Dear all,
I apologise in advance for long read.
I have a bit of a tricky situation and would appreciate any advice.
Basically, I have been living in the Uk since 2001. Zimbabwean by birth. I had a child in my late teens , she was 18 months when I left. I left her under the care of my uncle and aunt.
I am now a British citizen (obtained in 2010). My daughter soon turns 18. (I regret daily why I didn't apply for her papers before now).
My daughter's father has never been involved in her life (currently presumed dead. We have no death certificate to prove this but even his own brothers think he is dead. There has been no contact with him since over 10 years ago.
I applied for my daughters visa last year and got denied (page and a half full of reasons) but main reason was
1. they felt there was lack of information on her fathers whereabouts
2.lack of evidence that we had had a relationship
3. lack of evidence that i was supporting her financially
I did the application on my own and in retrospect did not put half the required evidence needed.
I reapplied (not appealed) as I felt maybe i could do better with evidence.
I put in pictures, WhatsApp conversations, western union slips (i have paid for my daughters fees since primary) etc
I also asked my daughters uncle (brother to her father) to go to lawyer and declare that their side of family did not have anything to do with my daughter nor did they know where there father was.
I got reply - denied.
Now down to 3 reasons:
1. No mention of father (despite motorised letter from lawyer in Zimbabwe)
2. No evidence that i am involved in her daily upbringing, schooling or welfare ( i have emails from the school she attends, asking about fee payments, messages from uncle and aunt, stating her needs e.g when she wanted to change schools etc)
3.no changes to care provision (i also have evidence to demonstrate that my uncle and aunt are struggling financially. In fact i have also been sending them money to cover their shop rentals etc).
I plan on appealing the decision so I would really appreciate any pointers in this regard. I have no other children, am unmarried in fact I have worked hard to try and get her a better life. What even pushed me to apply for this visa for her was when she told me she was not being treated well
.
Should I get a lawyer to stand for me?
Apologies for long read!
