# Spouse visa appeal



## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hello ,

we have been refused the spouse visa due to missing of a couple of financial documents which we got ready by now any way . ( Just to mention , one of the 2 docs which they mention are missing was there and we are quit surprise they overlooked it ).

It has been a very stressful time waiting for the result and after 3 months we got that sad news. 

Now preparing the appeal we wonder, how long does it take to receive the decision of an appeal . I read in the forum it might take up to 1 year... just to hear someone's elses similar stories...

Thank you in advance!

Dove


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Hey,

I also was refused, i entered my appeal application in the end of October.
In November they sent to me my notice of appeal and said my appeal hearing would take place up to April.

However i asked for my hearing to be brought forward and i gave reasons to that, the judge analysed my request and said yes, my hearing took place last week. 

Tell me, the documents you are sending to the tribunal are photocopies or originals?


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi Francis,

Congratulations with your visa. 

We haven't got any of the serious reasons to bring our appeal forward really exccept that we just got married and need to stay separeted since then.

My husband is sending all the originals.

Looking forward to hear from you 

Dove


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi Dove,

Well, i dont think your appeal will take 1 year, i guess 6 months is the standard timeline of appeals.

I´m cheering for you.

But just pay attention to the orginal documents, cause i remember in the Appeal Notice they say all documents must be photocopies as they don´t return them to the appelant.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hello,

thank you for your kind replies.

We will make sure to make all the copies of the documents we are supplying .

Really hope it won' take full 6 months... 

Thanks again and will keep you posting about the results.

Dove


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

*Appeal*

I have also had my spouse visa application turned down. You are told not to send original documents when making your appeal but I was advised by my solicitor to send my original documents...as long as they are not very important. Make copies of all the documents issued to them and keep a record of these for your own reference. I pray things work out for you to get your visa.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

lifelover said:


> I have also had my spouse visa application turned down. You are told not to send original documents when making your appeal but I was advised by my solicitor to send my original documents...as long as they are not very important. Make copies of all the documents issued to them and keep a record of these for your own reference. I pray things work out for you to get your visa.


Ohh, i feel for you so much and hope this time you will receive the good news! Thingers crossed! 
Do you have any idea how long the appeal time may take? Have you heard any other similar stories?

Thank you for your advsie, we will consider it . Next week the ball will start rolling for us too.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Hi Dove,
> 
> Well, i dont think your appeal will take 1 year, i guess 6 months is the standard timeline of appeals.
> 
> ...


 Thank you so much , we will !:ranger:


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Hi Dove,
> 
> Well, i dont think your appeal will take 1 year, i guess 6 months is the standard timeline of appeals.
> 
> ...


After acknowledging receipt of your appeal the ECM is given 19 weeks to review the initial refusal. 

Then if decision is maintained or if ECM does not inform court about his decision, a hearing date is set after 8 - 10 weeks following the review period to give the appellant enough time to prepare his case. 

After court hearing the judge has to give his determination within 10 days. If appeal is allowed, the passport is expected to be stamped with the visa within 8 - 12 weeks. 

So you're talking about 6 months for the hearing and another 3 months to obtain the passport with the visa in it if appeal is allowed. It works out around 9 to 12 months' process depending on when you are heard (if there is not a huge backlog). 

It's upsetting and frustrating to wait that long!


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> I have also had my spouse visa application turned down. You are told not to send original documents when making your appeal but I was advised by my solicitor to send my original documents...as long as they are not very important. Make copies of all the documents issued to them and keep a record of these for your own reference. I pray things work out for you to get your visa.


I see, but i guess that bank pay slips should not be original ones to be sent to Uk yeah? Bank pay slips are important documents and i think that its advisable to send photocopies of them to UK.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

I just dont understand why its necessary 8 - 12 weeks to get the passport stamped??


Once the judge issues the decision all i have to do is send in my passport to the embassy in my country and get it stamped, i guess this takes a week only if i pay a good currier company.

Why you have to wait up to 3 months to get the passport stamped????


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

lifelover said:


> After acknowledging receipt of your appeal the ECM is given 19 weeks to review the initial refusal.
> 
> Then if decision is maintained or if ECM does not inform court about his decision, a hearing date is set after 8 - 10 weeks following the review period to give the appellant enough time to prepare his case.
> 
> ...


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> I see, but i guess that bank pay slips should not be original ones to be sent to Uk yeah? Bank pay slips are important documents and i think that its advisable to send photocopies of them to UK.


I'm not sure about whether Bank payslips mean bank statements or pay slips from your employer but my advisor told us to send the originals. 
So we sent original bank statements and original copies of my husband's pay slips because although these are important documents, you can always get other *original* copies from your bank and your employer.


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi Francis, I got your message. I had read it from various immigration advisors' pages and people's experiences that it takes 8 weeks approx. to get the visa stamped after appeal is allowed. 

