settlement visa

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 4:36 pm

got problems. my partner applied to souse visa to join me here in uk. interviewed 3 weeks ago, at the end of the interview embassy said they need to check the applicant's old immigration record with the homeoffice in the UK because the applicant claimed assylum 5yrs ago in uk then returned to the original country voluntarily. yes!!! it is understandable that they need to check those things. buy why this long??? 3 weeks gone already??? I keep phoning embassy all they say is they are waiting to hear from HO. I phoned HO to see what's happenning and how longit might take....but they said contct embassy.
anyone got any broght ideas what I can do to speed up the process or who can I ask to know how long it's going to take?
can I ask my local MP to help? or is it too early to involve the MP??
please help

Post by **John** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:09 pm

I can understand why you are concerned but I nevertheless think it is still too early to contact your MP. I think what I would suggest is waiting until Parliament is sitting again, 10th October, and then contacting to your MP. Or maybe make contact slightly before that in October.

But hopefully matters will be resolved well before then.

Holidays may well have delayed matters. Even IND staff are allowed an annual holiday. Hopefully matters will soon start to get back to normal.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:21 am

Thanks John. I know it's early to approach the MP. just thinking about the options. Would MP help? It's a foreign matter as the application was submit in a foreign country and the applicant is in foreign contry even though I'm a british national in UK. is MP still allowed to approach them behalf of my partner's application? what can MP do?
Is it not good idea to phone embassy every week? would it slow down the process or ECO get annoyed and refuse the application? does it ever happen before to anyone?

ilm · Post by **ilm** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:53 pm

hmm,

I contacted my MP immediately when I had a problem with sponsoring a visitor. They can ask for info and may get further than you (They certainly did in my case). Even if they can't at the moment at least you will feel that you are trying everything and they will know a bit about the case if you need more of their help.

I would certainly contact mine if I were in your position.

Please let us know any outcome. I would be very interested to hear what the cause of the delay is, if you ever get an answer.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 4:29 pm

after how long you contacted the MP? how/what canI ask from MP? I imagine I'd hve to write to hm , what can I say in the letter? how did you contact your MP, through council?

Kayalami · Post by **Kayalami** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:55 am

There is a misconception that involving an MP will automatically get the Home Office to grant an application or reconsider a refusal. This is not the case at all specifically where the issue is over a point of law e.g. you have been refused because you fail a rule and the HO have considered but not decided to exercise discretion for good cause.

However an MP can help expedite consideration of a case by inherently raising its profile in the HO. Most MP's now have a member of their staff with extensive knowledge of the immigration system that reviews the application to date and considers its merits before an MP taking the case on. After all it is improper (and risky) for an MP to influence the outcome of an application by virtue of his/her position - a senior cabinet minister resigned over the same.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:12 am

understand that and i don't expect MP to back up my case. I just need to know the result. so I thought if I contact MP then MP will contact HO then HO will send the info required by the embassy. what is happening now is embassy required info from HO to cross check the old immigration record and Ho haven't reply to them yet. embassy send a reminder to HO last week. still no reply. some one had to push HO so they'll act quicker.

ilm · Post by **ilm** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:24 am

Yes, totally agree. I wouldn't suggest they can influence a decision, but there is no doubt they can get more information than we can, if for no other reason than they know who to contact and have the means to do so. In doing so this could bring the case to the attention of someone and speed up the decision.

When I contacted them they were able to find out what the problem was but then it was up to me to sort it out.

A sponsor asking an MP why there is a delay seems to me a perfectly reasonable request and I am sure they will endeavour to find out.

The worst that could happen is that they can't help but as they cannot affect the final decision either way it will not make the situation any worse.

Kayalami · Post by **Kayalami** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:30 am

Perhaps my post has created a misunderstanding. I am the first to say the help of an MP is invaluable because anything they may do for the HO to hear you out/ review your application is useful to you i.e. there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. However there is a misconception amongst many applicants that invlolving your MP means an automatic grant of a visa - they cannot influence a poor application (to cover a wide remit including those with no supporting documentation, clearly outside the rules, fraudelent documents etc) or get the HO to exercise any favours purely by their involvement. It is best to approach the MP after you have considered all other avenues open to you including those on the statute such as appeals etc. I trust that this clarifies my earlier comments.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:04 pm

thanks for your advices. I am going to see an adviser in 'citizen advice bureaux' next week to see whether I can get any help from my local MP. that's how I could get hold of MP's help. isn't it?
wish me luck

ilm · Post by **ilm** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 2:34 pm

I don't think citizens advice will be able to help much. My experience with them is they may have someone who knows about immigration law and can give help and advice about making an application but this will be no better than the advice you get from here.

