Thank you for reading. I am seeking advice with regard to appealing the ECO's decision.
Here are the details of our relationship and her application timeline:
- Met online in 2012.
- Met physically in her home country (Indonesia) in Aug 2013.
- Lived akin to man and wife in Indonesia since Aug 2016 to present.
- Wife became pregnant in September 2016.
- Married in Dec 2016 in Indonesia (Muslim marriage but legally recognised by the government of Indonesia).
- Applied for Settlement Visa 31st Mar 2017 in Jakarta.
- Daughter born in Indonesia Jun 2017.
- Applied for British Passport for Daughter 8th Nov 2017.
- Daughters passport ready for collection from Jakarta 20th November 2017.
- Wife's decision ready for collection from Jakarta also 20th November 2017.
Below I will attach the decision letter in full:
As you can see, the reasons for refusal are:
1) that we presented no evidence we'd ever met.
2) that we did not provide evidence that my wife was eligible to marry (because we did not provide a divorce certificate) and therefore did not prove that our marriage was valid.
3) that we did not provide adequate evidence of maintenance by sending 12 months of bank statements.
Seems fairly clear cut right? We messed up it seems...
Only we didn't!!!
1) we sent plenty of photographic evidence of us together and with her family. We sent photos of our wedding, and at least one photo of both of us holding our wedding book (a proxy for the wedding certificate which is held by the state).
We also sent boarding passes for flights we had taken together. We also provided other evidence such as delivery receipts in our names to our home address in Indonesia. We provided ample evidence of having met and co-habited. They just ignored it.
2) We also provided a copy of my wife's divorce certificate. However, when we applied for a marriage license, the authorities took the divorce certificate away. Obviously, if my wife is married to me, she is no longer divorced and therefore should no longer need a divorce certificate. If we didn't have the copy we'd have nothing at all, as is the procedure in Indonesia. So, the need for a divorce certificate was culturally redundant.
Also, our marriage certificate/book was issued by the KUA (The Office of Religious Affairs) which is a government body. So the marriage was legitimate and should have been seen as such by the ECO.
3) Firstly, my wife and I were exempt from having to satisfy the financial requirements due to the fact that I claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Under Paragrapgh E-ECP.3.3. of the Appendix FM SE, therefore, it does not state that I need to provide 12 months of bank statements. It does however specify that I need to provide bank statements for one calendar month prior to application showing the receipt of benefits, which I did, showing the payment of Housing Benefit, EESA, and PIP. I also provided the entitlement letters for each benefit I receive.
Other than that, they also ignored my wife's pregnancy as a factor. By the time the application was processed, they should have assumed that we had a child together knowing that my wife was pregnant, but that was not considered under EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
Also not considered was my disablity. It was clearly stated in the application that, due to a lifelong condition and reliance on UK benefits for income, there was no possibility that I could move to Indonesia permanently, as I am unable to work and depend upon medical care in the UK.
Returning to the previous point regarding the 'coincidence' whereby my wife's visa decision and my daughters British passport were sent to Jakarta minutes apart from the same DHL depot...well, considering that the main reasons for refusal were that we had never met, it would be impossible for them to contend that when the HMPO had already issued a British passport for our daughter. How was she concieved had we never met?
Considering that we waited 8 months for a decision, only then to receive it on the same day as a passport application for our daughter submitted less than 2 weeks prior seems difficult to accept was a pure coincidence.
Incidently, HMPO accepted our marriage certificate as proof of our marriage and issued my daughter's passport. This undermines the visa refusal and also establishes other factors that should have been considered before rejecting my wife's visa, namely the best interests of our child and the right to a family life.
So, with all that in mind, what would be the advice regarding appealing the decision?
Is this common whereby it is claimed that evidence was not provided when it was?
Do you think we have a strong case for appeal?
Thank for your time and patience in reading our journey.
WM
