URGENT HELP-Tier2 General Dep visa rejected

[rej123]

Hello Forum Members,

I had applied for an entry clearance to join my spouse in the UK for the duration of her PBS Tier2 visa which got rejected today.

Reason for rejection - "You have provided a notarised affidavit which is signed by you and your sponsor stating that you were married "under Hindu marriage" on 23/02/2008.However you have not provided an original marriage certificate attested by a proper govt authorities which would show that your marriage is legally registered."Given this,I am not satisfied that you are related as claimed and therefore I am not satisfied that you are the spouse of a person who has valid leave to remain in the UK as a PBS Tier2 Migrant.I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you meet all the requirements of the relevant paragraph of UK immigration rules"

I am entitled for a right to appeal against this decision. Surprisingly both me and my spouse have previously been granted Tier2 Dependant visas by providing just a notorised affidavit which got accepted but got rejected this time. Unfortunately we do not have a registered marriage certificate till date and our only proof of marriage is this notarised affidavit which i had furnished with my application along with original marriage photographs.

Our marriage took place around 4 years ago and we are now looking forward to obtain a marriage certificate asap.Can someone please advise what are the chances of winning an appeal in this situation?How much time would it take to get a decision on my appeal?

Also if i decide to appeal which option should i opt for an oral hearing or paper based.If possible,please also advise any good lawyers/ professional Representative in Mumbai who can help me prepare for the appeal as I have no clue how to go about it.Any help will be much appreciated.
Many Thanks.

PS - Mods/Gurus kindly direct me to related threads if a similar case has been discussed elsewhere on this forum.Thanks again.

[Lucapooka]

Just because a document was accepted last time does not validate it. It could have been an oversight or mistake to allow that document to pass. However, you do have history on your side and it's clearly not a sham marriage and judge may think this is sufficient. The basis of this case is what represents a legally recognised marriage in India and what official paperwork is issued to reflect that. You need to have that paperwork. If you get it you can use it at the appeal or for a new application.

[rej123]

Just because a document was accepted last time does not validate it. It could have been an oversight or mistake to allow that document to pass. However, you do have history on your side and it's clearly not a sham marriage and judge may think this is sufficient. The basis of this case is what represents a legally recognised marriage in India and what official paperwork is issued to reflect that. You need to have that paperwork. If you get it you can use it at the appeal or for a new application.

Thanks for your prompt response.I would really appreciate if you could kindly advise on the following points as well-

1.Once I obtain a registered marriage certificate what are the chances of winning an appeal in this situation and how much time would it take to get a decision on my appeal?

2.Shall I go for an oral hearing or paper? As oral hearing takes place in UK and i can't be physically present for the hearing, can my spouse attend my hearing to give evidence?

3.Can you suggest ant professional representatives who can help me with my appeal?

Thanks again.

[rej123]

Can someone please advise me on the above points?

If I obtain a registered marriage certificate now and submit along with the appeal form will that be considered as a valid evidence to win an appeal or they might reject again considering that we have registered our marriage after the refusal decision was made?

Please advise.

[Lucapooka]

Dear Forum Members,

I am very confused after reading this. As per APL7.5 Post decision evidence

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... es/part12/


APL7.5 Post decision evidence
The relevant date in entry clearance cases is the date of refusal. This is established from case law and s. 85(5) of NIAA 2002. Any material change in circumstance or evidence not reasonably foreseeable after the date of refusal should not be taken into account. In practice this means when conducting the review the ECM should only look at circumstances leading up to and including the date of refusal. An ECM or Immigration Judge is entitled to look at circumstances / evidence after the date of decision only if they relate to circumstances before or at the time of decision.

There is a distinction to be made between new evidence and additional evidence.

New evidence:

New evidence which postdates the decision cannot be considered by the ECM. This evidence should be acknowledged in the Review and the ECM should indicate that this should be used to support a fresh application.

Examples of new evidence

These are common examples and are not an exhaustive list.

Unexpected increase in funds postdating the decision.
Sponsor obtains new employment that was not engaged in / expected at the date of decision.
An offer of accommodation which was not available at date of decision.
A new sponsor appears in the grounds of appeal. This is not reasonably foreseeable.
Additional evidence:

If evidence relating to the initial application is submitted with the appeal this should be taken into account by the ECM. The most common instances of additional evidence will be documents that the appellant omitted to include with the application.

Examples of additional evidence

These are common examples and are not an exhaustive list.

A bank statement issued after the date of decision that shows a satisfactory balance on or leading up to the date of decision.
Satisfactory evidence of accommodation submitted by the sponsor relevant to the decision.
Evidence of employment at the date of decision which was omitted from the original application.
A birth certificate evidencing the relationship of parties which was not produced at the time of decision.


