Settlement Visa Refused - do we appeal or re-apply

[raylord]

Hi all,

Unfortunately we were refused by the ECO in Lebanon - I did go to Beirut in February with my husband to make the visa application, but they werent interested in speaking to me, just him.

They pulled the application to pieces, finding holes in everything about his time in England. I think because he claimed asylum whilst in the UK, the ECO had pretty much decided to refuse before even looking at the case.

Despite my being a home owner, a teacher of 8 years with a management position, letters of support from family, friends and employer, a job offer for him and as much evidence as we could collect, he was not interested. We had print outs of phone bills and 7 months worth of photos together and our wedding photos - he didnt want to look at them. He was more concerned with questioning how long my husband had stayed in England and how he had supported himself whilst here. He had borrowed money off a friend, and I had supported him when he was unable to return home, but this was deemed inappropriate - Is it not my business what I spend my money on?

Ultimately, he stated that he did not believe my husband intended to live wih me permanently once in the UK. But if he didn't intend to and intended to abscond instead, why would he have returned to Lebanon to make the application? Why wouldn't he have simply absonded in the UK?
I went to Lebanon and will be returning again at the end of the month, against travel advice from the Foreign Office , and will do so until we can resolve the situation.

We have 28 days to appeal from the 9th March. I have spoken to solicitors but have yet to pay any money. I will do so if we appeal. What do you think is the best next step for us?

Should we appeal? How long will it take? Should we submit further information? Perhaps we should request an interview with the ECM when I return to Beirut? Or should we re-apply? If we re-apply would it be worth waiting until the end of the summer when I have spent 9 weekd in Beirut using up all of my school holiday time, to prove our commitment to each other and disprove the ECO's claim?

The interview was not conducted in my husband's native language, as we requested it be in English as I would be with him. As I was not, he struggled with some of hte questions and made mistakes when answering questions. Would this hold any bearing on our appeal?

Finally, if I am honest, we did make some mistakes. We were so frightened of what they would say about the asylum case and everything, that we made omissions on the visa application which the ECO uncovered. It looks as though we lied or at least did not reveal everything in our application. This gave the ECO all of the ammunition he needed to dismiss us.

What can we do now to undo the damage we have done? Is there anything to do? It is so hard once something has been said to take something back.

Any help would be most welcome - this is so upsetting - we followed advice and he returned home to apply using the correct channels, and our worst fears have been realised. What can we do to make things better??

Please let me know your opinions especially before I pay loads for a solicitor...

Finally, on choosing a solicitor, what should I ask to work out if they are any good or not??

Raylor

[raylord]

If u have any ideas - I am desperate

[roninxxx]

I am not entirely sure but are they only suppoused to refuse entry in line with Immigration law, i.e. if they suspect that you do not meet the criteria then it should be because they have "sufficient reason to believe this. I think it would be unfair to refuse entry if the ECO is simply of the opinion in regard to a certain aspect of the application.

I think you should talk to a good solictor who will give you sound advice and help you fight the case.

Good luck!

[MikeCharlie]

I think Ronin is right here. Sorry to hear about your refusal. I truly hope you can get it resolved quickly.

[Russia]

if you did nothing more than omit some information then go ahead and get a solicitor, if however, you lied, then frankly you havent a chance and rightly so - imho.
there are many other ways of cracking the shoddy immigration system of the UK - lying is just the dumbest way of doing it. why not instead pick up some teaching hours in Calais get a contract from the local education authority there, rent an apartment in the town then sublet it, make an application for French residency get an EEA family permit for your spouse then live happily ever after in Chiswick or wherever you are from.

rules are for fools to follow, for the rest of us they are merely for guidance.

Of course it is sad when any family is split apart by faceless government, and although I havent offered you tea and sympathy on this (and will duly get flamed for it no doubt) I hope you are encouraged to pay for justice through a solicitor or find a creative alternative to make your family existence a reality in the UK.

Best of luck.

[life24]

I am sorry to hear that for you refusal but dnt loose hope as my wife was refuse visa as well but. I appeal and it took about 8 month but my appeal was accepted thank God. What you can do instead of appeal ask the ECO to review the application instead of appeal and if they dont reconsider your appeal applied again with more evidence as you said you will go to lebanon despite the warning of foreign office.

I hope it will help be strong and have patince is hard to take