need to establish dependency for 15 year old & late appeal

[VarelM]

Hi
My 15 year old daughter was refused entry clearance in Jamaica. Her stepmother is German. My 18 and 19 year old children were granted a family permit about 1 year ago under the same circumstances.
Grounds for refusal. You have not demonstrated that you are wholly dependant on your father or stepmother....I am not satisfied that you have demonstrated that you are related to the EEA national.

Documents submitted were birth cert and marriage cert, as with the other two children - what else would be needed to demonstrate that she is my daughter and my wife's stepdaughter? They are referring to stepmother in the decision.

And is it really necessary to demonstrate dependance for an under 21 year old? If I understand the following info right, it should not be and it was no problem for the other two.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... egulations
Important: If the applicant is the spouse or civil partner of the EEA national or a dependent child of either the EEA national or their spouse or civil partner is under 21 then they do not need to provide evidence of financial dependency and therefore this should not be requested from the applicant.

EUN2.9 How do I establish dependency under the EEA Regulations?

Direct family members must be wholly or mainly financially dependent on the EEA principal to meet his or her essential needs in order to qualify for an EEA family permit, (children under 21, spouses, civil partners do not need to provide any evidence to show dependency on the EEA national).

If there are grounds of appeal, how problematic is it that it will be slightly late? Decision dated 6 March, notified by email on ?? and decision & documents collected 1 week ago.

Thanks for any advice

[vinny]

You are correct. It should not be necessary to show dependency for a 15 year old family member.

How to appeal

You have 28 days to appeal after you get your decision. If you have to leave the country before you’re allowed to appeal, you have 28 days to appeal once you’ve left the country.

If you apply after the deadline, you must explain why - the tribunal will decide if it can still hear your appeal.

However, you may also reapply.

[VarelM]

Thanks for that, Vinny. I have now looked at the decision again with my wife. From what we can make out from the couple of sentences the decision consists of, they must have treated my daughter, (i.e myEEA spouse's stepdaughter) as an extended family member, as they are quoting regulation 8 EEA Regs. From what I understand, it should have been be reg 7(1)(b)(i)

This seems quite a fundamental error and looks to be either rather incompetent or deliberately spiteful, does this kind of thing happen a lot?
Or could it have something to do with this stupid online Visa4U form we had to use, which does not always give stepchild as an option in the drop down menu, so that we might have applied for the wrong category? But I would have thought the family relationship was clear enough from the supporting documents and letters.

And is it possible to appeal and submit a new application at the same time, or can you only do 1 of the 2?
New app seems quicker and cheaper, but could get it wrong again.

And I am not sure how they interpret 'the date you received this decision'-

- the date my family received the initial refusal email (unknown, they seem to have deleted the email),
- the date the decision was made (over 28 days ago),
- or the date it was actually collected (still within 28 days, but date not noted on the decision notice)

Thanks in advance for any help with this & Happy Easter

[vinny]

Unfortunately, some ECOs seem to be badly trained.

It's possible to make a fresh application while an appeal is outstanding.

Not sure when they would regard the date you received this decision. It may be easier just to reapply, stating the Regulation that they should have used.

You may have to show that you are the primary carer for your child.

[VarelM]

HI Vinny

Thanks for that, me and my wife will look at the links you have provided.

Not sure whether I am the primary carer for my daughter, she has not lived with me or her mother for a long time, and I was never married to her mother.She has never lived with my wife.

My daughter was brought up by my parents and my sisters in Jamaica since she was very young,they were basically acting on my behalf, but they were never appointed legal guardians or were given any other official authority to care for her.

Her birth mother provided a letter of consent for my daughter to come and live with her stepmother in the UK with the refused application.

Best wishes

[el patron]

You are named on the birth certificate as the child's father?

[VarelM]

Yes, I am named as father on the birth certificate.