Spouse visa refused!

[Jon1807]

This is my first post, so sorry for getting straight into gritty details!

My wife's application for a spouse visa - FLR(M) - has resulted in a refusal, with no right to appeal.

A little background... We got married on 19.06.2012, and the visa application was received by UKBA on 01.10.2012.

She was previously exempt from immigration rules as the daughter of a diplomat, and had a diplomatic visa in her passport which expired on 20.10.2012. Our application was completed on time, or so we thought...

The reason given for refusal is that upon becoming married, she was no longer her father's dependant, and so her visa had become void. She then had 90 days from the date or our marriage to submit a spouse visa application. Our application was actually dispatched on 28.09.2012... So 11 days after the supposed deadline of 17.09.2012.

I am quite shocked about this situation... Firstly, there is little to no information available on the matter as far as I can tell. Her previous visa clearly stated an expiry date... Can that really be revoked without informing the holder?

Secondly, shouldn't there be a 28 day grace period whereby overstaying can be overlooked? It seems that this was not applied in our case - in what was a genuine mistake regarding an immigration rule that I can't even find any information on!

[vinny]

See also Chapter 14 - Persons exempt from control > Annex C.

8A.

[vinny]

E-LTRP.2.1 fails too?

[Jon1807]

Thank you for the quick response, and thank you for the insight!

In regards to the 90 days leave, would the normal grace period of 28 additional days not also apply to that? Especially considering that my wife did not purposefully overstay?

E-LTRP.2.1 is an interesting one... I assume there is an exeption made to the 6 month rule in cases such as this, as the refusal letter indicated specifically that we had until 17.09.2012 to apply for a new visa. I also called UKBA prior to submitting the FLR(M) form, giving the full details of our case, as I was unsure if it was the right one for us to use... I was assured that it was.

[vinny]

FLR(M) is normally the correct form for switching to spouse status. However, as her leave was deemed to be less than 6 months, it seems that she would not have been eligible anyway, unless they can exercise discretion or use some other rules.