uk spouse visa

[wenner]

My husband's dependency visa was refused twice.He lived here illegally before he left voluntarily on own expense, two years ago.I am a tier 2 migrant, hoping to apply for Indefinite leave to remain in Sept.What are the chances that he will be granted a spouse visa if his dependency visa was refused twice last year?We have a baby daughter, born in the UK.I really don't want to apply if it is going to be refused again, because of his previous immigration history.Would it help if I leave the UK after I have ILR, and go and live somewhere with him for a year, before returning to the UK, so that they can see that we have lived together?We have lots of evidence at the moment to proof our marriage is subsisting, but we have submitted these with his previous applications, and his visa was still refused.I really don't know what to do.Please give some advice, anyone.

[Lucapooka]

It's not clear if he is still subject to a ban but one might assume that he might be. If you wait until you have ILR, any ban will be waived because his application will be in a settlement category that is not subject to such measures. However, there are discretionary refusals that can override the ban waiver. These depend on the circumstances relating to any other activity in the UK that can be deemed to have frustrated the immigration rules.

[wenner]

thanks for the reply.he left voluntarily, on own expense , exactly 2 years ago.He was never caught, asked to leave the country or deported.

[Lucapooka]

Any ban would be limited to 12 months so what were the reasons for the subsequent refusals.

[wenner]

Although we have submitted emails, phone bills,photograps, wedding certificate, letters from friends, parents, the ECO wasn't satisfied that we are in a subsisting relationship because I never visited my husband while pregnant.When we applied the second time, my baby was about 1 month old.They asked my husband why I didn't come and show him the baby.I didn't explain that my baby was admitted to the Special Baby care centre after birth, and that it was just impossible to go and visit him.Because the 12 month ban was lifted, we had a baby and submitted all the above mentioned evidence, I didn't think it was necessary for me to explain why I didn't go and see my husband.I really thought they were going to grant him the visa.I suppose they refused it because I do not have indefinite leave to remain yet, so I have no right to family life at the moment.
In the refusal letter, they didn't even mention that the ban was lifted.Let me also say to you, my husband is Albanian.He applied at the British Embassy in Tirana.This is why I am so reluctant to apply for his spouse visa, and think it might be best if we go and live somewhere else for a year, and then return.But, on the other hand, I have a permanent job,I will earn 30K if i do get ILR from Sept,and I don't know if I really want to start all over again, after 7 years in this country, and working very hard to come where I am today.This is a difficult decision for me, very difficult.I also don't wanna go back home.I am a South African citizen.We got married in South Africa.

[carlyann]

Hi

There's recent case law which has further clarified this area. Basically judges/ECO's should not impose their own expectations on what a married couple should and shouldnt do.

Here's the link
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/02/ ... marriages/

This is not to say that ECO's don't impose their own expectations on how married partners should live their lives - as you have experienced however you can present you application in such a way that it would make it extremely difficult for the ECO to refuse on this ground

If the ban has been lifted - is this your only concern with your case? If so I definetly wouldn't let this put you off from applying.

[specofsunlight]

Hi Wenner ,

Wenner I totally empathise with your predicament and I have the opposite problem that I may have visited my husband too many times whilst his visa application was beimng processed (5 times during the 6 month procedure. In the notice of refusal we were told that the Embassy recognise our relationship in full but see no reason why (and I quote) we cannot move to Albania and enjoy family life there or alternatively I continue to visit him there. They have totally ignored the fact that I have 2 childron in secondary school and that none of us can speak Albanian, plus it's cost me most of my savings to visit my husband on a regular basis. It seems you just can't win...if you don't visit they imply that it's not a relationship and if you do visit frequently then that goes against us too.