My Tier2 Gen Dependant visa got rejected from India with the following reason - ""You have provided a notarised affidavit which is signed by you and your sponsor stating that you were married "under Hindu marriage" on 23/02/2008.However you have not provided an original marriage certificate attested by a proper govt authorities which would show that your marriage is legally registered."Given this,I am not satisfied that you are related as claimed and therefore I am not satisfied that you are the spouse of a person who has valid leave to remain in the UK as a PBS Tier2 Migrant.I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you meet all the requirements of the relevant paragraph of UK immigration rules"


If I obtain a new registered marriage certificate and send it as a supporting document with my appeal form,will that be considered as a new evidence or as an additional evidence.I may opt for a fresh application if this is going to be considered as a new evidence and wont go through an appeal route.What are my options??
Please suggest. Thanks.

Thanks.

[Lucapooka]

If I obtain a new registered marriage certificate and send it as a supporting document with my appeal form,will that be considered as a new evidence or as an additional evidence..

New evidence if it's the start of your officially recognised marriage. Additional evidence if it merely confirms that you have been officially and legally recognised as married all along. So only you can know what are the facts of the matter.

[rej123]

If I obtain a new registered marriage certificate and send it as a supporting document with my appeal form,will that be considered as a new evidence or as an additional evidence..

New evidence if it's the start of your officially recognised marriage. Additional evidence if it merely confirms that you have been officially and legally recognised as married all along. So only you can know what are the facts of the matter.

Thanks for your response Lucapooka.
Our marriage took place 4 years ago but we never got a chance to register our marriage and get a marriage certificate.Instead we obtained a notorized marriage affidavit from Bombay court which is a legal document in its own right but isn't strong as an evidence as a marriage certificate is.However this affidavit got accepted twice by UKBA as a valid marriage evidence during my wife's Tier2 ICT dependant visa in 2008 as well as for my Tier2 ICT dependant visa in 2010.Thus we never felt a need to get a marriage certificate done as affidavit was solving the purpose.

Now since we are planning to register our marriage in the next week and this would have the actual date of marriage on it.
Considering this fact If I go for an appeal and provide this marriage certificate (registered 4 yrs after marriage date and marriage registration date postdates date of decion) as a supporing document would it be considered as a new or an additional evidence?In addtion to this I am also going to provide other supporting documents such as wedding cd, wedding pictures,invitation cards etc.Please advise.Thanks.

[Lucapooka]

If the new marriage cert. confirms the old date of the marriage and that it has always been official throughout that period until now, then I can't this being a problem for the appeal. This is additional evidence confirming a marriage that previously existed. New evidence would be a certificate for a recent marriage that did not previously exist (in an official sense) before the application.

[rej123]

If the new marriage cert. confirms the old date of the marriage and that it has always been official throughout that period until now, then I can't this being a problem for the appeal. This is additional evidence confirming a marriage that previously existed. New evidence would be a certificate for a recent marriage that did not previously exist (in an official sense) before the application.

Thanks a lot Lucapooka, really appreciate your response.

[rej123]

Hi All,

My T2 dependent application got refused as I failed to provide marriage certificate as a legal marriage evidence.I have decided to go for an appeal at the same time file a fresh Tier2 Dependent application as well just to keep both options open.I have a few queries regarding this-

1.Is it okay to provide copies of supporting documents(e.g marriage certificate etc) along with IAFT2 appeal form as I am going to provide original documents with the new visa application?

2.What happens to my T2 Dependent application if the ECM decides to overturn the decision?Alternatively what happens to my appeal if I get my visa granted before I hear anything back on my appeal?Do I need to withdraw my appeal in such a situation?

3. I have started filling the online visa application form and came across a question 63 under immigration history -Did your appeal the decision? The fact is that I have not yet appealed the decision but I am going to appeal in the next week but by then I would have already submitted my online application form so really confused what to select here ..please advise..

Sorry for so many queries..hoping to get quick responses
Many Thanks.

[rej123]

Can someone please respond to the above queries? Its really urgent.
Many Thanks.

[rej123]

Dear Forum Members,

After a lonnng lonnng wait, my Dependant visa has finally been granted. ..a very happy Man today.

Although I had appealed against my previous refusal, but also chose to resubmit a fresh application to save time,my visa was granted under the new application whilst the appeal is still under process so would be withdrawing the appeal.

I just want to thank all Senior members,Mods and Gurus on this forum as they have been great,patient and prompt in replying all my queries no matter how silly the questions were .It has been a great knowledge base for me all this while.

Cheers!