*URGENT* Spouse settlement visa refused

Dear all,

Firstly, apologies if I am posting in the wrong thread or if this question has been answered already before.

My stepmothers spouse settlement visa has been refused and I would greatly appreciate if experts in this forum can provide some advise please.

Just to give a bit of a background.

My father (aged 74) married a US (lady) national last year (after my mothers demise) and applied for settlement visa earlier this year.

My father receives pension (and does not work anymore) but the total earnings does not reach £18,600 hence as advised by his solicitor he took help from my elder brother in the form of third party support. My brother earns close to £100k and is very settled financially. He provided his wage slips and bank statement with a letter confirming he has happy to support my fathers application.

But the application was refused saying we have not mentioned of any 'exceptional circumstances' around the case. We need to lodge an appeal by 20th August.

I am trying to attach the refusal letter but it says the file has invalid extension, I tried word and PDF too.

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Now, they Home Office may consider other reliable sources of income if a refusal of the spouse visa would cause disproportionate hardship (tantamount to breach of Human Rights).

There have to be compelling circumstances such as a kid or kids being separated from one parent if the visa is refused.

If this is a new couple (they have been together for many years), don't have kids, one in UK and the other is a safe country... etc, it will be hard to build a case about compelling circumstances.

Where does the wife live?

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Where does the wife live?

Op stated the wife is a "US lady". Presumably the couple have met in person.

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. The wife is an American national but they met in Asia and got married there.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Now, they Home Office may consider other reliable sources of income if a refusal of the spouse visa would cause disproportionate hardship (tantamount to breach of Human Rights).

There have to be compelling circumstances such as a kid or kids being separated from one parent if the visa is refused.

If this is a new couple (they have been together for many years), don't have kids, one in UK and the other is a safe country... etc, it will be hard to build a case about compelling circumstances.

Where does the wife live?

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Yes they also lived together for a short while after their marriage.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:05 pm

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Where does the wife live?

Op stated the wife is a "US lady". Presumably the couple have met in person.

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:00 pm

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. The wife is an American national but they met in Asia and got married there.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Now, they Home Office may consider other reliable sources of income if a refusal of the spouse visa would cause disproportionate hardship (tantamount to breach of Human Rights).

There have to be compelling circumstances such as a kid or kids being separated from one parent if the visa is refused.

If this is a new couple (they have been together for many years), don't have kids, one in UK and the other is a safe country... etc, it will be hard to build a case about compelling circumstances.

Where does the wife live?

To allow the third party support, no exceptional circumstances breaching any human rights seems detectable given the above situation . Also remember that any cash savings/rental income can also be combined.

Unfortunately, there is no compelling circumstances that springs to mind, apart from my fathers age and medical condition. Can we argue that we cannot expect Home Office for him to look for full time employment and earn £18,600? Also, he has a heart condition which prevents him for being too tired.

Is age not an exceptional circumstance in this instance?

As the wife is an American national, she does not require a visa to visit UK. In fact she has been here before on a visit a few years ago. Do you guys reckon if she visits the UK now on a visit (she can just buy a ticket and board the plance) there are chances she might be stopped at the immigration, considering her settlement visa has been refused recently?

Thanks

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

He doesn't any income apart from the pensions which doesn't exceed £18,600

How much should be the cash savings?

seagul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:07 pm

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:00 pm

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. The wife is an American national but they met in Asia and got married there.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Now, they Home Office may consider other reliable sources of income if a refusal of the spouse visa would cause disproportionate hardship (tantamount to breach of Human Rights).

There have to be compelling circumstances such as a kid or kids being separated from one parent if the visa is refused.

If this is a new couple (they have been together for many years), don't have kids, one in UK and the other is a safe country... etc, it will be hard to build a case about compelling circumstances.

Where does the wife live?

To allow the third party support, no exceptional circumstances breaching any human rights seems detectable given the above situation . Also remember that any cash savings/rental income can also be combined.

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:11 pm

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

He doesn't any income apart from the pensions which doesn't exceed £18,600

How much should be the cash savings?

seagul wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:07 pm

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:00 pm

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. The wife is an American national but they met in Asia and got married there.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:57 pm

Hello,

For the spouse visa, the sponsor needs to meet the revenue threshold of £18600/year [before tax].

Now, they Home Office may consider other reliable sources of income if a refusal of the spouse visa would cause disproportionate hardship (tantamount to breach of Human Rights).

There have to be compelling circumstances such as a kid or kids being separated from one parent if the visa is refused.

If this is a new couple (they have been together for many years), don't have kids, one in UK and the other is a safe country... etc, it will be hard to build a case about compelling circumstances.

Where does the wife live?

To allow the third party support, no exceptional circumstances breaching any human rights seems detectable given the above situation . Also remember that any cash savings/rental income can also be combined.

Depends on shortfall but first £16000 is not considered. Usually a cash saving around £62500 fulfill the criteria alone.

How old is the wife? Does she work?

The wife is 54 years old. She doesn't work.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:28 pm

How old is the wife? Does she work?

