Home Office did not return my marriage certificate

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:19 pm

Hello ..
I have a quick question and hope some one can help me with it.
I applied for my EEA4 and got the application and my PR approved Home office sent me my PR and my document back in October 2012. However, they forgot to send my marriage certificate. Since then I have contacted UKBA on their two emails options. I first used the form you have to download and I sent it to this email: RODRequests@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk, then I used the other email address for returning documents: LiverpoolEuro.PassportReturns@ukba.gsi.gov. I find it very confusing process as I could not tell which one is the best option, they stated 10 days on one email and 20 days to respond on the other, so far, none of them responded on where is the marriage certificate. ( more than 25 days passed since I sent e-mails to both e-mails). I also tried to find how I can complain about this issue on their website, but there is no complaint category linked to loosing document.
I am wondering if you guys had similar situation or if you have an advise to me on what to do next.
P.S I keep sending them e-mails but no one seem to respond to anything

Thanks for your help guys.

Gyfrinachgar · Post by **Gyfrinachgar** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:40 pm

E-mail is a very problematic way to get in touch with HO. Sending repeated e-mails will do nothing - except maybe getting your e-mail address blocked for spamming. Write a traditional letter instead, asking what the problem is and decidedly, yet politely requesting the immediate return of the outstanding documents. Send the letter with signed-for delivery (only 95p extra) and see what happens. In my experience, HO reacts much better to traditional letters than to telephone and fax (not to mention e-mail...).

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:23 pm

Gyfrinachgar wrote:E-mail is a very problematic way to get in touch with HO. Sending repeated e-mails will do nothing - except maybe getting your e-mail address blocked for spamming. Write a traditional letter instead, asking what the problem is and decidedly, yet politely requesting the immediate return of the outstanding documents. Send the letter with signed-for delivery (only 95p extra) and see what happens. In my experience, HO reacts much better to traditional letters than to telephone and fax (not to mention e-mail...).

Thanks a lot Gyfrinachgr.
I will send a letter and hope they respond. I do not really know why they insist on contacting them by e-mail if they never respond to it. I called them few times and every time I called they asked me to send email and do the form download.. but it is all useless.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:00 pm

UKnow wrote:I do not really know why they insist on contacting them by e-mail if they never respond to it.

That may be exactly the reason; it's always easy to ignore it and claim it did not arrive...

WebMonkey · Post by **WebMonkey** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 12:05 pm

Are you aware that you can request additional copies of your marriage certificate from the local council in which you registered your marriage? It will be around £5-£10 per copy....

I know it is not the point but someone else might not have known...

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 1:00 pm

WebMonkey wrote:Are you aware that you can request additional copies of your marriage certificate from the local council in which you registered your marriage? It will be around £5-£10 per copy....

I know it is not the point but someone else might not have known...

Thank you WebMonkey for your advise. It is not about the cost as you said, it is about them not responding to the way they choose to communicate and loosing a document sent to them.
I also did not get married in the UK, so getting a new marriage certificate will cost me at least 30 GBP

jotter · Post by **jotter** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:58 pm

Best of luck, UKnow. Let us know how it goes. If you don't get a quick answer to your letter then next step might be to bring it to the attention of your local MP.

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 8:13 pm

jotter wrote:Best of luck, UKnow. Let us know how it goes. If you don't get a quick answer to your letter then next step might be to bring it to the attention of your local MP.

Thanks a lot Jotter and all of your for your help.. Letter went out today ( registered) so they do not have an excuse of saying we did not receive anything. Will let you know if they ever respond. Good thing it was not my passport they missed

jotter · Post by **jotter** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:59 pm

UKnow wrote:
jotter wrote:Best of luck, UKnow. Let us know how it goes. If you don't get a quick answer to your letter then next step might be to bring it to the attention of your local MP.
Thanks a lot Jotter and all of your for your help.. Letter went out today ( registered) so they do not have an excuse of saying we did not receive anything. Will let you know if they ever respond. Good thing it was not my passport they missed

Spare us the thought, dude.

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:20 pm

OK So a quick update... well not really an update as NOTHING happened and UKBA does not respond to e-mail, mail, letter, calls... etc.. I do not know what else to do. I guess nothing, but to leave it. UKBA has no interest in responding to losing applicant's documents! very frustrating!

Gyfrinachgar · Post by **Gyfrinachgar** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:45 pm

UKnow wrote:OK So a quick update... well not really an update as NOTHING happened and UKBA does not respond to e-mail, mail, letter, calls... etc.. I do not know what else to do. I guess nothing, but to leave it. UKBA has no interest in responding to losing applicant's documents! very frustrating!

Very sorry to hear that. However, it has just been over two weeks, you need to give HO a little bit more time than that.

If they don't respond within a month or so, I would get more aggressive. You have a few options, but they depend on how far you are willing to go. The path of the least resistance is to just replace the document at your own expense and forget the whole nasty business. However, you could also give HO a taste of their own medicine if you are in the mood for that (and have the necessary resources). For example, you could give them an ultimatum: return the illegally withheld document, or a reasonable explanation, or expect legal proceedings (only if you are willing to pull through with that, of course). You could also request a new marriage certificate and send HO the reimbursement claim. I would do both only in conjunction with a barrister, though.

UKnow · Post by **UKnow** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:27 pm

Just a quick update..
Nothing happened.. calls, letters ,emails...etc and no response at all. not even an acknowledgement letter!
In all cases I gave up and do not really think I will proceed further. Thank God it is just a Marriage certificate and can be replaced easily.

If UKBA loose something for you, do not expect to see it again. They will never acknowledge they lost it nor they will even care.

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

Home Office did not return my marriage certificate

Home Office did not return my marriage certificate

Re: Home Office did not return my marriage certificate

Re: Home Office did not return my marriage certificate

Re: Home Office did not return my marriage certificate