You have been given an expedite hearing date so I don't think they'll be that long in sending your passport back. 10 days after your hearing you should receive the judge's determination then the Embassy will contact you to send your passport. Yes if possible send it through Next Day delivery and don't forget to have it recorded delivery too. 

Keep us updated about your determination and if you don't mind give me details about your appeal. I'm well nervous about mine.


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

dove83 said:


> Hello ,
> 
> we have been refused the spouse visa due to missing of a couple of financial documents which we got ready by now any way . ( Just to mention , one of the 2 docs which they mention are missing was there and we are quit surprise they overlooked it ).
> 
> ...


Is it just because they have overlooked your documents that you have been rejected? What did you do about your appeal? 
I am in the same boat because I submitted many documents about my finances and offer for third party support because my husband was in part time employment paid nat min wage and had no savings.

But just before I submitted my application hubby was offered FT perm job and I made an additional doc to explain the changes. They only considered his previous job and all my other documents seem to have been overlooked...add some misunderstanding to it. Nightmareeee


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> Hi Francis, I got your message. I had read it from various immigration advisors' pages and people's experiences that it takes 8 weeks approx. to get the visa stamped after appeal is allowed.
> 
> You have been given an expedite hearing date so I don't think they'll be that long in sending your passport back. 10 days after your hearing you should receive the judge's determination then the Embassy will contact you to send your passport. Yes if possible send it through Next Day delivery and don't forget to have it recorded delivery too.
> 
> Keep us updated about your determination and if you don't mind give me details about your appeal. I'm well nervous about mine.



Thanks for your reply,

My appeal has been brought forward so i think they will try to speed up the stamping passport thing or so i hope.
What is this judge determination? 10 days after my hearing is tomorrow! So you´re saying that by monday i already will have the decision from the judge???? thats quite great!

If you say that the embassy will ask me to send my passport i am way more relived cause i will pay the NEXT day currier and i will have the passport stamped really fast, but the thing is: after the judge decision how long do they take to ask me to send my passport???


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

lifelover said:


> Is it just because they have overlooked your documents that you have been rejected? What did you do about your appeal?
> I am in the same boat because I submitted many documents about my finances and offer for third party support because my husband was in part time employment paid nat min wage and had no savings.
> 
> But just before I submitted my application hubby was offered FT perm job and I made an additional doc to explain the changes. They only considered his previous job and all my other documents seem to have been overlooked...add some misunderstanding to it. Nightmareeee



I can immagine and understand how stressful it was for you.

We have applied on 3.10.12 on the basis of my husband's savings which have to meet the requirements and they do . The thing was that we have provided also his earnings statements as well ( sometimes it is the best to provide less tha too much  and our immigration agent was supposed to write the covering summarising letter explaining all and giving the guidence and light to the whole package, the in and out of the funds as my husband does lots of movements with his savings but still within his accounts. We were so in rush and hurry to submit the documents after our wedding that did not notice the missing of these docs and blame all on our agent's bad job and advsies. With out that letter the UKB agent did not understood if we are applying under the savings requirements or earnings and if under the savings requirements we have to prove that my husband has the control over his funds which he does as all bank accounts are on his name. What else the ''FULL CONTROL OF THE FUNDS '' would mean???

As I stated previously except the Undertaking letter the summarising cover letter was missing and requested to be provided if we want to appeal.

We have hired the lawyer to help us with the appeal , to write the explanation letter and hopefully next week all will be sent . What about you ?


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

The judge's letter of determination states whether you appeal was ALLOWED or DISMISSED. You should receive it within 15 (or more) WORKING days but the Embassy will have received it by next week. Then they more likely will contact you via e-mail after a week or two to ask you to send your passport. I have given more details on your other thread. If you get the letter and they don't contact you then you can ring them and make further inquiries. You're nearly there, that's great!!! Give it 20 working days approx. for them to ask for your passport after letter of determination has been issued.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> The judge's letter of determination states whether you appeal was ALLOWED or DISMISSED. You should receive it within 15 (or more) WORKING days but the Embassy will have received it by next week. Then they more likely will contact you via e-mail after a week or two to ask you to send your passport. I have given more details on your other thread. If you get the letter and they don't contact you then you can ring them and make further inquiries. You're nearly there, that's great!!! Give it 20 working days approx. for them to ask for your passport after letter of determination has been issued.


Thanks Lifeover,

My case was refused cause at the time of application my fiance was working in the current company for 3 months only. I gave them one year of pay slips of his previous job but oddly the immigration didn´t take them into consideration...

At the time of the appeal my fiance was working over 6 monhts already and then i sent the 3 extra pay slips. The pay slips are copies but i also sent the original P60 form and the original employer´s letter explaining how long my fiance has been working there (6 months) and how much he has been gaining (over 20k pounds a year).

