Spouse visa refused - plan to re-apply

Hi

I need some advice before I re-apply for my spouse visa. Me and my partner have been Islamically Married for 2 years but at the time of our Marriage in Pakistan which is valid there I was married to a UK National and applying for a divorce.

I'm a UK National he is Pakistani National.

Our visa was refused on some grounds:

You state that you first met your spouse in August 11, you then married in January 12 under islamic law in the UK. This was followed by marriage ceremony in September 2012 in Pakistan. However your spouse was still married to UK National and her decree absolute was not finalised until May 13. I am not satisfied your marriage is legitimate.

You applied for a student visa in February 2013 instead of applying for a spouse visa. Given the doubts of yous spouses entitlement to marry I am not satisfied your relationship is genuine or that you did intend to live together pemanently in the UK. Your application is refused under ecp 1.1 of Appendix Immigration Rules.

We applied for the student visa because my divorce wasnt complete and I was happy to continue studying.

We plan to re-apply but how would these issues affect our future applicatin and how can we solve these problems?

Thanks

You cannot make a new application until you marry in accordance with UK requirements. You need to rectify your marriage as the UK do not consider it valid. The fact that you are divorced now does not make the new marriage valid now, as it was done at a time when you were not free to marry.

An Islamic Marriage is not seen as a valid marriage under UK Law so why would they still refuse my visa.

What about the student visa refusal?

Need more answers please

According to Islamic Law also at that time I was free to marry as my divorce was being processed

The marriage in PK was the basis of the application rather than the islamic marriage in the UK and, on that basis, the PK marriage was discounted because you were, in the eyes of the UK, not free to marry at the time it was consecrated. That marriage, in its current state, is still invalid for UK immigration purposes even though you are now divorced. You need to remarry again now that you are free or rectify your existing marriage in some way that satisfies the UK marriage laws.

The student refusal was considered a ruse to get around the settlement refusal.

So the student refusal wouldn't make any difference, but it might be better to renew the vows again in Pakistan.

Thank you very much for your advice I will certainly follow it