Appealing Refusal of Adult (Father) Dependant Visa-ILR

Dear all,

Just been reading posts on this wonderful forum since last night. I need your help and advice regarding my intention to appeal against the refusal of my father's ILR-Dependant visa application. My father's 73 year old, not disable but in deteriorating health due to age. I have four sisters but all married and busy in their lives, none of them can provide long term personal care to my father. My grounds for care requirement were my father's state of mental health, he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, loneliness, sleeplessness and senility. He has recently got divorced from his second wife and currently lives alone in Pakistan. The refusal did not question my ability to support him so that one is clear. I am now writing a rebuttal to counter the points below. I attach my ideas for counter arguments under the full text of refusal and seek your advice on how to improve my arguments.

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Adult dependant
Relationship requirement: ECO reason for refusal
To qualify under the rule I must be satisfied that you require long term personal care to perform everyday tasks.
You state in Appendix 1 of your application form that you suffer from depression and sleeplessness. You also state that you suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure. In section 1.8 of the Appendix 1 you state that you are unable to care for yourself but that you are able to wash and dress yourself and that you have hired help.
As evidence of your illness you have provided a letter from Maj Dr Nadeem Ahmed, this letter is however self serving and not satisfactory in that it does not state that you need long term personal care to perform tasks along with an explanation of why this is the case. It simply states that ‘you are advised to stay with your family for family support’. I am therefore not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the rules.
Furthermore, I note you live in Pakistan with other members of your family including four daughters, one son, one sister and one brother. I am therefore satisfied that you have extensive family support in Pakistan. I am therefore not satisfied that you require due to either age, illness or disability ‘long term personal care’ to perform everyday tasks.
Therefore, I refuse your application under paragraph ECDR 1.1 (d) of appendix FM of the immigration rules E-ECDR 2.4.
If you demonstrate that you require long term personal care I must also be satisfied that this care cannot be received in your home country.
No evidence has been submitted to show that you need long term personal care to perform everyday tasks and that such care that is required cannot be provided in Pakistan. I therefore refuse your application under paragraph EC-DR 1.1 (d) of appendix FM of the immigration rules. E-ECDR 2.5.
I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you meet all of the requirements on the relevant paragraphs of the UK immigration rules.
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I have asked my father to get a complete medical examination done and get the doctors to highlight his deteriorating health, in particular his unwell joints and knees (due to which he is unable to perform everyday lifting activities), his unwell eyesight (due to which he can't drive (hopefully this falls under the everyday tasks?)) and his troubled state of mind (due to depression and loneliness). Hopefully this time we will be able to stress that he needs "long terms personal care." Plus, due to senility he sometimes forgets taking his medicine which can be detrimental to his health. He even dropped his passport in the public transport (rickshaw) on his way back from the collection office due to not being careful and in obvious state of despair (the rickshaw driver returned the passport the other day but we did file complaint with police so we have a record of this).

The second point is that no one in Pakistan can provide this care. I mentioned in the initial application that due to cultural requirements, my father will not allow himself to be dependant on his daughters for help with everyday tasks (this does not seem to have been picked up?). I also mentioned that his sister is too old and has lost her memory (I can attach her recent medical reports to prove that this time) and his brother lives in poverty and has his own family to look after (including a disabled child) so he can't help (I am hoping to attach a disclaimer from him this time stating this). They seem to have made an error and have said that he has another son in Pakistan which is not the case. Also, although help can be hired, I mentioned in the application that this help is generally provided by female maids which my father does not prefer being alone in the house with due to religious restrictions. Plus, emotional help and love - do they even take those into account?

Anything else that I should / shouldn't do to make his case stronger. Your help will be much appreciated as I can't leave my father alone back home - God bless you all!

If he doesn't need care he won't qualify.

See also, Older dependent relatives.

Just been reading the Immigration Directorate Instructions - Appendix FM:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... FM-6.0.pdf

seems like my father falls under this example scenario on pg 8:
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(c) A person (aged 70) lives alone in India. Her daughter lives in the UK; her son and his family live in the UAE. The daughter sends her mother money to pay for someone to do her cleaning, but is concerned that her mother is becoming increasingly frail and forgetful. This would not meet the criteria as the applicant is able to perform everyday tasks and/or has help available with these tasks.
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However, my argument is that he does need personal care due to age and increasing lack of physical and mental health... and no one in Pakistan is able to provide that (can attach everyone's disclaimers?) due to cultural grounds etc and finally the help that can be hired from female maids is not suitable due to religious grounds stated above?

Care could be mental health related, i.e. encouragement, motivation, guidance and/or supervision.

You can pay for this care in Pakistan, or pay your brother to look after him, sounds like he needs financial help too, so that would help all.

Adult dependant visa are the toughest to get, anecdotally only one has beed granted since the rules were tightened (about three years ago?) so I think the £1900 quid for the application fee would be better spent on professional care for your father in Pak.

9 July 2012 is when Appendix FM came into force.

Gosh, only one since 2012!!!??? Do you know if their have been successes in appeals?

Thanks a lot both, I will try nonetheless the line of emotional support and encouragement etc. That he does not feel like doing everyday tasks and needs both personal encouragement and physical help with them (which is all unexaggerated by the way). It is very sad what they are doing to immigrants by this law

smaash wrote:Gosh, only one since 2012!!!??? Do you know if their have been successes in appeals?

Thanks a lot both, I will try nonetheless the line of emotional support and encouragement etc. That he does not feel like doing everyday tasks and needs both personal encouragement and physical help with them (which is all unexaggerated by the way). It is very sad what they are doing to immigrants by this law

On the other hand (UKVI hat on) - you could say you could return home and support him there, just saying because thats what the UKVI will argue, if it's so important.....

About your elderly father, ensure that you use the words 'equality' and 'diversity'. this should open up the culture, tradition and religion issue which should be applicable to your father. I know you said that he has help, clarify if that is with cooking and cleaning of the house or if it relates to personal hygiene. The diversity also includes the fact that married women in Pakistan cannot look after their parents, it is culturally unacceptable for the daughter and the self respect and dignity of your father.

Put more emphasis on the fact that your father needs to be with family, especially son, ensure that you say your wife does not object, proof of accommodation, wages and just for your information, you have to prove that you have access of £72 a week to be able to cater for your father. The figures are based on social security figures and cannot be disputed. You must try and ensure them that your father will not be a burden on the state, you can accommodate and feed him without demanding benefits.

If you sponsor him, he cannot access public funds for five years, you have to prove that your intention is not to claim benefits if your father is given the visa to be with you. I hope this helps, best of luck

Kusum

Are you the only son? if so, high light that. Sons are exceptionally close to fathers because they carry their names forward.