So, i do believe my case will be succeed. I dont see any way they could possible not consider my fiance financial requirements. But i am so so so so anxious! :ranger:


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

dove83 said:


> I can immagine and understand how stressful it was for you.
> 
> We have applied on 3.10.12 on the basis of my husband's savings which have to meet the requirements and they do . The thing was that we have provided also his earnings statements as well ( sometimes it is the best to provide less tha too much  and our immigration agent was supposed to write the covering summarising letter explaining all and giving the guidence and light to the whole package, the in and out of the funds as my husband does lots of movements with his savings but still within his accounts. We were so in rush and hurry to submit the documents after our wedding that did not notice the missing of these docs and blame all on our agent's bad job and advsies. With out that letter the UKB agent did not understood if we are applying under the savings requirements or earnings and if under the savings requirements we have to prove that my husband has the control over his funds which he does as all bank accounts are on his name. What else the ''FULL CONTROL OF THE FUNDS '' would mean???
> 
> ...


I applied online on 4 July and my husband had no savings because he was unemployed from November to May 2012 and all the money he had was spent on our wedding. He got into part time job in May but was paid if and when there was any work to be done - so we never had a good financial situation. Still I had £3000 savings and offer for 3rd party support from a close friend in the UK.

One week before I submitted my application form, hubby was offered a proper job but no payslips and new bank statements were issued since my appointment to submit my paperwork was already booked. I prepared an explanatory document and provided the original copy of his new job as evidence that he would be able to support me. But I still enclosed documents about his previous job. So we had the new job, my savings + 3rd party support. 

Yet we we refused because his 1. earnings left us with £111 (after rent & Tax) which is sufficient for a couple 2. bank statements showed a small amount at the end of each month and 3. he has a dependent of 8 years. But my husband's son is under his nan's residency and she is financially responsible for him. I stated my sponsor has no dependent on my application form and on my supporting letters. 

They overlooked my documents and misinterpreted our information because they wanted to.


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Thanks Lifeover,
> 
> My case was refused cause at the time of application my fiance was working in the current company for 3 months only. I gave them one year of pay slips of his previous job but oddly the immigration didn´t take them into consideration...
> 
> ...


My advisor told me there's no way they stand a chance of winning if my case goes to court and I believe it's the same with you. I understand you are anxious but it's just a matter of weeks now, I have to wait months and months. 

Stay strong and relax, I believe you'll be fine.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> My advisor told me there's no way they stand a chance of winning if my case goes to court and I believe it's the same with you. I understand you are anxious but it's just a matter of weeks now, I have to wait months and months.
> 
> Stay strong and relax, I believe you'll be fine.


Your advisor told you that once the case goes to the Court there´s no way the appeal get suceed???

Why is that? If the ECO misinterrpeted your documents cause he wanted to, the judge in UK will notice his mistake and will grant you the visa, no??


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Your advisor told you that once the case goes to the Court there´s no way the appeal get suceed???
> 
> Why is that? If the ECO misinterrpeted your documents cause he wanted to, the judge in UK will notice his mistake and will grant you the visa, no??


No I meant the ECO will not win over my case because we obviously meet the financial requirement (prior to 9 July). Although it is better to have savings, it don't really matter as long as you can prove that you can support your wife without relying on public funds. Sad I never looked for a job offer before making my application. 

My husband is now confirmed in his new job and the new employment contract should have been considered as his ability to maintain me. 

I hope it don't even go to court. 

May I ask how you managed to bring your hearing forward?


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> No I meant the ECO will not win over my case because we obviously meet the financial requirement (prior to 9 July). Although it is better to have savings, it don't really matter as long as you can prove that you can support your wife without relying on public funds. Sad I never looked for a job offer before making my application.
> 
> My husband is now confirmed in his new job and the new employment contract should have been considered as his ability to maintain me.
> 
> ...


Lifeover, what you mean by " go to the court"? If we had to appeal for a UK judge´s decision, then this means going to the Court, no? You´re saying that after the judge´s UK decision the appeal might even go to the Court for another analysis?????


Well, in my case the ceremony was scheduled to FEB 1ST. I wrote a large email to the immigration showing that the registry office booking for Feb 1st was confirmed and also the confirmation of hotels honeymoon bookings and how much money we would waste in case our decision takes longer than February to be made.

I also showed the flights booking that have been previously made and we had to cancell it and wasted lot of money. The judge took all this in consideration and granted my request to bring the hearing forward, it was really good news!

I think you should try too, it worths it! 

I also explained


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Lifeover, what you mean by " go to the court"? If we had to appeal for a UK judge´s decision, then this means going to the Court, no? You´re saying that after the judge´s UK decision the appeal might even go to the Court for another analysis?????
> 
> 
> Well, in my case the ceremony was scheduled to FEB 1ST. I wrote a large email to the immigration showing that the registry office booking for Feb 1st was confirmed and also the confirmation of hotels honeymoon bookings and how much money we would waste in case our decision takes longer than February to be made.
> ...


