This is me and my hubbie Mani, I put it because on paper the age gap sounds weird, but really we are a normal couple. My name is Clare, I am a 47 year old British Citizen and my husband is a 27 year old Indian citizen. We married in June 2015 and applied for a spouse visa for him to come to live with me in the UK. We used a UK based immigration advisor to assist with the spouse visa application. I was earning well over the required amount, owned my own house in UK and we provided all documents and yet were still refused due to spurious reasons that they did not believe our relationship was genuine. We actually provided mountains of evidence, online chats,marriage certificate officially stamped etc etc. But during a telephone interview with mani the eco asked him which part of the country i lived in North, south east or west and he did not know the geography so apparently that means our relationship is not genuine. Also we had previously applied for a visitor visa and in that I had put we initially met in 2005, it was a typo, it should have been 2007 which I corrected in the spuse visa application, but that was also something they mentioned as demonstrating our relationship was not genuine. Obviously the advisors we paid £1000 to to handle the case should have spotted that inconsistency and explained it, but they were useless.
So after it was refused, the same advisors said we can appeal. Charged us £1140 in total to handle the appeal and submitted a one page of bullet points mentioning the above. That was december 2015 and we just received a hearing date that is april 2017. The immigaton advisors are now demanding another £1500 to submit a bundle of documents and come with us to the appeal, that was not originally agreed. So we have reported them to OISC and are claiming a full refund, as they are simply blackmailing us, knowing we are desperate.
I do not know what to do now. The appeal date is coming up, our advisors have let us down and I am feeling we have very little chance of winning the appeal anyway. In december2015 when we found it was refused, I packed my bags and came to live with him in India where I have been with him ever since. We are getting info saying that because I have stayed in India with him for a year, that the appeal judge will simply say that I can stay here in India. But I really do not want to live here. I manage, but its really tough. I am the only white person in town, i have blonde hair and get stared at everywhere i go. I have attempted to learn hindi but communication is a real problem. I feel my life is being risked every time we go out on the roads because there are no traffic rues, it is absolutely terrifying on the roads. The water in the town is not fit for human consumption, it is piped twice a day and stored in a tank, no hot water which is fine in summer when the 45 degree heat makes me want to die, but in winter even washing the dishes is traumatic in the freezing cold, dirty water. Basically I do not want to live in India, I do not fit in here and I can not tolerate the living conditions, I hate spicy food and everything here is full of chille. So how can a judge say that my husband can not live in UK and I have t live in India just because I tolerated it so far. It seems totally crazy.
Is there any point me even going to this appeal or if I find a new solicitor am I just throwing away money. We are considering going to spain and making a life there if possible, but I really dont know what to do. We have a court date, can I represent myself, is that crazy?
Any advice would be welcome and feel free to slate the system as i feel murderous about the whole thing
