Appeal questions

Are there set questions that the opposing lawyer asks the sponsor in court when refusal was based on not believing the marriage genuine of the marriage?

The lawyer for the Home Office will ask questions based on the information that you supplied and on which they refused you.They cant pluck things out of thin air and question you about it.

Thank you I am aware of that but when the ECM /ECO has not acknowledged receipt of the evidence we submitted in our initial application (ie emals, photos, tickets etc) how can they ask us any questions about our relationship? What questions do they normally ask?

If you post the wording of the refusal, then it will be easier for people to help you.

I did post my refusal and case on another post but nobody answered it? Here it is again. Hope you can help...........
My husband has been refused under 320(11) due to previous overstay (2 1/2 mths) and illegal work, removal back to his country. He was visting his sister who had depression. We were totally honest about this in our application. He overstayed because of her illness and because we met. Wording of refusal letter as follows:
you breached a condition attached to your previous issue of entry clearance by working illegally and that in doing so you previously used deception to obtain entry clearance. (they believe he always intended to stay and work which was not true he didn't work til his money ran out and decided to overstay, his sister was ill and he wanted to stay a little longer to stay and make sure she was ok as she has no other family here).Therefore I am also satisfied that you have previously contrived in a significant way to frustrate the intention of the immmigration rules. Your previous actions also undermine your credibility as a reliable witness. Because of this I am not satisfied that you and your wife intend to live permanently with the each other nor am I satisfied that the marriage is subsisting. I have also taken account of article 8 of the human rights act. I consider that refusing this applicaiton is justified and proportionate in the exercise of the immigration control. I do not believe that refusing this application will interfere with family life as you can continue to enjoy that by your wife's continuing visits.

We have now known each other for two years and stayed continually in touch. We married last year (married 9 mths) and applied for a spouse visa. We waited 8 mths to get married as we wanted to have a proper wedding with my family present. We had to save up and plan for this. For the last 17mths I visit about every 3-4 mths and we text every day call every week and email each other. We are the similiar age ( 3 yrs difference). Our parents have met and we had a proper wedding with both families /friends present in his country.
We submitted all evidence (tickets emails, letters, support letters from family, photos, boarding passes , text messages etc) in our initial application which was rejected and we are appealing which is coming to court in April.
My mother has a degenerative illness so I cannot leave UK. We submitted evidence of this in our initial application.
Do ECM's lie in their review letters? AS in the review letter it says a list of the documents provided with the initial application and it goes on to list everything we submitted in our applciation but excludes anything about our relationship (ie all the texts/emails/BT phone bills/photos/ tickets and boarding passes of my trips. I had placed all evidence in a labelled indexed file with letter and contents page. This letter and contents page were included in their appeal bundle along with our application form .Are they allowed to lie and say they did not recieve these?
What are our chances of success at appeal? Obviously we realise that he did the wrong thing by overstaying but we are in a committed relationship and thought we had provided all the evidence. Any opinions as to the likely success of our case?
Is there a complaints process about ECM's? Cannot beleive they omitted to say that we sent all that evidence of our relationship. We have spent all this time apart and it is so upsetting and stressful. 8 mths just waiting for the appeal date etc.

Even if they say they did not receive the documents, in your appeal you can submit any evidence that supports the genuineness of your marriage and subsistence of your relationship at the date of the refusal. You should also compile copies of correspondence with your husband since you have been apart: you can argue that continuous contact since the refusal is evidence that the marriage was real and subsisting when you applied.

I think that with the evidence you have described, you should be able to convince a Tribunal that your marriage is real.

The refusal under 320(11) is more of a concern. Refusal under 320(11) requires a breach of the rules (for example, working illegally and overstaying) AND aggravating circumstances. Deception would be an aggravating circumstance.

How long after entering the UK did your husband begin working? How much money did he have, and how long did he originally intend to stay? What did he say about length of stay on his visit application?

Thanks for replying.
I know we can show evidence in court I have 500 pieces in the appeal bundle with recent contact included. It is just very annoying and I think unjust that they did not acknowledge receipt of all this first time around.

He had the original visa for 6 mths. He worked at the end of this visa when he overstayed. he was still worried about his sisters illness (we have doctors letter to confirm her depression) and he fell in love with me. We planned to go back in the August but he was removed in JUly.
You are correct they are saying he always planned to work which is not the case.

Forgot to say on our spouse visa we were completely honest about overstay and working.