Well when you file an appeal with the Tribunal, it goes to the AIT in UK who sends it to the Embassy which refused your application so that they review their reasons for refusal. If they overturn it then you get a visa, if not you get a hearing date and go to court to fight your case. 

I don't have such requests as important as yours but it looks like you'll be fine


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

lifelover said:


> Well when you file an appeal with the Tribunal, it goes to the AIT in UK who sends it to the Embassy which refused your application so that they review their reasons for refusal. If they overturn it then you get a visa, if not you get a hearing date and go to court to fight your case.
> 
> I don't have such requests as important as yours but it looks like you'll be fine



Lifeover, my case went straight to the court.

My appeal was sent to the Embassy for the ECM to review it, however as the judge granted me the expedite request the hearing took place before the ECM review.

I´m glad with this outcome, cause i trust in the judge Court more than in the ECM review.

If your appeal went straight to the Judge in Uk would be a lot way better and faster too!


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

Franciscotelles said:


> Lifeover, my case went straight to the court.
> 
> My appeal was sent to the Embassy for the ECM to review it, however as the judge granted me the expedite request the hearing took place before the ECM review.
> 
> ...


It would definitely be faster and better but I have no good enough grounds to request that my hearing be brought forward. Your request is based on exceptional compassionate grounds which is to be taken into account according to your situation. 

I would rather my case be dealt with by the judge too but I haven't got much choice  

Let me know about the outcome of your appeal...


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

*Appeal*

Hi everyone,

just to say that we have applied our Appeal last Friday , now let's wait what happens next ...


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Good luck! I hope it will be good news for you.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Thanks and I hope it won't take too long . Any one please share how long it took for you .


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## gkt (May 10, 2010)

dove83 said:


> Thanks and I hope it won't take too long . Any one please share how long it took for you .



12th September 2012- Refusal
3rd October 2012- Submitted Appeal 
1st November 2012- Notice of Pending Appeal Received 
31st Jan 2013- Request to send in passport for ECM further consideration


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Thank you for sharing that !


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## gkt (May 10, 2010)

dove83 said:


> Thank you for sharing that !


With an appeal, it is all about been positive, patience and keep checking with the embassy...


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## Vera-london (Feb 11, 2013)

Hello Everybody. My name is Vera. Please,help me with advise or maybe somebody had the same situation. We Got Married with my husband, he is British.I'm from Ukraine. In 2011,the end of November I applied for viza. Got refuse in 14 of February. Our appeal was refused also. 10 of November 2012- hearing. We got notice of withdrawal:The responded has withdrawn the original decision. Today is 11.02 2013 but I still waiting. Cannot explain how I feel! crying and praying. I'm too tired in this stressful situation! For how long people wait for call from embassy? I think It too long in my situation,or maybe I wrong...Thank you and good luck for everybody. Thank you.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi Vera, 

so sorry to hear that . Here you can find some help from more experienced web users, but you have to paste the exact wording of both refusals. I can understand how you feel right now as we have been refused as well and now waiting for the decision of our appeal. 
Have you been out of your country before? Have you had other UK visas ? Keep positive, you 'll get there!!!

All my thoughts go to you ,

Oksana


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## Vera-london (Feb 11, 2013)

Thank you Oksana for your reply. Yes ,I have been i many country before included the UK.
I think I wait too long . This waiting becoming harder and harder for as.
Whats the best email address or call number to use to get intouch with embassy in Poland?
I have written to Poland before and sent it by post ...still no ansver (((. Hope you will get your visa soon.


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

That's a pity . You would get more help here if you wrote the reason of refusal. In the same time try to write a feedback : [email protected], but from my own experience all e-mails go through the Ukrainian call centre and often dont get replied except the automatic reply.

If you would like to talk more here is my number 0932745620


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## Vera-london (Feb 11, 2013)

Ok. Thank you .


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

We have received the Notice of Pending Appeal today , which confirms that the Tribunal will write to us after 9th July 2013

Dove


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## dove83 (Jan 10, 2013)

We have received the Notice of Pending Appeal yesterday (28.02.13) , which confirms that the Tribunal will write to us after 9th July 2013 .

Does anyone know how it works? Do the UKBA sees straight away which case is simple and which needs more time for consideration? Hope it won't be 5 months of waiting ...

