Husbands ILR rejected - Has to submit Appeal a.s.a.p!! help

[beatrice]

Dear all

My husband is Jamaican and arrived in UK 1996. He overstayed on a visitor visa. We married in 2002, I am british. He submitted his application in 2005 and has only received a decision from home office this week. They have rejected his application base upon the fact that they can not prove he has been here since 1996 (original passport lost), also that he does not qualify for the marriage, as they can only prove he has been here since 2004 ( based upon proof of address etc) Which seem really ridiculous.

He has 3 children in the uk ranging from 9-2 and they have not taken into account his personal ties to the Uk

Basically they have given him a date to put in his appeal and also advised him that he could leave voluntarily and apply for the visa through the marriage.

However is it true that the law has changed and that if you apply from abroad you have to wait a year?

Please can someone advise me if it worth pursuing it through the appeal or whether his chances are better applying for the Visa from his home country.


HELP!!!

[Wanderer]

The way I read it is if he leaves voluntarily before 1st Oct 2008 his overstay won't count against any future apps.

However if I was you I'd have to think about Kingston's 66% rejection rate and whether or not the HO will turn around on 2nd Oct and still deny people based on overstay having sucessfully got rid of them.

Rock and a hard place...