I actually got bad advice from them and only found out what the real options were from this board. (My local CA no longer gives immigraton advice as they have had their budget cut by the government)

It would appear to me your question now is how long is a decision going to take. Your application has been made and will based on the evidence you provided irrespective of who you involve. You can write direct to you MP though and ask them if they can find out what is going on, tell them what you wrote in your first post. Find their address on google - 'local MP your town'

We are in a similar position except we have not made the application yet. Going to go and do it in a few weeks and are really hoping it doesn't take too long. We will just have a long holiday if it does and if the unthinkable happens! .......??? (Thanks to others who have posted on a similar subject for their invaluable advice and experiences, we are now pretty confident we can provide all the evidence required.)

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:28 pm

looks like if I have to contact MP my self then I'll have to write to 'house of commons, westminister'. that seems very serious or something. so I decided to go through CAB hoping they might talk to MP behalf of my self. sometimes what they do is they try and contact Homeoffice by them self if that don't work they'd contact their MP. But I understand what you are saying it's all depends on the adviser I get to see on the day. They can simply give me some advice which I already know or not useful to me. let's try that first then move to the next step.
good luck with your application, hope you don't have to wait for long

Post by **John** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:47 pm

My opinion as posted on 19th August was that you should wait until October before contacting your MP. I have not changed my opinion since then.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:18 am

thanks john. you still have not explained why wait until parliment sitting again? what difference does it make?
I spoke to embassy about 4 times so far with 4 different staffs they all gave different answer. for example one said they send the enquiry to homeoffice on 26th july and HO could take up to 3 months to answer. other said this morning that they send the enquiry to HO on 5th of August and HO will answer within 25days and as they haven't heard from HO they are going to send a reminder today. one promised last week that he was going to send a reminder that day but I found out today that he never did anything.
Don't know what to believe anymore. I am going to write a complaint to the embassy once we got the visa. this is got to change!!!

Post by **John** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:56 am

Hmm, I think bringing in the "heavy guns" too early serves no useful purpose. Of course you want an early result but you also need to give people a chance to do their job.

Also MPs and their staff are entitled to a holiday, as are those working for the Home Office and IND.

So I still think ... be patient ... and wait until October before involving your MP. But hopefully you will not need to.

Kayalami · Post by **Kayalami** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:36 pm

hmm,

As per comments by John appreciate your frustration but consider the following to be construed as operational Home Office policy.

Kayalami wrote:Diplomatic Service Procedures - Processing period of referrals by London

The time required by London to consider an application varies according to circumstances and cannot be accurately forecast. It is therefore not possible to give an estimate of the time required to process the application even if pressed to do so. If pressed by an applicant to know the outcome of an application you may confirm that it has been referred to London for a decision. You should tell the applicant that no useful purpose can be served by making direct representations to the Home Office, FCO or any other Government official on the matter. It may even slow the process up. If an inordinate period of time has passed since the referral, you should chase up the application yourself.

If you think that the applicant may try to enter the UK while the application is still under consideration, you should warn him/her that leave to enter is likely to be refuse

Reliable sources in the immigration field confirm that a wait of up to 6 months for a referal is not unusual. Likewise extensive case law shows that historic arguements against lengthy processing delays by the Home Office have been dismissed consistently by the judicial system (over an above internal HO reviews) unless the case is comprehensively straightforward - yours is not. IMHO there are factors in relation to your spouse's asylum case that require appropriate review.