Dove


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## tharudsg (May 13, 2013)

*how long will it take to turn down the dessition?*



dove83 said:


> Originally Posted by lifelover View Post
> I have also had my spouse visa application turned down. You are told not to send original documents when making your appeal but I was advised by my solicitor to send my original documents...as long as they are not very important. Make copies of all the documents issued to them and keep a record of these for your own reference. I pray things work out for you to get your visa.



hi 
my spouse visa to uk rejected with right to appeal.and i've sent it on 4th of april 2013.and our case is not a big one.so i think they will turn down the dessition.so could you please tell me how long will it take to overturn the dessition?heard. that it will take up 6-9 months for the hearing.i've sent photocopies of my documents too..please help.i am really worrying


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## Lapidus (May 13, 2013)

Hello to everyone my fiancée uk settlement visa got refused an we made an appeal we got date for the hearing .
The raison for the refusal is because we didn't live together for 2years . We have submitted the app online (visa4uk) official website for home office and there is not an option for fiancée has type of settlement visa but we call the visa section and the advice us to use unmarried partner and write fiancée next to it also in our letters to the high commission we used fiancée . The tribunal has not received the ECO bundle for the hearing I would like to get some advises
Thanks


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## ddang (Jun 21, 2012)

Lapidus said:


> Hello to everyone my fiancée uk settlement visa got refused an we made an appeal we got date for the hearing .
> The raison for the refusal is because we didn't live together for 2years . We have submitted the app online (visa4uk) official website for home office and there is not an option for fiancée has type of settlement visa but we call the visa section and the advice us to use unmarried partner and write fiancée next to it also in our letters to the high commission we used fiancée . The tribunal has not received the ECO bundle for the hearing I would like to get some advises
> Thanks


You applied for the wrong visa as I've mentioned under your new thread you posted.


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## skinnie58 (Apr 3, 2013)

Hi everyone

It would be nice to know if anyone has recently had an update on their visa appeal?
I received my notice of appeal on the 10 April 2013 stating that the papers have been sent to the embassy concerned, appeal hearing would take place after 19 August + 8 weeks if not overturn. Hoping to have a good result before August God will.

Please keep us updated on your appeal results.

Regards
Skinnie58


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## Beddown78 (May 20, 2013)

*Still Waiting*

I'm currently in a similar situation my husband (Brazilian) and I got married at the beginning of November we consulted a solicitor who advised to apply in Brazil (big mistake, if you think of leaving the country don't, look into applying in the UK). My husband flew to Brazil shortly after we married to apply for his visa and I joined him a couple of weeks later (this was just in case more documents were need for the visa).

A month later we had his visa refused due me not attaching my employment contract and P60 (I don't understand why they couldn't contacted me or my employer (who they have details of) or surely they can check you out by your National Insurance number on my payslip with the tax people this is part of the government they must have access????).

Returned back to UK without my husband in December 11th December and filed the appeal on the 13th December 2012.

On the 27th December was advised that they had a back log and they were only logging post from the 4th December 2012.

It finally got registered and they took the payment on the 15th January.


End of January contacted Leicester appeal center to find out what was happening and unhelpful person told me it was in Photocopying and they don't know how long that takes (really how long does it take to Photocopy?).

Spoke to them again on the 15th February 2013 I was told the appeal was sent to Rio British Embassy to review the appeal and they have 19 weeks (24th June 2013) .

We have emailed Rio to see if they have the document and they advised they do and they have to 24th June 2013 to respond.

We will be dropping Rio a reminder email on the 10th June (2 weeks left) to chase them and on the 25th June I will be on the phone to Leicester, to find out what is happening next.


I was advised by a nice lady at Leicester, that Brazil won’t come back with a response and Leicester will then submitted the appeal in front of a Judge which could take 4 to 6 weeks, if successful then they send the appeal back to Rio for them to send a letter to my husband inviting him to apply for the visa, he then has to submit his passport for a visa and get the visa and return back to UK (no time scale given). We feel so let down by the system and I feel completely gutted about our immigration system, people at work and family don't understand and nor do I why it takes so long (they say it’s a legal process, friends have brought houses in this time and criminals have been charged and sentences) we might be lucky to be together at Christmas.

I'm now planning for worse case scenario, a new career in teaching English in Brazil and learning Brazilian Portuguese.

All we want is a yes or no, so that we can get on with our life.

Top tip; If you can afford it, pay the money and then just make a fresh application (in the long run it would have been cheaper for us, than me keep flying over to Brazil) and also keep calling and finding out, they do send letters at each stage, but they have been known to lose applications.

Hope this helps!


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## chicgeek (Jan 4, 2013)

This thread is turning into an appeals timeline, so I thought I would add my dates to the pot if others find it useful. We were refused an unmarried partner settlement visa - we were missing some documentation to support the financial requirement. We filed a paper appeal and the original decision was overturned.

Applied: 08/01/2013
Refusal email: 28/01/2013
Appeal faxed in: 18/02/2013
Successful appeal email: 08/05/2013

However, I'm still waiting on the return of my passport. It arrived at their office a week ago today.


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## skinnie58 (Apr 3, 2013)

Congratulations Chicgeek, I am very happy for you. It gives the rest of us hope that we might be as lucky as you. I am still waiting and hoping that my original decision will be overturned. my appeal was sent back to the embassy 8 March for review, I assume if I don't hear anything by the end of June then its going all the way to the courts.

Wishing you all the luck.


