wifes settlement visa refused...appeal lodged but....

My wife's settlement visa was refused on the grounds that we did not produce my divorce certificate (from previous marriage) with the application. No other reason was stated in the refusal letter, as all my other documents were very comprehensive including salary slips, mortgage stats, jog letters etc.

I provided the divorce certificate to BHC islamabad immediately after refusal (June) but they did not acknowledge that. I was left with no choicebut to file the appeal at AIT in UK on 1 June. AIT send the papers to BHC but also gave BHC until 30 Oct to respond. This is too long a wait

considering our appeal is straightforward can you please answer these if you can as the wait is killing me....

1- How long can BHC take to respond. Do they normally take the usual time i.e 30 Oct to respond, or if it is a straight forward case they respond quicker as well?

2- If BHC maintain their decision and not allow the appeal, how long would it take for AIT to list the case for hearing after 30 Oct? and how long to get the final decision after that

3- I am considering making a formal complaint to 'UK Visas' as clearly BHC had been irresponsible/negligent for refusing visa on a minor ground and then not acknowleding the missing papers sent. they also did not offer interview to my wife to request the only missing document? DO YOU THINK THAT THIS MAY HELP IN PUTTING PRESSURE ON BHC TO SPEED UPAPPEAL REVIEW PROCESS OR THIS MAY ANNOY THEM MORE???

Thanks in advance foryour replies.

M

Can only go by my own experiences with the BHC in Islamabad but we filed an appeal in april and the BHC have until mid september by which to reply....far too long but thats a whole other topic. Anyway as yet, the BHC have yet to reply.

And lets not forget that they don't actually HAVE to reply, according to the person who I spoke to at the AIT. If the ECO doesn't file any response by the date given then the AIT will automatically send out a hearing date. In theory this should be around 6-8 weeks after the deadline but in reality it can be months. And then you have to wait around for the determination once you have had the hearing, and then the BHC in islamabad take weeks to get the actual visa into the passport.

Hence why IMO its quicker to file a fresh application.

Brit Chick, thanks its very helpful.....doesnt help in a way when i think of the long undue delay by AIT/BHC though!

can one of the moderators please respond if making a complaint to UKVisas help or mess upthe case even more?
thanks

as clearly BHC had been irresponsible/negligent for refusing visa on a minor ground

I don't think that you failing to include your divorce certificate can be blamed on the BHC, and neither is it a minor ground considering you are applying for a spouse visa!!

If you want to speed things up re-apply and this time include ALL supporting documentation as is necessary. Blaming others for your oversight won't get you anywhere. AFAIK AIT appeals take, on average, a year from start to finish.

MM,

With respect and based on my reading of your post I concur with Marie that your application was correctly refused given that vital documentation pertaining to your ability to marry was not included. The best strategy is to re-apply with the correct documentation. An appeal will take longer and IMHO the audjidicator will likely decide for the ECO given that they have decided correctly. Good luck.

hi,

I would suggest that you refrain from making any complaints what so ever. I have had a terrible time dealing with Islamabad and they refused my husband a visa. Then it went to appeal and they never sent the paper work through on time, so the appeal had to go through on the date. The papers arrived just a day prior to the hearing. And any complaints I made were totally ignored.