Tier 1 dependent Visa rejected

[mittoo]

I'm living in UK for the past 3 years on Tier 1 Migrant(General) visa, I got married last year in Nov and my wife applied for Tier 1 dependent Visa from Mumbai but today her Visa application was rejected!
Her application was accepted by British High commission on 7th Feb 2011. Among all other supporting documents she gave my past 6 months bank statements with the latest one issued on 11th Jan 2011 by LLoyds TSB bank.
At all times I have a balance of more that 2K pounds in my account which is way more that 533 pounds required as mentioned in the immigration guidelines.

Now the explanation for rejection given by the Entry clearance officer is as follows

•

The Notice of Immigration Decision states that, you have submitted following bank documents in relation to your husband’s circumstances, Lloyds TSB dated 5th Jan 2011. Your application was made on 7th Feb 2011.
I therefore refuse your application, as you do not meet the requirements of Paragraph 319(C)(g) of the immigration rules.
I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all the requirements of the relevant Paragraph of the United Kingdom immigration Rules.

I made a small transaction of 20 pounds on 5th Jan 2011 and the bank issued me the statement on 11th Jan 2011. It looks like the Entry clearance officer(ECO) by mistake took my last transaction date(5th Jan 2011) as my bank statement date!
I believe that ECO should have considered the bank statement from its issue date and not from the date of last transaction made!!!
If he would have considered my bank statement issue date, then from the date of issue(11th Jan 2011) till date of application (7th Feb 2011) comes out to be 27 days!!! And the 319(C)(g)Appendix E states that the bank statement should not be older than 28 days.

I have the following questions:
I clearly see this as a mistake on ECO's part and I would like appeal against this in the Tribunal. Do other members of this forum thinks alike?
If this issue is resolved at ECM level in Mumbai how much time it would take for them to stamp the Visa?
If this issue go to appeal then how much time it would take for them to stamp the Visa?
What is the quickest way to get my wife's Visa stamped? If I apply a fresh application again would that be quicker than appealing against the decision?

Any kind of help would be highly appreciated!

Kind Regards.

[chandu1234]

from the date of issue(11th Jan 2011) till date of application (7th Feb 2011) comes out to be 27 days

----------

its 28 days



What is the quickest way to get my wife's Visa stamped? If I apply a fresh application again would that be quicker than appealing against the decision?

yes
appeal will take 2-3 months

[mittoo]

Thanks for the reply chandu1234, Yes, u r right, it is 28 days but still it is within the limit. right?
2-3 months and that too when we cannot find any fault of ours

[allgo]

it is absolutely fine.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... olicy1.pdf
Point 88 mentions it has to be within 1 month.
Chandu - where did you get the info about 28 days?
27 days should be absolutely acceptable.

It is a clear case of negligence by case worker.

I would suggest you anyways make a appeal as there is no harm and cost involved and you only have to submit the original bank statement.
If so send to local BHC and not UK AIT - it will be reviewed locally first and if ECO is happy you may get a faster response. However not too sure how fast that is... but if it is finally forwarded to UK I think it runs in months .. 4-6

FYI - even if there is a pending appeal you can still go for a fresh application - contrary to what VFS normally says. You can check in
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/appeal ... #534431382

Hope that helps.

PS : My wife is a victim of negligence by caseworker too and we appealed. already 3+ weeks.. only received an acknowledgment till now that they have received the appeal and will be reviewed locally first. fingers crossed

[mittoo]

Hi allgo, I have two questions.
Firstly, you mentioned that even if my appeal is pending I can go for a fresh application. In that case do I need to give the Visa processing fees again for the application? If yes, then suppose if my appeal is successful, then would my new application visa processing fees be refunded?

You mentioned that I if I go for the appeal I need to submit the original bank statement, but the IAFT2 form which need to filled say that you should not send the original documents. what's your take on that?

Thanks.

[allgo]

1) No refund. if you want to make a fresh application and not wait for the appeal's result it's ur choice and not BHC has no involvement. the goodside of appeal is it doesnt cost and may be worth trying ur luck if it gets overturned soon by BHC but that's luck. I just tried the same after suggestions from others who had similar experiences. The moment you see it has been fwded to UK or feel cant wait anymore you can always go ahead for a fresh app. that was the logic I followed in my case

2) I had to submit original bank statement as my ground of refusal was that I had not submiteed( though I had and the caseworker had been negligent). However I guess when they say original they mean documents like passport, marriage certificate, degree etc which they dont guarantee they can keep safely during appeal. things like bank statement can be issued again for same date range and I think there is no harm in it. in the forum u will find loads of examples where people have submitted originals in appeal mostly like bank statement, utility bills etc. hpowever passport is a strict no no

hope that helps

[mittoo]

Thanks for this worthy infomation allgo , my wife gave a call to VFS yesterday and asked if we can file a fresh application when an appeal is already raised but they are insisting that it cannot be done!!! even when my wife mentioned that it is mentioned in http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/appeal ... #534431382 they did not budge. To our surprise they asked her to send the scanned copy of the page in which it is written ... from whatever interaction we had with these VFS people it seems like they are a bunch of stupid illiterate nerds who are just getting salaries for doing nothing

Once we file the appeal how do we get notified about the status of our appeal and how will we come to know whether is being going to be forwarded to UK? Do you know the process of cancelling the appeal if we like to do that?

Rgds.

[allgo]

well once you file in POST i.e local BHC they should ideally send you a acknowledgment letter. and once and if they overturn the refusal they will notify you by letter (ordinary post I think).

You can also call up Visa section in bhc.. but extremely difficult to get someone... opens 1 - 3 p.m India time and normally need to try 20-25 times.

If you appeal in UK - they should be generating an appeal id and should send you (representative/sponsor) a letter and then forward to local BHC for local review.

To cancel - you can do it anytime by sending a letter/fax. However not too sure if you can cancel until an appeal Id is generated. however not too sure why you would want to cancel.... u can still re-apply with an outstanding appeal. in case that is succesful the outstanding appeal automatically gets void ( i think they stop the processing internally .. not too sure)
hope that helps.

[allgo]

btw you can also call up UK tribunal on 08456000877 in the UK to check if BHC has fwded to UK tribunal. normally they are quite friendly however they cant help unless they receive the documents from BHC

[mittoo]

Hello,
I have yet another query. Now, my wife has made an appeal at Mumbai based Deputy British High Commission (as my wife had made an application from Mumbai). However, now, I want her to make the fresh application from Delhi as my parents hail from there. But, people at the British Deputy High Commission have suggested that my wife needs to show her domicile proof or her address proof showing that she is from Delhi. In my view, getting domicile proof takes six months in a given region and we got married just three months ago. Is it recommended to make an appeal from Mumbai, in that case _where my wife had applied from, earlier.

[geriatrix]

You should normally apply at the VFS visa application centre in, or closest to, the state in which you are documented as being resident.

regards

[dineshsethiya]

Hi,

Once the ECO decision is overturned for dependent visa through appeal, what all docs we need to submit. Do we need to submit all the docs again which we submitted with original application or do we just need to send the passport.

Regards,
Dinesh

[mittoo]

While you make an appeal, it is not important for you to submit the original docs, unless ur asked by the ECO to do so. At the most, you can submit your bank statement, which might justify your appeal, and which is retrievable, docs such as passports etc, are a strict no no.You can also send the photocopy of the docs to support your appeal. In case if the appeal is approved, the authorities will respond to you by post and might contact you, (thru the contact written by you while you made your earlier application) and ask for the relevant original docs. At the most they might ask for a passport to get stamped...if the appeal is approved

rgds