You can only be patient and hopefully receive some good news shortly.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:53 am

Thanks for the informations. that's the 'proceesing period for referral application' but ours is DEFERRAL. In general referral applications take longer than deferrals.
I guess we are very impatients!!!. there was a guy we know who was in a similar situation applied to spouse visa from the same embassy in april after volutarily return from UK. was rejected on the ground of 'intension to live together and/or married for other convinience' but went court and visa granted in the end. visa was issued within 3 months of application submit date(including the apeal processing time). so we thought it'd take only few weeks for us.
I guess we just have to sit and wait.

Kayalami · Post by **Kayalami** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:19 am

hmm wrote:Thanks for the informations. that's the 'proceesing period for referral application' but ours is DEFERRAL

Bit of a tongue twister this. The grant of a spouse visa has been deferred (hence the deferral notice) pending the ECO receiving final approval from London. This sending of a telegram by the ECO to gain said approval = referral so the two are interdependent and thus my prior post holds. I hope that clarifies.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:27 pm

Referred cases are when an ECO asks the Home Office to
make a decision on an application because they have no power within
the Rules to decide the case themselves.
Deferred cases are when an ECO
makes a decision, but requires further information. The ECO contacts
the Evidence and Enquiry Unit for the relevant file before making a
decision.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:19 am

over 3 months now. spoke to my MP's assistant today, she asked me to wait another month or two. then it'll be christmas, holiday time again. Embassy doesn't seems to be doing anything simply saying we'll havee to wait until HO reply to them.
Don't really know what to do, very frustrating.

hmm · Post by **hmm** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:16 am

Thanks everyone for your great expertise advises. at last HO replied to high commision and High Commision issued a visa to my partner. getting MP involved made things speeded up.
what sort of ticket we should book? a SINGLE (because it leads to settlement) flight or RETURN(because visa has got an expire date) flight? the visa is issued for 2yrs. is it how settelment visa normally issue. I thought the two year stay is stamped at the airport in London.
Finally, is there anything we should keep in mind when travelling or at airports.

Chess · Post by **Chess** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:28 am

hmm wrote:Thanks everyone for your great expertise advises. at last HO replied to high commision and High Commision issued a visa to my partner. getting MP involved made things speeded up.
what sort of ticket we should book? a SINGLE (because it leads to settlement) flight or RETURN(because visa has got an expire date) flight? the visa is issued for 2yrs. is it how settelment visa normally issue. I thought the two year stay is stamped at the airport in London.
Finally, is there anything we should keep in mind when travelling or at airports.

Congratulations. Fantastic news!!!

One way ticket is OK

Post by **John** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:43 am

Hmm, congratulations! Glad it all worked out in the end.

rmberg1 · Post by **rmberg1** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:21 pm

hello hmm,
Many congratulations!!! Suumarising uor private correspondence,
1) Return ticket is not needed
2) LEt your partner be ready to silly questions at the immigration control, see my post

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=5587

Answering all questions correctly will help to avoid troubles. In the case of any questions, let him not tell too much, only what is necessary. Anyway, to obtain LTR, your partner needs to show he satisfies immigration requirements, nothing else.
3) Start to collect documents which prove that you live together. You will need them in 2 years when applying for ILR. Have a look at the SET(M) form at the HO website to familiarise yourself with the documents required.
4)Good luck in your family life!

Marie B · Post by **Marie B** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:11 pm

Congratulations hmm, wait has finally paid off.

Single ticket is fine - don't think you can book a return for that far in advance anyway.

Settlement visa is issued for two years - this is normal. Airport stamp arrival date only. ILR can be applied for a maximum of one month before visa expiry / 23 months after arrival in UK.

Airport immigration at Heathrow T2 asked my husband to fill in a form with details of his address in UK and usual job title. He was then given an NHS form which he took into the airport clinic (immigrants on a stay longer than 6 months have to register here apparently). That was it. Wasn't asked any other questions. Walked straight through - although I did travel with him and passed through the 'British / EU' channel I waited for him and he was allowed to call me over as he couldn't remember our full address (men!).

As rmberg suggested really good idea to try to start collecting documents asap, first three months very important to try to get at least one document in his name sent to your address. NHS Card counts, just have to register with doctor and they send a card in about 3-4 weeks. If you can manage to get a utility bill put in joint names / his name, this will help to get a bank account for which you must have a proof of address - only accept utility bill, driving licence, bank statement, letter from authority such as Inland Revenue.

Good Luck!!

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