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## mrsjankowski (May 21, 2013)

If you don't mind, would you kindly list the problems (or apparent problems) with your application? It might help me not make the same mistake 
GOOD LUCK for your appeal :fingerscrossed:


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## skinnie58 (Apr 3, 2013)

Hi Beddown78

Sorry about your visa, and good luck with your appeal, welcome to the club. I would suggest you stop ringing them about your appeal, I hear if you keep bothering them it annoys them and it could cause them to take longer to deal with your case.


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## skinnie58 (Apr 3, 2013)

Please see attachment,

Hi Guys,

I wish I had found this sight before my fiancé applied for is visa, I have gained so much knowledge.

Long and short of it, my fiancé and I have been communicating since Oct 2010, he is from Algeria, April 2012 he applied for a visitors visa to this was refused, so we arranged to meet in Tunisia April 2012 for a week. We knew we had fallen love we needed to prove to ourselves that it was not a fantasy love but real love, anyway that was confirmed once we met. We knew we wanted to be together just from that one meeting. We continued to communicate via, Skype, email, phone and the odd text. We decided to meet again just to be sure, so I applied for a Algerian visitors visa, I went to Algeria for 7 days in November so we could talk about our future, we got engaged while I was there and decided that he should come to UK as I was in a much better position than he was, accommodation wise and also financially. He applied for a fiancé visa 29th January 2013, we found out on the 24 March that it was refused.

This is they reason.
You state that you first met your sponsor in Tunisia on 18/4/2012 and that you last met on 17/11/2012. You have provided photographs of you and your sponsor together; however, the documents you have provided do not enable me to assess when or where these were taken. The documents you have provided do not enable me to assess that you and your sponsor have met on these occasions.

You have provided some evidence of research into possible wedding and reception venues, however, the documents you have provided do not enable me to assess that any arrangements have been made for your proposed marriage.
You have provided evidence of telephone calls from your sponsor with certain numbers highlighted; however, the numbers do not correspond to your contact number stated on the application form. You have provided evidence of email contact from March 2012 to Dec 2012 and Skype contact between July 2012 and Nov 2012. these records show very little actual contact between you and your sponsor since these dates. in View of the above, I am not satisfied that any regular contact has taken place between you and your sponsor. Therefore 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 used a premium number to call my partner, on my BT bill it only shows the premium number, hence the reason I highlighted it. Telephone records covered from June 2011- Jan 2013

Skype records covered July 2011 to Jan 2013 - emails covered March 2012 to end of Dec 2012. emails before that date was purged, never thought to save them

Hotel confirmation to Tunisia enclosed, boarding card to Algeria enclosed, invitation from my partners family enclosed.

We did not book anything for the wedding because, they will only be roughly 15 people there and everywhere I checked out said because it was such a small party we did not have to book so much in advance where deposit was necessary. we even thought have. We cannot register our intention to marry because my partner has to be in the country before we can do that.

The ECO seem to have overlooked a lot, even though we explained in a covering letter about the premium number, and also that we did not keep records of the first 8 months or so of our relationship.: 

Hope this helps you.


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

I think you should have applied for a provisional wedding booking from the register office,this is what I did. The ECO's job is to overlook information so do not worry about it. If it is possible for you to DATE STAMP your pictures on your camera (done it on mine) then it will certainly make things a lot better to prove you had truly met at the dates stated above. You can also include letters or cards from family n friends to prove they knew about your relationship with your partner. As regards to your phone calls, contact your operator to get evidence that you were using the Premium number... If you have any evidence of communication with the hotel where they state you do not need to book in advance then also include that in your appeal. 

Your case seems pretty much straightforward and with the appropriate documents then it will be overturned.


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## lifelover (Jan 10, 2013)

*Hang in there guys*

End of January contacted Leicester appeal center to find out what was happening and unhelpful person told me it was in Photocopying and they don't know how long that takes (really how long does it take to Photocopy?).

The APPEAL BUNDLE stays at Leicester for at least 5 - 6 weeks before being sent to the embassy which initially refused your visa

We have emailed Rio to see if they have the document and they advised they do and they have to 24th June 2013 to respond. 
That's right, it only takes a few hours to check some documens but they take their full 19 weeks... because they can :S 

We will be dropping Rio a reminder email on the 10th June (2 weeks left) to chase them 
If you want to contact them it is better to do it via e-mail so that you have a record of communication with them. However there is no point pestering them as they don't care and might not give you any information about the outcome and this makes you worry even more
They told me the ECM maintained his decision on the phone, long before the deadline so it's worth a try  

If Brazil doesn't come back with a response, Leicester will go forward and list your appeal hearing date. The appeal will be heard in front of an Immigration Judge 8 weeks after the review period (8 weeks post 24 June). You get the determination 10 days after your hearing and if the judge allows your apeal you will get your visa within 3 months. It takes 4 - 6 weeks for the determination to reach the decision making post who then had 8 weeks to contact the appellant to submit his passport so that the visa vignette is affixed. 

