application to extend spouse visa refused

[mkhan2525]

Thanks once again for your replies . One of the first things I did was to try and get my wife to take an HO accepted course but the colleges want her passport ( no photo copies ) I guess for id purpose . So unless we can get my wifes passport returned from the HO she can not take an English language test ! We were given an opportunity to request any docs that had not been returned and we did this and heard noting back . HO also kept BULATS certs and our marriage certs that are in English. If these have been lost not sure what will happen if we have to start visa process from beginning as these marriage certs are required ! We also got our local MP involved who on our behalf requested our documents be returned . We have heard nothing from the HO ref this matter .

Look for a college in your area that adminsters their exams through EMDQ exam board. They will accept a photocopy of the passport if you have one along with a letter from your solicitor stating HO have retained her passport.

You will need to ask the staff at the college to ask EMDQ if they are willing to accept a photocopy in the event they refuse. Alternatively as Obie suggested use the provisional license, they should accept that.

[monners1963]

Ref EMDQ, I have just got off the phone and my ears are burning with frustration of being passed from dept to dept and finally getting nowhere ! It was suggested on this forum that I try to get my wife on a English language test before our hearing in feb although we need to do this asap as all docs ref the appeal are to arrive to the Tribunal before 04/12/2014 . I had previously explained that the HO are holding my wifes passport . You need either a passport , European id card or a biometric residence permit to take an accepted Home Office English language test at any of the accredited colleges etc . They will not accept anything less. So please explain to me how my wife can take an English Language test with EMDQ . I called one of the listed places I think it was called The Greenwich College of something who are not actually a college they are above a shop in Woolwich ! They state my wife can do the test if she has her preliminary driving licence and also £180 .
Yes my wife could do the test but it would not be accepted by the HO .

[vinny]

Did you check with every approved test provider?

[vinny]

See also A1 English test without a passport.

[monners1963]

I can confirm that all accredited English language test suppliers ie Cambridge , Trinity , etc etc all require a passport or biometric residency permit or European id card . Certified copies ( which we now have , are still not accepted ) We were told by one college that if we took the B1 test this would not be accepted as an alternative to the A1 test that is required by the HO for an extension to my wifes spouse visa .

We now have a lawyer helping us ! But to tell the truth I am more confused and my head feels like it is going to explode !
Our lawyer is suggesting that we re-apply for a extension visa ( bearing in mind that the HO have my wifes passport and we would be applying without any form of English language test ) which is the main basis of them refusing the visa in the first place .

We are running out of time as all documents have to be submitted by 04/12/2014 .

Also suggested by the lawyer was we relocate to Ireland and apply for the visa , as this would be a much easier route as Ireland is not as strict as UK with regard to visa applications . This advice has so far cost £500, to re-apply for the visa would cost initial £600 and then there is the visa fee of £600 .

I so look forward to your comments.

[Obie]

Wow, I am not in agreement with the solicitor.

It makes no sense in the Circumstance of your case, for you to now relocate to Ireland.

There are cases were i would strongly recommend that, but yours is not one of them.

Your wife is closer to acquiring settlement.

The link Vinny provided you is very helpful.

http://www.theenglishacademy.co.uk/

Contact these people and get the A1 test done ASAP, and i am confident your wife will succeed.

Your wife is able to provide new evidence in regards to the English Language, and you will be entitled to succeed.

If you are based around London or the South East Area, i will not mind assisting you.

85(4) still applies to your case.

Please don't withdraw the decision, or your wife will have to wait for at least 5 years to secure ILR under appendix FM.

[monners1963]

Obie I will call the academy but im sure I have spoken to them and its no different for A1 you need passport European id card or biometric residency permit . But I will call them again to clarify this. I was told by one of the colleges that we would not be able to take the B1 English language test instead of the A1 . I was sure the academy could offer us B1 using driving licence or certified copy of my wifes passport which we now have.

Obie we only have until next Thursday to submit all docs to tribunal and copies to HO . YES I welcome your help and need to chat with you asap ref this . We live in Dartford ! can you pm me and I will forward home number email address etc as if you are going to assist us I need to get you up to speed asap . clock is ticking for us

[Obie]

After you have posted 10 post, i will PM you my details.

But try and contact those people and get the A1 test done, or B1 infact as that could be used for ILR later on.

[vinny]

I believe that members on another board reported that they were successful with expired English test results, even prior to the rule changes. So, there may have been discretion for the caseworkers to positively consider expired English language test results then.

Therefore, it may also be worthwhile asking the caseworker to reconsider his refusal decision as she does satisfy the English language requirement with her previous English language test for entry clearance under the current rules.

[monners1963]

Ok my wife is booked in for this coming Tuesday to do the B1 she can not do the A1 test . to do the A1 test anywhere you must have passport biometric or European residency . But B1 is ok and a higher standard test. The problem we have is We will not get the results until 4 to 6 weeks and we are supposed to submit all documentation by 04/12/2014. The lady at the college said we will get some paperwork say my wife has taken the test and if need be the HO can find out about the pending results.
So my question is Will we be able to submit the English language test results at the hearing in February ? and Obie I believe this is my 10th post lol welcome aboard my nightmare .

[monners1963]

85 (4) where can I read up on this ? please

[vinny]

I agree (11).

On this point I prefer the analysis in the note of argument for the appellant at pages 2-7. EA did not overturn LS. Nor did AQ, which is part of a line of cases arising from the Points Based System and from section 85A of the 2002 Act (which does not apply here). AQ also involved matters raised by way of a section 120 notice. A case such as the present is not subject to a “fixed historic time line”, or to a requirement to produce the necessary evidence with the original application. The correct understanding of section 85(4) continues to be as established in LS.

