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Settlement visa rejected - how can this be ?

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srrooms
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Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:11 am
Location: Cambodia

Post by srrooms » Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:41 am

Thanks for the link. This is interesting.

I know that people on a low income can claim some benefits as a family but surely I can not show that as means of income on my wife's visa application form??? My situation is slighlty different to the guy in the link as I am not in the UK, been married for 6 years and in that time we have never been apart for more than 10 days.

It will also be very hard to prove what my business/land is worth so better and easier for me to show the cash. However, how much would be enough. The guy on the link seems to think 12 months so is this reasonable? I think my monthly expenses would be about 1,000 whilst living with my Mam.



Thanks

djb123
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Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:33 pm

Post by djb123 » Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:30 pm

srrooms wrote:Thanks for the link. This is interesting.

I know that people on a low income can claim some benefits as a family but surely I can not show that as means of income on my wife's visa application form??? My situation is slighlty different to the guy in the link as I am not in the UK, been married for 6 years and in that time we have never been apart for more than 10 days.

It will also be very hard to prove what my business/land is worth so better and easier for me to show the cash. However, how much would be enough. The guy on the link seems to think 12 months so is this reasonable? I think my monthly expenses would be about 1,000 whilst living with my Mam.

Thanks
There is nothing in the rules that says the sponsor can't claim any benefits that they are entitled to, it's just they can't claim additional benefits. For example in your case child benefit in itself works out at over £200/month.

The length of time is difficult, if you were applying for a normal spouse visa (~24 months) then I would suggest you would have to aim for that length of time. But assuming your wife's english is adequate she could get ILR (or probably it's replacement) very quickly and would then be eligible for benefits then if you hadn't got a job.

With the money from your business and any benefits you are entitled to you shouldn't have any problems. With your current savings alone you may be struggling especially as you will use up a reasonable amount just for flights/visas.

srrooms
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Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:11 am
Location: Cambodia

Post by srrooms » Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:21 pm

Hi djb123,

Do I just add on the application that I would be claiming 200 pounds for my children in child benefit? I am not sure whether it is a good ide to mention about getting money from any kind of benefits.

As for our savings then this would just be for us living off. We will have our seperate money for visa, flights etc.

We may have to sell our business first afterall as I have read somewhere that if you visa application has been accepted then you must enter within 3 months of approval? Is this right? If so, it may not give us enough time to sell the business.

Cheers.

djb123
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Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:33 pm

Post by djb123 » Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:43 pm

As far as I know every UK resident who has no restriction on their stay in the UK who has children under a certain age is entitled to claim child benefit, so why should you not mention it if it strengthens your case by increasing your income?

With normal spouse visas (which are for 27 month) if you delay your journey for 4 months or more you won't be able to apply for ILR when the visa expires and instead will have to apply for FLR which costs more money. Assuming that your wife gets granted ILE with KOL REQ endorsement I don't believe there will be any issues delaying travel for more than 4 months

dsds
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Post by dsds » Sat Jun 12, 2010 2:13 pm

djb123 wrote:As far as I know every UK resident who has no restriction on their stay in the UK who has children under a certain age is entitled to claim child benefit, so why should you not mention it if it strengthens your case by increasing your income?

With normal spouse visas (which are for 27 month) if you delay your journey for 4 months or more you won't be able to apply for ILR when the visa expires and instead will have to apply for FLR which costs more money. Assuming that your wife gets granted ILE with KOL REQ endorsement I don't believe there will be any issues delaying travel for more than 4 months
hi all
this is good news for me with out med i got a spouse settlement visa to day

god is great :lol:

joeking1809
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Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:06 am

Post by joeking1809 » Sat Jun 12, 2010 2:36 pm

dsds wrote:
djb123 wrote:As far as I know every UK resident who has no restriction on their stay in the UK who has children under a certain age is entitled to claim child benefit, so why should you not mention it if it strengthens your case by increasing your income?

With normal spouse visas (which are for 27 month) if you delay your journey for 4 months or more you won't be able to apply for ILR when the visa expires and instead will have to apply for FLR which costs more money. Assuming that your wife gets granted ILE with KOL REQ endorsement I don't believe there will be any issues delaying travel for more than 4 months
hi all
this is good news for me with out med i got a spouse settlement visa to day

god is great :lol:
God obviously doesn't like me much. Today I got this: Your appeal against your UK visa refusal has been reviewed by an Entry Clearance Manager. The ECM has upheld the visa refusal and is not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules

....Your appeal will now be sent to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK for a hearing.


