Dependent Visa for parents above 65 years

[Jagdeep]

Hi

I am an Indian national employed in UK on a 5 year work permit. I have started working in UK in 0ctober 2004.

Both my parents are above 65 years of age and I am the only child they have. They don’t have any close relatives to take care of them. My father is a retired Principal of an Engineering College in India and receives a pension equivalent to £ 125 per month. I want that they continue to remain as a part of the family unit so that I am able to take care of them.

I had applied to the British High Commission in India (after consulting a Visa application processing agent in India)requesting them to issue a visa valid for 5 years in work permit holder dependent category to my parents and had also submitted a Letter of Sponsorship assuring that I will bear all the cost pertaining to their travel and stay in UK. However, their visa has been refused after an interview in Delhi, India giving the following reasons

1) Your Son, the work permit holder is not an intra company transferee who has been posed to UK by his employer.
2) You are not genuinely dependent upon the work permit holder as a retired principal from the Government Engineering Collage you receive pension and have about 3-4 lac (equivalent to £ 4000 )Rupees as personal savings .

My parents were given the right to appeal and they had presented the facts that we were misguided by the visa processing agent to apply for Visa in the Work Permit holder dependent category on 14-10-04 (within 28 days) and had requested for granting a Visitor Visa.The snippet of the appeal is as follows:

"We had applied for visa in the Work Permit holder dependent category and our application was refused. In this respect we would like to state that we were misguided by one of the Visa Application processing agent to apply for visa as dependents of work permit holder, our son, Jagdeep Singh Ahluwalia. Our intentions were to get a multiple entry visitor visa so as to enable us to visit our only child employed in the UK. We were advised by the Visa processing agent to apply in the work permit holder dependent category as the only possible way of getting a Multiple Entry Visa for a longer duration and this would also save us the trouble of coming from Jabalpur every time we apply for a visitor visa since we do not have relatives in Delhi. Moreover, since I am retired person, my pension amount is not really sufficient to meet our expenses and is mainly supplemented through regular funds transfer from our son’s income we had the understanding that we are dependent on our son. However, we have now gone through the rules of immigration and apologise for our mistake to have applied for the visa as dependents of work permit holder. We have also understood the rules and the possibility of obtaining Multiple Entry Visa in the Visitor category also. In view of this I would request to reconsider our case and grant a Multiple Entry Visitor Visa valid for at least one year to myself and my wife. I hope you would consider our case sympathetically and grant a visitor visa to us."

Till date there has been no Response for the appeal.

Please Advice me as what should the next step be

1) Can they get a visa in the Work Permit Dependent category. If yes, should they apply again for the visa for 5 years as Dependents before they hear any decision on the appeal? Will some more supporting documents such as bank statements showing transfer of funds to their account from UK to prove there financial dependency on me, would make the case stronger.

2) Should my Parents apply for a Visitor visa again in India before the hear any decision on the appeal? Can they apply for visitor Visa of 5 years? Is there a way to get their visit extended beyond 6 months in UK on a visitor visa?

3) Please advice me apart from getting a visitor visa for my parents what options do I have? How can I keep my parents in UK for more than six months?

I would be extremely thankful if you could evaluate my case and advise me on how to proceed from here. I wish to bring my parents here as soon as possible and for a duration of more than 6 months.
Thanks and Regards
Jagdeep

[Sher]

PM senior members
Shld be able to help

[Cosmopol]

There is no automatic right for them to come and see you, let alone live with you for longer than 6 months, since you are not settled in the UK as of now. One aspect that's mentioned in the gov't guides is "compassionate circumstances", which, it seems, they didn't present convincing evidence for.

With their appeal the case falls out of the rules somewhat, and becomes more individual, depending on their exact circumstances and the consular officers' discretion.

If you are very keen on seeing this through, you may need to contact a lawyer for profesional help.

[Chess]

Hi

would be extremely thankful if you could evaluate my case and advise me on how to proceed from here. I wish to bring my parents here as soon as possible and for a duration of more than 6 months.
Thanks and Regards
Jagdeep

Yes you can but it is gonna be a long struggle given this new five year strategy to stop chain migration.

Plesae send a PM to user called DIP.

Below is the answer that he provided to anotrher user in a similar situtaion sometime in April 04

Kaya/Chess

I know exactly how it feels when you are desperate to get your loved ones stay with you. I wasnt sure if I should post this on open forum but maybe you could summarise it for benefit of others if you wish but here is my reply to both of you.

I sincerely pray that one of you is able to guide NDA.

Regards
Dip

Chess,

Yes, she did. Grounds are personal to discuss in detail but will try to give a jist. Technically the case was weak but on compassionate grounds it was extremely strong.

On reams of paper, I demonstrated the fact that she had always lived with and looked after by me. She was dependent on me much before I got a regular job and lived with me even while I was just a student. Further even after I got a job and was married, she continued to be looked after by us, as she had nowhere else to go. On compassionate grounds its difficult to provide evidence but from memory I remember some points.

We as a family unit travelled/went on every single holiday together and I provided all evidence to that effect.
I got affidavits from friends and family to confirm the dependant status of my mother.
Both me and my mom's sworn affidavit stating correctness of the facts mentioned by us.
I invited the high commission to carry out any investigation they wanted to, giving details of our addresses + my past employers in case they wanted to confirm anything.
My baby daughter had never stayed overnight without her gran and continues to do so even today.
Last but not the least, I clearly told them that I was prepared to give up my company sponsored UK transfer if she wasn't allowed to accompany me as my dependant.

I reckon there would have been a serious breach of human rights here had they refused her Visa, as we have always been one family unit. Merely having siblings back home didn't matter in my case, as she was only ever looked after by me (both financially and emotionally).



Kaya,

1. Workpermit holder
2. First time she was refused and went back to the consulate exactly 2 weeks from that day, with a completely fresh application and my letter with all the evidence. This was also posted by me to the consulate directly from the UK. The entire process took 4 weeks including medical. All they said is that subject o passing the medical, she could get the Visa.
3. There was a 30 min interview (she doesn't speak English and an interpreter was provided)