Refused settlement, appealing - can travel on visitor visa?

Hi - complicated situation, would really appreciate help:
Married for 15 years, 2 children, relocating to the UK from Thailand. Wife (Thai National) has been refused settlement visa based on financial grounds (I failed to show clearly that our savings are continuously above 62.5K - I'm assuming it was refused because we supplied 7 accounts and was too complicated for them to assess continuously, so they took the minimum from each account and made that their total). Have now appealed and provided clear spreadsheet showing day by day totals to prove that it is continuously above the minimum. Two questions:

1) Does anyone have examples of how long it will take for appeal if it is a simple case of providing additional evidence such as clarifying accounts in more detail?

and most importantly:

2) My wife has a 10-year C-visit visa which is still valid until 2019. Can she travel to the UK on this visitor visa (we have one-way tickets already booked for 9th July) while still waiting for appeal and then have the passport processed in the UK if they accept the appeal? (she has a stamp in her passport (with Post Ref refusal number) on the page next to her C-visit)

Thanks so much!

They may refuse her entry, if her circumstances have changed.

She may have problems convincing an Immigration Officer that she intends to leave the UK at the end of her visit.

Dear Vinny,
Thanks for the advice - seems that we have to hope that the decision is made quickly (before we fly), and if it doesn't, then she will have to stay in Thailand and fly at a later point. Otherwise it's a huge risk flying to the UK and ending up with her not making it through customs. We'll just add one stat to the cases of families being split up due to harsh decisions.

Hi Vinny,

One additional thing - my wife is not intending to leave the UK at the end of her stay - she is intending to use the visit visa to get into the UK so that we can await the appeal there. We were told over the phone when seeking advice that if the appeal takes longer than the 6 months allowed on her visa, then it is extended indefinitely so she can stay until a decision is reached. We are not confident that this is correct as we have heard so many things over the phone, so we are certainly still concerned about her being turned away at the UK border.

So many mixed messages that just leaves us more confused than ever. We know we have been treated unfairly, but getting definitive answers seems nigh on impossible.

hardyandrew wrote:Hi Vinny,

One additional thing - my wife is not intending to leave the UK at the end of her stay - she is intending to use the visit visa to get into the UK so that we can await the appeal there. We were told over the phone when seeking advice that if the appeal takes longer than the 6 months allowed on her visa, then it is extended indefinitely so she can stay until a decision is reached. We are not confident that this is correct as we have heard so many things over the phone, so we are certainly still concerned about her being turned away at the UK border.

So many mixed messages that just leaves us more confused than ever. We know we have been treated unfairly, but getting definitive answers seems nigh on impossible.

Cannot extend a visitor visa unless under extreme compassionate circumstances, think Tsunami, etc.

Also bear in mind that all information is held on the UKVI system, so the pending appeal and refused spouse visa application will flag up at UK Border control and is likely to trigger a refusal of entry.

hardyandrew wrote:One additional thing - my wife is not intending to leave the UK at the end of her stay

That would be a reason for an Immigration Officer to refuse entry, as she would not be a genuine visitor.

hardyandrew wrote:We were told over the phone when seeking advice that if the appeal takes longer than the 6 months allowed on her visa, then it is extended indefinitely so she can stay until a decision is reached.

Immigration applicants cannot rely on telephone calls with Home Office.

Vinny has given you a very helpful link. Time and time again on the forum we have cases of worryingly incorrect advice given by UKVI staff on the official 'help' line.

Thanks Casa and Vinny,

Yes, my concern is that the advice is wrong and we arrive at the border and my wife is refused on the grounds that her circumstances have changed. The link was very useful thanks.
We will continue to make enquiries and see if we can be sure that it is ok to travel on the visit visa.

hardyandrew wrote:my wife is not intending to leave the UK at the end of her stay - she is intending to use the visit visa to get into the UK so that we can await the appeal there.

This is going to be the one reason the border staff will refuse entry. Your wife will most likely be interviewed at entry since settlement visa was refused. There are slim chances of entry on a visitor visa after the settlement visa has been refused.

The border staff will get to the bottom of your intentions, not only can they refuse entry but they also have the powers to cancel the visit visa.

hardyandrew wrote:Hi - complicated situation, would really appreciate help:
Married for 15 years, 2 children, relocating to the UK from Thailand. Wife (Thai National) has been refused settlement visa based on financial grounds (I failed to show clearly that our savings are continuously above 62.5K - I'm assuming it was refused because we supplied 7 accounts and was too complicated for them to assess continuously, so they took the minimum from each account and made that their total).

What was the exact wording of the reason(s) given for the refusal decision?

Are you sure that you fully complied with paras 11 and 11A of Appendix FM-SE?
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _final.pdf