Query on Albanian Spouse

[Linka7]

An Albanian friend of mine has recently got married to his UK girlfriend, in Albania. He applied for his spouse visa to come and live with his wife in the UK.
He submitted all their /marriage certificate/evidence/paperwork etc, originally there were some pieces missing but was given an appointment to bring the additional pieces and attend an interview at the embassy 3 weeks later. He attended the interview earlier this week and handed in the missing paperwork.

He felt the interview went well. At the end of the interview he was told they needed to confirm some details and he would hear from them shortly. He is obviously anxious for good news but is not sure if its normal to take time( how long?) to get the visa or is there a problem?

Hope someone can offer advice/experiences so I can reassure him its all normal procedures.

thanks

[Jeff Albright]

Depends on many things.
In particular, has he been in the UK before? Has he had any issues with immigration here?
Because his wife is British there are obvious issues that come to mind and those need to be checked out.

[Linka7]

Yes he was in the UK for 7/8 years I think. He was not given leave to remain and was deported in December 2006. He was with his girlfriend (now wife) for nearly 5 years in UK.

[John]

Given that he has been deported from the UK in the past, I would guess that the ECO that conducted the interview wanted to check with the UK to ensure that he is in possession of all the facts.

It seems as if not enough attention to detail was given when the application was made. Missing supporting evidence was requested. Can you give any detail about what sort of information was missing?

Did they get professional advice when making the application?

[Linka7]

The missing information that they requested was:
Accomodation details
Evidence of the relationship

At the interview he submitted: his wifes tenancy agreement and details of the type and size of property also photos from UK, engagement and wedding pictures from Albania, also other pictures during her stay in his village.They also submitted correspondences between the two of them and other bits and pieces I think.

They did not get professional help, I did try to encourage them to.

Does the fact that he got deported go against his application?

[John]

The application was ill-prepared. Two important areas of evidence missing .. accommodation and "evidence of contact".

Does the fact that he got deported go against his application?

Compared to if he had left voluntarily, yes! However that is not to say the application will definitely be refused, but let's just say that things could have been looking more rosy, if the circumstances were different.

[Linka7]

Not very promising then.

Do you have any idea how long they will make them wait for an answer? I know its a shot in the dark.

Really appreciate your opinion and knowledge.

[John]

The interview was only earlier this week. They will not keep them waiting unnecessarily, but it might take 2 or 3 weeks for the ECOs enquiries of to get answered by those in the UK.

Apart from the criminal offence of being in the UK illegally, did he commit any other criminal offences in the UK?

[Linka7]

He had never comitted any other crimes whilst he was in UK.

[mirnat]

Just thought I'd add a post based on my experience. My (then boyfriend) was removed from the UK in November 2006. He arrived in the UK in 2000 and was a failed assulym seeker. I went to Albania where we got married on 14 December, and we handed in his application for a spouse visa to the British Embassy in Tirana on 19 December 2006. The papers we submitted included our tenancy agreement and my payslips/bank statements, photos of us together in England etc. He attended his interview on 23rd January 2007 and they told him the same thing, that further checks needed to be carried out and they would call him when they had all the information. They didn't call him until some 2 months later and on 24th March 2007 he got his visa. During this time, it was very worrying but I contacted the ECO dealing with his application at the British Embassy and she explained that they were awaiting a report from the Home Office on his previous status in the UK and also replies from local police/authority checks in his home town to check that he's not wanted in Albania for any criminal activity etc. It was very frustrating and at times I found the Embassy to be very unhelpful/difficult to get through to but it seems that this is just their normal procedures and there is nothing to do except wait ofr their answer, which hopefully in your friend's case, will be a positive one!!

Tell them good luck, I know what they're going through - it was very frustrating for me to being in England with my husband in Albania for over 4 months but in the end it was worth the wait to have him in the UK legally without any worry about the police stopping him etc (he was originally caught by the police stopping my car one evening for (they said!) a random search, when they arrested him and his brother (who were both in my car at the time) and sent them back to Albania!!

[Linka7]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. I am going to pass this onto my friends in the hope that it will encourage them to stay positive. I am so happy to hear it worked out for you guys.

I know he had no criminal record here or in Albania.Apart from obviously getting deported. So hopefully it will be good news for them. I guess its just a waiting game, but its so frustrating I really feel for them. He has a job waiting for him here but he is worried the offer may not be open indefinately!

It has been over 2 weeks since the interviewed him in Tirana. Do you think its worth him or his wife contacting the embassy?

The way the interview was left was 'we will be in touch shortly' Part of me thinks would they be bothering to do these checks if the other parts/evidence of his application were not enough to gain his visa. So we are hoping its good news, and soon!
thanks again.

[mirnat]

No worries for sharing my experience, as I say, I know how frustrating it can be waiting - if u really want to see some of my frustration, do a search back on the boards for a post titled 'Waiting time for spouse visa from Albania' posted on 9th March 2007 and u will see what I went through!!

Anyway, pls just tell your friends not to worry. I think the fact that he has a job waiting for him (& especially if he gave evidence of this to the Embassy) can do nothing but help his application. I'd say that 2 weeks after the interview is still a relatively short period of time (if I know the Embassy!) but there's no harm in him/his wife finding out the name of the Entry Clearance Officer dealing with his application to get an update. Word of warning though, the Visa Section of the Embassy is incredibly difficult to get through to!!

My husband's interview was left exactly the same way, that they would be in touch shortly. I would tell your friends not to worry about this. At first we were concerned that some parts of his application were incomplete but we submitted everything to them and even when I contacted them for an update to ask if they needed any further info to make a decision, they never did ask for any more documents/evidence etc. I think if something is missing, the Embassy will ask for it. It sounds like they are just waiting (as with my husband) for the results of local checks/report from Home Office. My husband's brother got his visa on the same day of his interview and when I queried with the Embassy why it seemed they did not tell him to wait for the results of checks etc they told me that the local checks are carried out for every applicant and sometimes the authorities reply quicker and sometimes not! I know when we applied (19th December) it was very busy because of Christmas.

Anyway, glad to be of some help and hope your friends get some good news soon! It really is worth the wait as now we've already been able to get him a Schengen visa to visit his brother in Belgium (who he had not seen for 7 years) and we're also going to Albania next month (but this time for a holiday!).


Tell your friends, good luck!

[Linka7]

Have just read through your post, am so happy it worked out for you guys after such a wait.
I am going to let my friends know your story later and pass on your advice.

I will let you know the outcome, thanks for sharing your story.
Enjoy Albania, I have been and loved it.

[Linka7]

Just thought I would give you an update. My albanian friend went to the British Embassy on Monday to see if they could give him any news on his application, and they said there are no problems but it could take up to 3 months to get a definate answer!

[Linka7]

Great news my friend got his visa! He has been here a week and is enjoying life here again.

[John]

Great news! Yet another example of a person being deported from the UK and then later being allowed back on a spouse visa!

Please pass my good wishes on to the couple concerned. Wish them a long and happy life together in the UK.

[VictoriaS]

Deported? Or removed?

Victoria

[Linka7]

He applied for asylum and it was refused. He stayed in the country illegally. Some years later he was in a friends car that the police stopped and he tried to run but got caught and they checked his immigration status and kept him in the local police station for about 4/5 days then was put on a flight to his country.

[avjones]

There is a LOT of confusion on this board between deportation and removal. If someone was DEPORTED in December 2006, it's highly unlikely they would be back on a spouse visa for a minimum of 3 years. If, however, they were removed, that makes it a lot more likely.