PSW Refusal: Appeal: Oral or Paper based? Self or Solicitor?

Hi
I had recently applied for PSW and was refused because of my own mistake.
(a) I did not get a bank stamp on one of my statements( I assumed since it had my name, a/c nr , logo, it was all fine)
(b) The statements only covered a period of 80 days (Even though I have funds in excess of £800 for the whole year and to date)

I am going to appeal, what I want to know is
(1) Do I need a solicitor? (Can I state that I made an honest mistake?)
(2) Should I opt for Oral or Paper based appeal?

Any advice/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

I don't know if my experience is useful to you at all...
I was refused a visa because
a) my (Dutch) bank statements were not translated
- savings account in EUROs, I was told twice by help-line these do not need translated as HIGHLY self-explanitory and are in EURO
b) letter, provided by my University did not have a date of my graduation on it
- I was still waiting for my degree cert. to be issued, so no grad.date was available, but, apparently they were meant to say something like - she will be awarded her diploma on such-and-such date.


So I got my refusal beginning of January (dated 31st December (!)), sent back for an appeal straight away.

I opted to go for the Oral Hearing, as wanted to be there and also heard success rate for oral appeals is much better than on paper.
Received a letter back beginning of February with Appeal scheduled for early March.
Went to Glasgow. All in all, it took about 30 minutes.
A representative from HO was there, which I was told is unusual. She 'interrogated' me, but didn't have much ground to stand on so it was quite weak. She was very young though and made a couple of rookie mistakes so I wonder if she got sent to the hearing to get experience.
I was the only person there without representation, but I did feel that there was nothing more a lawyer could've done than I did myself so, guess, it's up to you... depending on how strong you believe, your case is?

So anyways, mere 2 weeks later I got a letter saying my appeal was approved and, unless HO decide to appeal that decision, they should be getting in touch to request my passport soon.
Well, judging by posts on this forum, 'soon' can be anything up to 4 months! I hope it doesnt take that long, starting to get claustrophobic and want to travel!

Hope this is any use to you and good luck with your case!

Thank you for your reply. It was helpful.
I just need to assess how strong my case is now.

In your case, if HO sent a representative, HO will not appeal the judge's decision, but you will have to chase HO to issue the visa.

Good Luck

sufikardame wrote:Thank you for your reply. It was helpful.
I just need to assess how strong my case is now.

In your case, if HO sent a representative, HO will not appeal the judge's decision, but you will have to chase HO to issue the visa.

Good Luck

Hmmm, it did say in their decision letter that both- I and HO -have an opportunity to challenge Tribunal's decision and we have 5 days to do so.... so... unfortunately it looks like they can?
I really hope they don't as, I've got a degree from one of the best Unis in UK and bank statements for the last year, showing excess of £800, never falling below that and the amount only growing.

I've got my fingers crossed and hope they hurry
I was told I'd have to wait for close to 2 months to get Tribunal's ruling and it took mere 2 weeks, so hoping it works the same with HO requesting my documents for stamping the visa.

I don't know if this helps anyone, but Oral Hearing is what I would advise. It gives you an opportunity to explain better.

Another thing is although I did not adopt any such tactic but you can emotionally soften the judge (who is perfectly neutral and thorough).

So Oral is definitely better.

sufikardame wrote:Another thing is although I did not adopt any such tactic but you can emotionally soften the judge (who is perfectly neutral and thorough).

So Oral is definitely better.

Definitely oral, however, I wouldn't overdo the 'softening' of the judge, don't get too soppy and look for excuses!
They'd probably appreciate your honesty more

I went and admitted that not translating bank statements was an error I made, but an error made in good faith, said that I didn't mean to mislead or trick anyone, nor abuse the system.
I think they'd respect that than some made-up sob stories...