Now instead of moving back to the UK to a new job and a primary school for my kids that I spent the best part of a year researching, I have to find a new place to live, look for a new job, look for a new school for my kids.

Oh, and thanks for hijacking this thread.

batleykhan
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Post by batleykhan » Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:44 pm

As it is now going to a hearing probally in 6 months time, you have an opportunity to collate all the evidence that you indeed are a married couple, living together now and in the future.

Joint bank accounts is good proof, as well any correspondence to both of you at the same address as well as anything else that you may think might help.

Good luck and keep the old chin up. :wink:

joeking1809
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Post by joeking1809 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:12 am

I've already submitted everything I could possibly think of with the appeal, including
1. Letter from a senior officer of the Hong Kong Police, who is a friend of mine (one of the few remaining Brits in the HK Police and ex-UK Police), with whose family we usually spend Sundays, testifying that he has known us both for over 4 years (and me for over 20 years) and affirming that our relationship is genuine. He also included around 40 photos of our families together.
2. Letter from my bank stating that my wife has been a suplementary card holder on my credit card account for 6 years, along with photocopies of every sales voucher she signed in the last two years by her (around 100) which show her name and signature.
3. Letter from my parents stating that they have known my wife since before we were married, affirming that our relationship is genuine, and have visited us in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea on 7 occasions (twice in the last year) as well as having us stay with them twice in the last two years in the UK, along with around 50 photos from those trips.
4. Documents from Inland Revenue Department (Hong Kong) from over the last several years showing my wife to be resident at the same address as me.
5. Certified (by the Immigration department in Hong Kong) copies of application forms and supporting documents for my wife's dependent's visa in Hong Kong, last renewed in Sep 2009, showing her address to be the same as mine.

Since this is not good enough, in addition to everything I submitted with the original application, then I can't see what would satisfy them. It's preposterous that having a joint bank account or utility bills in joint names would satisfy them, but everything I've submitted will not. If this was some kind of scam, the easist thing of all would be to have joint account and utility bills - all the other evidence I submitted would be much more difficult to concoct if it were not genuine. They have around 200 photos of us ! And if they really suspect that it is not genuine why have they not even contacted my friend in the Police to confirm his letter and photos are genuine ? Although his letter was a personal one, he gave his office phone number as a contact number, so they could have easily checked that he's with the police if they wanted to.

If the appeal really takes 6 months, then it really causes a big problem with my children's school - the deadline to apply, with proof of residence, is in January - obviously we have to move, find a house to buy and exchange contracts in order to show proof to the local education authority. Also, what are we supposed to do for the next six months or as long as it takes to finalise ? Hong Kong is not a great place to be with nowhere to live and no job - although I'm not short of money, this place is one of the most expensive in the world.

This really sucks.

Kitty
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Location: Southampton, UK

Post by Kitty » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:27 am

As you have now sent them "official" (i.e. tax) documents from the last few years showing your wife resident at the same address as you, I am even more in the dark as to the ECO/ECM's decision. Either that or I am missing something.

To those who have said earlier that ECOs are rightly wary of couples who might be staying together for the sake of the non-UK partner's entry clearance, the visa for exercising the right of access to a child is surely usually a cheaper and quicker way to get entry clearance (and ILR/presumably PR) in those circumstances. Also, for people who are intending to "cheat" the system in that way, production of recent utility bills is hardly going to prove the subsistence of their relationship. Last time my husband and I got a water bill, no one cared whether we were still getting on particularly well...

Joe, if you do have to come to the UK to start your job, you can at least use that as an opportunity to build up some letters, emails, itemised phone bills etc. of your contact with your wife and children. Ludicrously circuitous way of showing ongoing "devotion" but still. Best of luck with your plans.

joeking1809
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Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:06 am

Post by joeking1809 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:42 am

Hi Kitty

Thanks for your reply.

The problem with those official documents may be that they are all more than 6 months old - that is, more than 4 months prior to the visa application. I can only assume that they somehow think that our relationship has ended within those 4 months, since immediately prior to that we were in the UK on a visit visa for 2 solid months, on holiday several times together (with hotel and flight booking info and identical passport stamps) before that (last year), on a visit visa to the UK at the end of the previous year and now with the HK government documents, I can't see how they can question our relationship except for the time after we returned from the UK.

I won't be coming to the UK without my wife and kids, so in all likelihood we will just give up on the visa altogether and settle in Hong Kong, Japan or Korea.

Sad.

JK

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