Should I hire a Solicitor?

[Greenfingers]

Hi,

I have recently had a spouse application rejected on the basis my earning did not meet the financial requirement. Below is a brief explanation of what happened.

I married in 2007 and stayed in Pakistan with my wife until 2011 when we decided to live in the UK and i moved back in July 2011 and started working in August 2011. My wage is £14k basic with on target earnings of £20k. I have never missed a target and have earned at least £500 commission per month.

With one thing and another we finally put our application through in August 2012. I sent 6 payslips Feb-July (i earned £500+ commission in all of these months)

The rejection was based on:

1. No evidence was shown with regards to the commission - Although this was clearly highlighted on the payslips and letter from my employer.

2. Commission was not guaranteed - although it is not guaranteed i was advised at the time that because i had shown evidence that i have hit target for 6 months and a letter from my manager stating i had hit target would be enough.

Surely the job market is such that no job is guaranteed let alone commission?

Anyway the application was rejected on the 16th October 2012. My wife, bless her, was distraught and was incorrectly advised to put through an appeal straight away! She has submitted papers for a Oral hearing via an Agent in Pakistan. Do I have a strong case for appeal? Should i defend it myself or get a solicitor involved?


My Pay:
My target is 22 contracts per month for which i get paid £500 comm. Minimum target is 18 contracts with £350 commission - this increases in £50 increments for every additional 2 contracts. I have not missed a target yet.


I visited my Wife in November 2012 during which she has become pregnant should i mention this at the hearing? and if so what evidence would i need to prove this? Currently no date has been set.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any help you can provide.


Fraz

[Casa]

In my opinion, you should seek legal advice, at least for an initial consultation to determine the strength of the application and appeal.

[Immi121]

My wife is also appealing her spouse visa application rejection. Initially, we had agree that I (the sponsor) would do the oral representation. However, we decided against this and instead opted to use a solicitor.

It is expensive to hire a solicitor but at the end of day you are paying for specialist knowledge. The grounds of appeal that I had initially prepared with the help of our agent in Pakistan was improved by our solicitor. An agent in Pakistan has some knowledge, however when it comes to arguing fine points and using case law they are out of their depth.

As your appeal has already been submitted, I am assuming that you have been nominated as the representative. From what I understand, you can change representative i.e., use a solicitor. It might be worth getting an initial consultation on your specific case and then taking it from there.

[batleykhan]

If you have hired an agent in Pakistan to lodge your appeal, then God help you.

Why o why do people use agents in Pakistan to do such things. Do people not realized that at time of the hearing in the UK, the agent in Pakistan is not going to be holding your hand at the appeal hearing.

I know of a lot of solicitors in UK who will not not touch anything that has been done in Pakistan, especially the reasons given in the appeal form.

At least if the UK solicitor fills the appeal form, he is able to defend what he says at the hearing unlike the Pakistani agent.

If you can find a solicitor who is willing to defend what the Pakistani agent has written in the appeal help, i wish you good luck