Family Visitor Query,is it so one-sided?Could anyone advise

[mcovet]

I have described the situation elsewhere- mother and son from Moscow.

There are two family members (both British, naturalised) living in the UK who they wished to visit:
1) The mother's daughter;
2) The boy's father and the mother's former husband.

Now, it's a bit complicated because the father of the boy is a political asylum seeker who is now a naturalised BC. He will never ever return to Russia as he will be unjustly sent to prison. So, they usually met in France on holidays, while the father's BC application was being considered.

Anyway, the mother and the boy had the tickets booked for 29 Oct- 6 Nov.

There is still no reply from the embassy and the answer was officially due tomorrow.

If the visa is refused, what are the grounds? I read somewhere on the forum, in a link posted by vinny that they could get the full rights of appeal. What does that mean?

The mother is working full-time, the boy goes to a prestigious school, they showed loads of ties! They also have 4-5 Schengen visas in the past 2-3 years issued, proving their credibility. What could the ECO find that will prevent them entering the country?

The saddest thing is that the tickets are non-refundable and there was no way not to have bought them, as there were only 2 left over a month ago, so no choice really. Also, would be bad to have a refusal as the mother usually spends summers in Europe and always gets Schengen visas hassle-free. So, in the future wouldn't want to show the passport with a refusal stamped in.

To cut the story short, can the ECO just blindly find and pick on something and refuse the visa. Is there any way to fight it? The fact that if the boy gets a visa refused he will not be able to see the father! The father cannot go back to Russia as I already explained, being a political asylum seeker, so the only place they can meet is the UK (I don't consider the meetings in Europe as a solution!).

Thus, does Art.8 of ECHR come into play at all, or is the ECO's decision a one-sided sad fact to put up with? They don't intend to overstay or anyth. just visit those 2 family members.

Hope you can help, as the decision is officially due on 29Oct, the day they were meant to fly at 11am! So, unlike Schengen countries, the UK didn't process the application at least 1 day faster to allow time to travel, which also could be a bad sign...

What should they do if the outcome is the refusal?

P.S. Sorry for the confusing construction of the post

Found this, re: Appeals http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... f19appeals

[MPH80]

Hi ...

There is still no reply from the embassy and the answer was officially due tomorrow.

How do you know they will respond tomorrow? I've never had an application when they've told me they *will* respond by day x. It's just been waiting until they come back to us. Sometimes that's been 24 hours, sometimes 6-8 weeks and people often wait longer.

If the visa is refused, what are the grounds? I read somewhere on the forum, in a link posted by vinny that they could get the full rights of appeal.

What the grounds are will generally be either becuase they don't believe they are visitors or there's been deception in the past. However, based on what you've said they should be ok on that.

The full rights of appeal mean that you can appeal that judgement - which most visitors don't get the right to. However, that appeal process can take months - not hours - so expecting to appeal tomorrow if the decision comes out against them and get the visa is out of this world if that's what you're thinking.

Calm down for now - come back when/if the visa is refused and give us the *exact* reasons from the letter and we can work out the best course of action.

M.

[mcovet]

thx, will let u know

Hi ...

There is still no reply from the embassy and the answer was officially due tomorrow.

How do you know they will respond tomorrow? I've never had an application when they've told me they *will* respond by day x. It's just been waiting until they come back to us. Sometimes that's been 24 hours, sometimes 6-8 weeks and people often wait longer.

If the visa is refused, what are the grounds? I read somewhere on the forum, in a link posted by vinny that they could get the full rights of appeal.

What the grounds are will generally be either becuase they don't believe they are visitors or there's been deception in the past. However, based on what you've said they should be ok on that.

The full rights of appeal mean that you can appeal that judgement - which most visitors don't get the right to. However, that appeal process can take months - not hours - so expecting to appeal tomorrow if the decision comes out against them and get the visa is out of this world if that's what you're thinking.

Calm down for now - come back when/if the visa is refused and give us the *exact* reasons from the letter and we can work out the best course of action.

M.