[monners1963]

English please guys soo I understand what your talking about . IF we take the new English language test to the hearing bearing in mind its a higher standard of test than the previous one taken ! what are our chances ? and is there anything we can add to strengthen my wifes case ? remember English please lol

[vinny]

Even without the new B1 English test, she may also present her previous English test results, that was used in a successful previous application, as additional evidence.

So, given the additional evidence, she satisfies the requirements of the rules on the date of the hearing. I believe that her chances of success are high.

[monners1963]

I want to thank this forum for all the help and advice provided . Bundles are 99% complete only need to add pending letter from Trinity English language test stating My wife took the test which can be verified by the HO, maybe the courts too but im not sure about that . We will not get the results until end of January 2015. Hearing is in February 2015 ( Will we be able to submit English language test results ? ) On advice from mod Vinny I had added my wifes previous test results ( although these too were taken with BULATS ) Also I need to add a front page to the bundle . So once again a very big thank you . Will post after English language test on Tuesday my wife will know how she has done ! fingers crossed .

[monners1963]

I was just checking the front page of the paperwork received from HO for the pending hearing and they have made an error with regard to my wife entering the UK on 14th july 2014 .............my wife entered the UK on 14th july 2012 . Can we use this HO error against them ? Please see attachment

[CR001]

I have removed your attachment from your post.

Please remove or black out all your spouses personal details and attach it again. This is a very public forum to put such info.

[monners1963]

revised attachment name blanked out .................................

[monners1963]

My wife took the Trinity B1 HO accepted English language test today and passed , copies were taken of the pass form ( certs will not be ready for about 4 to 6 weeks ) and added to the bundles and posted today . fingers crossed and now the long wait until February for the appeal hearing. Any thoughts ?

[monners1963]

I wanted to update the forum and give hope to others who are in a similar situation as we were . Yesturday was our appeal date our day in court . We arrived in good time and made our way to court 14 having been directed there by the security who search you as you enter the building . We were both very nervous angry frustrated and confused and even scared .
We sat in room 14 and was told we would be seen second . The legal guy from the Home Office with all his paperwork big thick legal ref books spread across his table very professional looking took his watch off and lay it on the table . I thought OMG what bloody chance do we have ! The immigration judge entered the room and firstly organised the hearings there were about 5 different cases and after the judge going through the list he finally said my wifes name she put her hand up and said yes sir ! The legal chap from the HO then said that he had something to tell the judge about our case ! So the first case was about to start and we others left the room . I was thinking what has the HO legal guy got to add to this case has a decision already been made I started to get angry and then I was thinking it might be positive but maybe negative .
Finally we were summoned before the judge . The HO legal chap started talking legal jargon I was already lost and then said to my amazement " that this case should never have got this far and that the Home Office were withdrawing there decision to refuse my Thai wife her extension . The judge said well that's good news for you and can I suggest your wife re-takes an approved English language test I replied we already have and showed the court the new English language test ( TRINITY ) and I gave copies to the judge and to the HO legal guy . We were told the HO would contact us soon .

I would like to thank all on this forum who took time to post on this topic and help us with advice support and gave us hope . Keep up your good work guys and for all those who might be experiencing the same dilemma as we were don't give up hope and good luck.

[monners1963]

I wanted to take this opportunity to up-date this board ref our appeal . I have posted original post asking for help . I would also like to thank all who gave advice and gave us hope. We have also received a letter from the HO which I will attach please feel free to respond to the content of the letter. I for one am not happy with this letter. As far as I am concearned the HO withdrew there decision at appeal so why don't they just issue the visa and return my wifes passport ? They also state in the letter we might have to resubmit any required documentation ! Why should we re-submit anything ? They with drew there decision ! We took it upon ourselves to re-take the English language test ( TRINITY ) we took a higher test B1 and my wife passed .We submitted the results to the court and issued copies to the judge and the legal chap representing the HO . ( REF the English Language test HO required A1 level but we were unable to take this as the HO were and are still holding my wifes passport but you can take a higher level test B1 without original passport but you might need photo copies of your travel document )

application to extend spouse visa refused

Postby monners1963 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 9:19 pm

We need some good sound advice please. Where to start .....We applied for an extension to my Thai wifes visa and was refused as the Home Office moved there goalposts regarding accepting BULATS English language test . At the time my wife took the test 06/06/2014 BULATS was being accepted. HO website stated BULATS test results would be accepted until 30/06/2014. So we put together the application and we had plenty of time as my wifes visa did not expire until 28/08/2014 .
We posted the application 22/08/2014. A couple of days later we heard from our visa advisor in bkk who dropped the bombshell that the Home Office were no longer accepting BULATS results after 01/08/2014. We were told to sit and wait as there was a lot of confusion surrounding the BULATS English language testing. Eventually we received the devastating news that our application had been refused, mainly based on the BULATS no longer being accepted by the HO. The HO also stated they saw no reason why we both could not live in Thailand ! ( wishful thinking ) We were given the opportunity to appeal and that's what we have done our hearing is in February. We contacted our local MP, not much help really. I tried to get my wife to take an accepted HO English language test but as the HO are holding my wifes passport we could not get her on a course ( college requires original passport for id purpose ) The HO also kept our marriage certs and BULATS pass certs which we requested be returned without response.
We are both in full-time employment but not able to afford the expertise of an immigration lawyer.
Is there anybody out there that can help us please.

[Greenie]

Unfortunately the home office withdrawing their decision does not necessarily mean that they will grant the visa and does not equate to you winning your appeal. It is unfortunately common practice for the home office to withdraw a decision shortly before or on the day of the hearing particularly when it looks like they might lose. The chances are your wife's application will now be granted if the English language test was the only reason for the refusal but you just have to wait and see now, sorry.

[monners1963]

ok thanks for your comment