The other option: he moves to an EU country asap. Establish himself there as self-sufficient or similar. He can go Spain, Greece or any country of his liking. Then, as an EEA national, he can bring his wife without any economic/financial conditions attached.

Does the wife hold a US passport?

Yes the wife holds US passport.

If he moves to EU does he have to live there for a certain period of time before he moves back to UK?

Also, I thought as we are already out of the EU the immigration rules for EEA nationals would change. Is that not the case?

Thanks for your help...

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:47 am

The other option: he moves to an EU country asap. Establish himself there as self-sufficient or similar. He can go Spain, Greece or any country of his liking. Then, as an EEA national, he can bring his wife without any economic/financial conditions attached.

Does the wife hold a US passport?

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:47 am

The other option: he moves to an EU country asap. Establish himself there as self-sufficient or similar. He can go Spain, Greece or any country of his liking. Then, as an EEA national, he can bring his wife without any economic/financial conditions attached.

Does the wife hold a US passport?

Surinder Singh doesn't appear to be available to British citizens exercising treaty rights in another EU state after 31st January 2020 according to the policy document posted by Obie in April 2020.

https://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-r ... l#p1895857

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:19 am

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:47 am

The other option: he moves to an EU country asap. Establish himself there as self-sufficient or similar. He can go Spain, Greece or any country of his liking. Then, as an EEA national, he can bring his wife without any economic/financial conditions attached.

Does the wife hold a US passport?

Surinder Singh doesn't appear to be available to British citizens exercising treaty rights in another EU state after 31st January 2020 according to the policy document posted by Obie in April 2020.

https://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-r ... l#p1895857

Yes absolutely; I was aware about that one. They may live as a couple in an EU country of their choice but it's a one way trip. There is no easy option back to the UK.

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:11 am

Yes the wife holds US passport.

If he moves to EU does he have to live there for a certain period of time before he moves back to UK?

Also, I thought as we are already out of the EU the immigration rules for EEA nationals would change. Is that not the case?

Thanks for your help...

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:47 am

The other option: he moves to an EU country asap. Establish himself there as self-sufficient or similar. He can go Spain, Greece or any country of his liking. Then, as an EEA national, he can bring his wife without any economic/financial conditions attached.

Does the wife hold a US passport?

Due to Home Office restrictions, the British passport is one of the weakest when it comes to bringing a partner. In some circumstances, you are better off being non-British in the UK to bring a partner. In many countries, bringing a partner is just matter of filling a simple application. But I understand that people abusing the system make it harder for everyone.

So going to the EU for your father, it's not with the intention to come back to the UK. There won't be any come back. It's just for him to live with his wife than anything.

Many thanks everyone for their input.

Hi all,

Further to my post above, we met an experienced immigration solicitor and he advised the chances of winning the appeal looks slim as there are no exceptional circumstances in my father's case.

The solicitor however suggested that the wife can visit the UK (she doesn't need a visa as she holds a US passport) and after 5 months we can launch an in country application so she can remain with my father as a spouse.

He said since we are launching an in-country application, the financial requirement doesn't apply and we can fight the case based on human rights ground (since family life would have been already established as they would be living together)

Can the experts in this forum shed some light if we decided to take this route?

Many thanks again in advance.

The solicitor however suggested that the wife can visit the UK (she doesn't need a visa as she holds a US passport) and after 5 months we can launch an in country application so she can remain with my father as a spouse.

Not a good move to do this.

He said since we are launching an in-country application, the financial requirement doesn't apply and we can fight the case based on human rights ground (since family life would have been already established as they would be living together)

Why would the financial requirement not apply within the UK?? Of course it does. If the lawyer is suggesting an FLR(FP) Partner visa route, which is a 10 year route to PR, 4 x 2.5 year visas, be warned that many US spouses (even those with British children) have tried this, been refused and sent back to apply in the correct way. There is NOT human rights issue here in your case. Overtaying as a visitor though does make a black mark against her name.

Can the experts in this forum shed some light if we decided to take this route?

I would strongly advised against this. It will cost a lot of money with little chance of success.

leicester_boy wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 25, 2020 2:57 pm

The solicitor however suggested that the wife can visit the UK (she doesn't need a visa as she holds a US passport)

She can be denied on arrival since her intentions of settling in UK are already exposed.

I know a few Americans who live in Europe under the radar and I guess there are plenty of them.

They would spend 5 months in the UK, then 5 months across Europe then 2 months back in the US... With this frequency, nobody can claim that they are "making UK home" or any other country.

Thanks for the advice. We are considering the appeal route. The issue is we are looking at another year or so of separation.

Would it be possible for your brother to put 62.5K in a bank for your father now and in 6 months, use that to bring her over?

In the meantime, could he go live in the US while time goes by so they are not apart?

THO.

The wife could sponsor her husband to her country: the US allow 3rd party sponsorship.

THO wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:41 pm

Would it be possible for your brother to put 62.5K in a bank for your father now and in 6 months, use that to bring her over?

That would end any income based welfare benefits he might be getting.