We feel so let down by the system and I feel completely gutted about our immigration system, people at work and family don't understand and nor do I why it takes so long 
All those who have had a refusal feel the same
All we want is a yes or no, so that we can get on with our life.
It is annoying to have to put your life, marriage and plans on hold. It has nearly been a year since I applied for my visa....under the old laws and am still waiting for my court hearing


ALL I CAN SAY IS HANG IN THERE.... ONE DAY YOU'LL SAY: IT WASN'T EASY BUT IT WAS WORTH IT. Good luck to all with your appeal, God bless xxx


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## Tifa (Jul 8, 2013)

*Strange reasons for visa refusal*

Sigh. So many of us have the same problem.

My husband is in the UK and i applied for a spouse visa which got rejected by the ECO stating 
i) I did not meet the english requirement 
ii) My sponsor- husband - did not meet financial requirement

This is very strange since i submitted the original of the IELTS test which is the approved test for English on which i got an 8.5 and the ECO overlooked the document

My husband's Income also was above the yearly requirement. But they have taken one month's income and made a strange calculation with that. Hence if you are applying and you have a salaried spouse as a sponsor, i think ensure every months income when individually multiplied by 12 is above the yearly requirement they need. Hope that can help someone!

Have submitted an appeal in Jan and waiting for an update. :fingerscrossed:

Have to add that it's absolutely awful to keep a person away from their loved ones,

Good luck to you guys waiting for your visa. Stay strong!!


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## Cozak (Jun 25, 2013)

Tifa said:


> My husband's Income also was above the yearly requirement. But they have taken one month's income and made a strange calculation with that. Hence if you are applying and you have a salaried spouse as a sponsor, i think ensure every months income when individually multiplied by 12 is above the yearly requirement they need. Hope that can help someone!


They take the lowest amount earned in the 6 months of wage slips you provided and multiply it by 12 to get the yearly figure. Therefore assuming no none British children are involved each wage slip must show £1550 or more before taxes. This is when applying under Category A.

If you have less than this on one of the slips you should have applied under Category B. With that category they require that you currently have a salary of £18600 (again assuming no non British children) or more AND have earned that gross over the past 12 months. You have to send 12 months slips and bank statements with this route but it does allow you to get away with a variable income if one of the months is lower for some reason.

It sounds like you should have applied under Cat B.


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## Skyfall81 (May 1, 2014)

skinnie58 said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> It would be nice to know if anyone has recently had an update on their visa appeal?
> I received my notice of appeal on the 10 April 2013 stating that the papers have been sent to the embassy concerned, appeal hearing would take place after 19 August + 8 weeks if not overturn. Hoping to have a good result before August God will.
> ...


Hi there,

I wish u all thebest tho, the time waiting is a killa. I was hoping if you could tell me how long have u waited to get a notice of appeal from the day u appealed please? 

All the best to u an everyone of us 
Thanks again


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## Skyfall81 (May 1, 2014)

skinnie58 said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> It would be nice to know if anyone has recently had an update on their visa appeal?
> I received my notice of appeal on the 10 April 2013 stating that the papers have been sent to the embassy concerned, appeal hearing would take place after 19 August + 8 weeks if not overturn. Hoping to have a good result before August God will.
> ...


Hi there,

I wish u all the best tho, the time waiting is a killa. I was hoping if you could tell me how long have u waited to get a notice of appeal from the day u appealed please? 

All the best to u an everyone of us 
Thanks again


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## skinnie58 (Apr 3, 2013)

Skyfall81 said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I wish u all the best tho, the time waiting is a killa. I was hoping if you could tell me how long have u waited to get a notice of appeal from the day u appealed please?
> 
> ...


Hi Skyfall81

We received notification that my fiancé's visa was refused 15 February 2013, we sent off our appeal papers end of February but we did not get the notice of appeal until 10 April 2013. We received notification that the original decision was overturned end of July 2013 so we did not have to go to court. It took roughly 5 half months in total.
Hope this helps, but it all depends on what your circumstances are, ours was they did not believe our relationship was genuine.

Good luck.:fingerscrossed:


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## Skyfall81 (May 1, 2014)

skinnie58 said:


> Hi Skyfall81
> 
> We received notification that my fiancé's visa was refused 15 February 2013, we sent off our appeal papers end of February but we did not get the notice of appeal until 10 April 2013. We received notification that the original decision was overturned end of July 2013 so we did not have to go to court. It took roughly 5 half months in total.
> Hope this helps, but it all depends on what your circumstances are, ours was they did not believe our relationship was genuine.
> ...


