Spouse visa refused/ Child to be born in India

[BrettHodges]

Hi,

First time posting and I hope someone can advise the best course of action.

Should we appeal a refusal or apply fresh again?

I’m reading people say it’s easier/quicker to apply again, but as you can appreciate, it’s a costly process.

I'm in the UK and my wife is in Chennai, India with our two children, both having British passports.
We've been married since 2004 and lived together in India until I had to return to the UK for my work about 4 years ago. My wife stayed behind because we hoped I would be posted back to India again, but to cut a long story short, I ended up leaving that company because, amongst other things, there was no option for me to return to India.

During this time I visited them regularly, twice a year using all the annual leave I had available to spend Christmas and summer holidays with my family.

I'm settled in my new job and last year we decided it was time for us all to be together but in the UK as living apart like this is just too difficult. So we applied for my wife's visa at VFS in Chennai 17 January 2018 thinking it would be a straight forward process, after all we’ve been married for a long time and have children.

Today we received a refusal decision from the home office with the reason given:
In support of your relationship you have provided a marriage certificate It is reasonable to expect that in a genuine subsisting, supportive and affectionate relationship, there would be evidence of regular contact, signs of companionship, emotional support, affection and abiding interest in each other's welfare and well being throughout the entire duration of your relationship. You state you maintain contact through whats app messaging and voice calls at weekends, however you have chosen to provide not evidence of this. I would expect to see photographs showing other stages of your relationship and of the times you state you have seen each other in the UK. You have provided no evidence of the times you state you have seen each other. Having considered all of this I am not satisfied your relationship with your sponsor is genuine and subsisting or that you intend to live together permanently in the UK. I therefore refuse your application under paragraph EC-P.1.1 (d) of Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules. (E-ECP.2.6 & 2.10) 12/05/2013.

It seems we met all the other criteria except we didn't provide photos of us together over the course of our marriage or logs of whatsapp messages (how do you even get logs?).
I’m also sure while we were filling out the on-line application it said providing whatsapp/skype calls wasn’t necessary, but I can’t find this anywhere on the printed application.

Apart from the fact the letter contains an error stating “we didn't provide photos of the times my wife has visited me in the UK" she only visited the UK with me once in 2005. They also stated we could appeal the decision and details how to appeal would be included in the letter, nothing was included.

What's frustrating is that VFS said nothing to my wife about providing photos when they reviewed her submission and the Home Office didn't attempt to contact either of us for an interview. Is this normal? Surely, they should contact you for an interview?

If anyone can advise, if we should appeal, what is the process?

Should me wife appeal in Chennai and if so, where and, as they didn’t provide the information, how does she appeal?

Should I appeal here through an immigration specialist?

If we do appeal can we submit photos and whatsapp logs at the time of appeal?

And finally, if we reapply do we have to pay the IHS again?

Seriously confused and grateful for any advice.

Brett

[kapoork2]

Hi Pal,

My wife had her visa refused last week pretty much for same reason from Chandigarh. "No evidence provided for contact between me and her". We didnt provide photos or call logs and they didnt contact us before refusing either.
As far as I am aware appeal will take ages and even then they can refuse to consider new evidence. It will cost £80 for a paper decision or £140 for a court hearing. The ECO is under no obligation to contact us before refusing. Best bet is to reapply. Provide Photos, call logs, screenshots and email communictaions. We want to reapply but cannot as I am changing my job.

You can file an appeal here if you like

https://www.gov.uk/immigration-asylum-tribunal

but you must confirm with Home office first that you have the right to appeal since your refusal letter doesnt say it. if home office says you dont have the right to appeal, then you can file for an administrative review. But chances of winning in either could be slim. Reapplying is what i am thinking.

All the best!

[Lulu65]

Hello,

I can share my experience with you. Maybe it will help.

I applied for a Fiance visa in January 2016. It was refused for lack of information. Let's just say we weren't aware/prepared for the amount of information we needed to provide. It was our fault. But we did file an Appeal.

We finally got our hearing this past January. Exactly 2 years after the initial application. We won our appeal and got the determination on January 30th. Home Office hasn't appealed the decision and I have now submitted my passport for stamping. I am still waiting and I don't know how long they're gonna take to send it back.

Knowing what I know now and how long this process takes, I would have filed a new application months ago and I would probably be married to my fiance by now.

I suggest, if you do make a fresh application, send them as much information as you can. WhatsApp chats, Skype logs, photographs, airline tickets, etc... It's better to have more than not enough. If you decide to go for an Appeal, be prepared for a long wait and, like kapoork2 said, they might not take new evidence into consideration. Unless your new evidence precedes your application.

Good luck, whatever you decide...

[kapoork2]

@BrettHodges. Sorry I forgot to mention, Your IHS surcharge is automatically refunded within 6 weeks of your application being refused.

I agree with Lulu65 . I wont even bother appealing. As in Lulus65's case, it took him 2 years to win the appeal and yet he is still waiting for the passport. Bit of extra money is nothing in front of family love. I wish i could reapply today but i cant as i dont yet meet financial requirements due to a job change.

Stay focused and all the best!

[BrettHodges]

thanks Lulu65 and Kapoork2 and good luck to you too