I now have support letters from my ex-husband submitted to the ECM and citing why he does not want his children to move to Albania (he has an excellent relationship with them and always sees them on a weekly basis) plus letter from a teacher and the children themselves however whether this will have any positive affect on a different decision I have no idea.
The worst thing is the time delay as a result of the new tier system of payment in the UK it's a nightmare and looks as if ot will delay all appeals/ECM reviews for months. Has anyone else experienced this delay? The new payment system was introduced in December 2011.

[carlyann]

Did they give any other reason for the refusal? I thought that they could not refuse on this ground alone and they quote the fact that they beleive you can live in the other country at the end of the refusal to justify why they believe that the refusal will not breach article 8 - right of family life

[specofsunlight]

Hi CarlyAnne,

No the only reason for the refusal was that he had entered the country illegally and seen a doctor on the NHS )he had some pescriptions for a stomach problem). That's what is so shocking about the refusal and why I don't feel we have any hope at the ECM Review stage because everything was in place my husband even had two job offers from Britich companies which we submitted with our documents and even that didn't make any difference.

[specofsunlight]

Sorry Carlyann, I spelt your name wrong....rushing and under extreme stress;hence the spelling mistakes in my last post!.
My husband was never stopped by the police and does not have a criminal record and we had every document and more that was listed as being a requirement for his sponsorship. I think the embassy in Tirana were scraping the barrel and came up with the illegal entry/NHS reason as a result. Subsequently, we have a friend who entered illegally in the UK and they have refused him on the basis that his wife does not have sufficient funds but have chosen to ignore totally that he entered the country ilegally :cry:

[carlyann]

Are you planning to appeal? I imagine the NHS issue should be easy to resolve as visitors are permitted to use the NHS but should pay for treatment. However under the new rules that have been introduced to cover NHS debts the UKBA can only refuse if the NHS debt is more than £1000 and from what you say you I can't imagine that you fall into that catagory.

Sorry I have no knowledge of the rules relating to entering the country ilegally -hopefully another member will be able to assist you.

[specofsunlight]

Hi Carlyann,

Thanks for the information, I wasn't aware about the NHS facility of £1000 for visitors and so I will mention this to my lawyer as you are right, I would find it hard to imagine that he has exceeded that cost.
We submitted our appeal here in the UK on 05 April and we believed that it was in the process of ECM Review, however we have had yet more devastating news as we discovered last week that this process and the Receipt of Payment which is required to be issued by the embassy in Tirana once they receive the appeal documents from the UK has not even started yet dues to "teething problems" with a new payment system in the Ministry of Justice Tribunal system. We have been told that they do not know when they will be forwarding the documents to Tirana because of the delay and this in turn is delaying all procedures so that whereby we were told to anticipate a court hearing date by October and possibly court hearing in December we may have to wait until as long as next June for the court hearing as a result. I will have been apart from my husband for 2 years if this is the case and I feel incredibly angry at the apparent injustice of this. I have yet to establish whether the ECM Review will take into account the added delay as aresult of a new system (6 weeks so far) and for all we know it could be weeks before the Receipt of Payement is issued. It's terrifying that there seems to be nothing that we can do about this. Totally third world. :cry:

[carlyann]

Glad I could help. Here are the links to the UKBA guidance on this and the actual immigtation rule see rule 22

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... s-debtors/

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... les/part9/

You can contact the doctor/hospital on his behalf and ask exactly what charges are outstanding (I did and found out it was £237 for a consultation with a surgeon and xrays on his broken hand), so I can't imagine that yours will be as much as that!. The other costs for plastering his arm were classified as emergency for which there is no charge to over seas visitors.

[specofsunlight]

Thanks Calyann and I will certainly contact the doctor as that sounds like it might help his appeal.

You have been incredibly helpful and I wish you the best of luck in the future.

[Greenie]

specofsunlight what does the refusal letter actually say as to why the application was refused - can you type out that part of the letter here - including the relevent paragraphs of the immigration rules referred to?

[carlyann]

Thanks - we haven't applied yet. Getting married on 28 July.

Sorry I should have said rule 320(22)