Decision overturned - 27/11/2013