Hi skinnie58,

First of all, thank u so much for such an information, i have applied for a settlement visa in the beginning of february 2014, i had to leave my wife that i been with for 5years for the 1st time alone and come down to my homeland to apply, and i did. i got a refusal in the beginning of April, and the reason was that i have overstayed in UK since 2001, 2payslips missing, letter of employment and bank statements. i have gave my wife's work contract, so many payslips, P60's and the saving acc statements and much more, instead of making sure to provide the last 6months payslips the bank acc she get payed into, and the letter of employment. It is my mistake and its a fair refusal with the right to appeal. I have appealed by the end of april and we are waiting for the notice of appeal, an i can see that it took u 1month an so to receive it. We managed to get all the documents and the overstaying matter will be dealt by my solicitor. Here i am hoping that i will receive the same result as u, for the decision to be overturned, god will, and to hear similar cases in this forum. Meanwhile i will update u an everyone else if theres anything new. And i will be thankful if u and everyone else do the same. Ones again thank u for ur help. 

Good luck to u all


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## Desidiva (May 15, 2014)

*Spouse Visa Appeal - Timelines*

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, but thank the lord for something like this I was beginning to feel so lonely.

I applied for my husband's (we only got married in August 2013) spouse visa from India in March 2014. It was refused on 31/3/14 and with a very heavy and broken heart I had to leave him in India and return back to London alone.

I submitted the appeal on 10/04/14. In the meantime I contacted the ECM at New Delhi to request them to review the decision they have taken. I received an email back and the ECM confirmed they will NOT change their decision.

I contacted the tribunal this week to find out when I could expect a court date and I was told that the HO have until 23/09/14 to reply back.

1) Does this mean I will have to wait until after September for a court date?
2) Should I email the response from the ECM to the tribunal?
3) Is there anything I can do to speed this process up?

I am absolutely heartbroken at the moment, I had only been married 6 months before I was separated from my hubby and now it looks like we won't even be together for our 1st wedding anniversary.

For anyone that has been through the appeal process how long did it take from beginning to end?

Thanks


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## cc9 (Oct 29, 2012)

Yeah unfortunately the appeal process is a very long one and it is taking up to a year to get a tribunal date


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## cc9 (Oct 29, 2012)

Out of interest what were the reasons for your refusal do u have a solicitor???


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## Kamarj (Mar 28, 2014)

Lapidus said:


> Hello to everyone my fiancée uk settlement visa got refused an we made an appeal we got date for the hearing .
> The raison for the refusal is because we didn't live together for 2years . We have submitted the app online (visa4uk) official website for home office and there is not an option for fiancée has type of settlement visa but we call the visa section and the advice us to use unmarried partner and write fiancée next to it also in our letters to the high commission we used fiancée . The tribunal has not received the ECO bundle for the hearing I would like to get some advises
> Thanks


You used the wrong application. It should have been Settlememt- Marriage. You best bet may be to submit a fresh application.


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## Desidiva (May 15, 2014)

Yes we have a solicitor.

2 reasons for refusal:

1) My husband had a criminal record for driving offences for which he received a 12 month sentence in 2008. We told them about this in our application. When we applied for the settlement visa the refusal states that he had 2 convictions not 1 but the sentence was 12 months. My husband didn't know he had 2 convictions.

2) They stated there is nothing preventing me from moving to India to continue my married life or have a long distance relationship where I travel back and forth.

I meet all the other criterias, i.e the minimum income, i own my property, i have savings, and my husband passed his english test


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## murchie (Feb 11, 2013)

dove83 said:


> Hello ,
> 
> we have been refused the spouse visa due to missing of a couple of financial documents which we got ready by now any way . ( Just to mention , one of the 2 docs which they mention are missing was there and we are quit surprise they overlooked it ).
> 
> ...


do you mind if I ask, what were the documents that you were missing? I am applying for the spouse visa and quite worried.


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## ASKING (Jun 8, 2015)

hello everyone :
im maried with british oman in 2013.my visa settlment husband been refused in november 2014 ( we dont meet the Finacial requerment and someothers papiers) .december i send all papier back what they need . i recivid notification in 29 junuary that the tribunal has recivid all my papiers and they will be ansear after 29 april .that what they said .i have 2 question please : how long take that ?!now we are in june !!? and because my wife dont meet the finacial requerment and have friend is help about finacial is that ok.mean he sponsor me .thank you for answear


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

ASKING said:


> hello everyone :
> im maried with british oman in 2013.my visa settlment husband been refused in november 2014 ( we dont meet the Finacial requerment and someothers papiers) .december i send all papier back what they need . i recivid notification in 29 junuary that the tribunal has recivid all my papiers and they will be ansear after 29 april .that what they said .i have 2 question please : how long take that ?!now we are in june !!? and because my wife dont meet the finacial requerment and have friend is help about finacial is that ok.mean he sponsor me .thank you for answear


If your wife does not meet the financial requirements then you were rightly refused. 

No point in appealing you will be refused again.

A friend cannot help you with the finances. You wife must meet the financial requirements herself.


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