urgent advice needed! spouse settlement application refusal

[peewee]

hi, i've found this site invaluable over the past few weeks whilst collating suporting documents for my husbands spouse settlement application. we are now at the stage of filling out the application form itself and have come across a wee sticking point........hope someone can give us some help with it

some background:
i am british and normally resident in uk, husband is south african and resident there. we have a baby daughter.

i met my husband in 2009 whilst he was in the uk. he overstayed his visit visa and returned voluntarily to SA in may 2010. he applied for a visit visa in nov 2010 to attend the birth of our daughter however this was refused due to his previous overstay.

in the application he answered 'yes' to the question 'have you ever been deported, removed or otherwise required to leave any country in the last 10years'. he was referring to his overstay and departure form uk. we are now wondering whether this was the correct interpretation of the question or whether you should only answer yes regarding incidents involving the UKBA.

we just want to answer correctly this timeand not risk being seen as withholding info. or if we answered yes before should we do the same in this application?

any advice is much appreciated!

[Lucapooka]

Answer yes and then go on to explain the circumstances.

[peewee]

any advice/ opinions really appreciated.............

we received a refusal notice today stating my husband had not proven eng language requirements, as south africa is not majority english speaking country and his degree qualification was not recognised by the ukba points based calculator.

in application we included his orig degree cert from uni of natal (which changed its name in 2004 to uni of kwa zulu natal) and uni info regarding this name change. when you use the PBS calculator it has different results (signif 10 points and no points) for my husbands degree depending on which uni name you enter, although they are the same uni and have always taught in english!! so the ECO said they have searched under old name and there are no points. therefore we have failed to convince them the degree is in english.

we are really shocked at the outcome. esp as english is my husbands 1st language there is no question of his fluency or ability to integrate in to uk society!!! it is the only thing they are refusing on. we are considering faxing the ECM with a further statement from uni confirming the degree is in english and asking for a review of decision before we have to appeal. does this sound realistic?

alternatively he would have to just sit a test and we would have to spend another £1000 applying as appeals take so long. we don't want to delay being together again esp for our daughter.

please, has anyone been in a similar situation or can comment on best course of action?

thank you

[Aberdeen26]

did u submit the letter from uni that the degree was taught in English before applying for visa???

Did u take the print out frm the uk border agency site about the 10 points language score??

Did u mention on the covering that both the universities are the same with different names?? Any proof of this on the internet???

If u had submitted all these along with the application, then you can go for appeal...

My best suggestion is to apply for a fresh one after taking an English test...

[Destiny08]

I'm in your exact situation - except I'm in South Africa with our daughter (who is now almost 3 months old) and my husband is in England! I know it's inconvenient, and costs more than anyone really wants to spend (my first language is English too) but I'm a qualified English teacher and they wouldn't accept that...
I'd take the English test, and try again.

good luck

[peewee]

did u submit the letter from uni that the degree was taught in English before applying for visa???

Did u take the print out frm the uk border agency site about the 10 points language score??

Did u mention on the covering that both the universities are the same with different names?? Any proof of this on the internet???

If u had submitted all these along with the application, then you can go for appeal...

My best suggestion is to apply for a fresh one after taking an English test...

hi thanks for your reply, we included his original cert along with evidence from uni that they were now known as UKZN and taught in english though there was no mention of the latter two in the refusal. we have sent today

-letter highlighting oversight
-certified letter from uni confirming existing info re english medium and name of uni and his attendance/ graduation
-printout of PBS calculator demonstrating 10 points award

sent to VFS and embassy FAO ECM. will wait to hear......otherwise will have to submit new application.

[peewee]

I'm in your exact situation - except I'm in South Africa with our daughter (who is now almost 3 months old) and my husband is in England! I know it's inconvenient, and costs more than anyone really wants to spend (my first language is English too) but I'm a qualified English teacher and they wouldn't accept that...
I'd take the English test, and try again.

good luck

hi thanks for your reply, im sorry to hear you have had the same issues esp with having a wee one too, i know how hard it is. hope you are all together soon and enjoy all your days as a family