# Visa refused but not rejected



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

Im not quite sure what the difference between refused and rejected is so if you can help that would be appreciated 

So after waiting 14 weeks I finally get the bad news my fiancé has been refused a fiancé visa on the apparent grounds that I don't earn enough money the payslips I sent show me earning about £15000 a year. He submitted back in may so we thought the new rules wouldn't affect us, they asked for more statements and the earliest I could get them there was the 10th of July so now I'm thinking it's all my fault ...... My fiance says that everything else with his folder was ok but im still unsure as to why in all this time they have not spoken to me once ..... 

If anyone can give any information I would appreciate it im feeling the worst I've ever felt at this moment in time and am unsure as to what I can do next


----------



## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Unfortunately, bank statements are THE most critical in proving financial standing. Did you supply a full six months of statements (originals) with your application?

I'm so sorry you were refused, but with more info it's possible to make an appeal because, under old rules, £15,000 should have been okay. But it all depends on the statements you originally sent and what they showed.


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

I sent bank statements with the first application some were just off internet and then they asked me to submit more so I sent for all of them from last 6 months I had savings of over £30000 about £4000 in my account and it showed that about £1200 in wages were going in every 4 weeks so I thought I would be ok..... I managed to get them to him at beginning of July but he couldn't get an appointment til 10 of July and he submitted then. He says there saying they didn't have full application til after 10 July so that's the date there using but everything on here says its when first application was made and that was back in may so now I'm just very confused and extremely disappointed I would just leave every thing and go there but then in future there's no chance of coming back here as I won't have a job so won't be earning enough so now it's an even worse position


----------



## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

The date of your application is the date on which you actually paid for it (this is also stated on the UKBA site). Did you pay for it prior to 9th July? If not, then the UKBA is right in their decision about which rules you will be considered under. The key is when your fiancé was able to pay.

Under the new rules, providing you've been earning the £15,000 with the same employer for longer than 6 months, and you held at least £25,000 in a bank account within your (or your fiancé's control) for at least 6 months too, you _should_ meet the new requirement. But reading what you've mentioned, one potential big mistake was providing internet-printed statements. Was each page of these stamped by your bank? If not, the UKBA would have disregarded them (their guidance states clearly that they will not accept internet-printed statements unless each is stamped by the bank) and so you in effect provided no finance proof other than pay slips - or at least not enough originals for the required period (this would have been the case under the old rules too). If this is so, you urgently need to obtain original statements for 6 months direct from the bank. I recommend visiting a local branch with urgency.


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

He paid for it in may and had an interview not long after .... In the first things he applied with there were a mixture of both Internet and original statements as our solicitor said this would be ok although now I've realised she weren't a good solicitor she said would take about a month then once this time past she said she knew it would be refused so I thought why have I paid you so much money for you to supply me with something that will get refused so after this we decided not to use her anymore ....
They have full original bank statement for previous 6 months showing all my money they also asked for a housing report so I sent that they had photos payslips my passport our bills etc everything they needed there was a letter confirming when we were going to get married etc so I'm just really confused ..... Unfortunatly these dates were in August so this is going to need rearranging just to make it more complicated ..... We thought the best part of 4 months would have allowed enough time but obviously not


----------



## mehemlynn (Nov 16, 2011)

Burt888 said:


> I sent bank statements with the first application some were just off internet and then they asked me to submit more so I sent for all of them from last 6 months I had savings of over £30000 about £4000 in my account and it showed that about £1200 in wages were going in every 4 weeks so I thought I would be ok..... I managed to get them to him at beginning of July but he couldn't get an appointment til 10 of July and he submitted then. He says there saying they didn't have full application til after 10 July so that's the date there using but everything on here says its when first application was made and that was back in may so now I'm just very confused and extremely disappointed I would just leave every thing and go there but then in future there's no chance of coming back here as I won't have a job so won't be earning enough so now it's an even worse position


I'm trying to understand your timeline and what was when. I see you are applying from Pakistan and used a solicitor.

In May you sent an application with internet bank statements (to UKBA or Solicitor?).
In early July you sent more statements (to UKBA or Solicitor?).
On July 10 there was an appointment with UKBA.

So I guess that my question is, did you actually apply in May or was it at in person appointment on July 10? If it was an in person appointment on July 10 and the application wasn't submitted before then, you would have been on the new rules. So who asked for the further documents, your solicitor or UKBA?

I don't know how Pakistan dates the application. In some countries it is when you do the biometrics, because it is a paper application sent in. The online applications are the date filed and paid.

If your application is dated July 10, then you would have been under the new rules - so with your £15000 per year you would have had to have proven £25,000 in savings (which your notes above say you have), but it would have had to have been in your control for at least 6 months. The bank statements all needed to be from the bank or have each page stamped from the bank.

You may have an appeal, but I'm just not sure - someone with more knowledge may know.


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

My fiancé returned to Pakistan in April he did speaking test and tb test then went to Islamabad in roughly middle may about 3 weeks after returning to Pakistan. He submitted everything then. About 1 week later he went back again and had an interview after this they requested more bank statements and had spoken to solicitor about a housing report so she helped with that I then posted everything together and he recieved in Pakistan at beginning of July as soon as he got he made an appointment but he couldn't get til 10 July so he submitted the new things then. 

I have 2 jobs so in total I am probably earning enough for the new limit but the solicitor told me not to include this stuff as the hours are not regular and it is not contracted but I have pay slips and a p60 showing what I've earnt in total so were going to try appeal with this as he said in interview I have 2 jobs but I think this is my last hope


----------



## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

I'm so sorry. It is lamentable that a solicitor should leave you in this position. A basic requirement is original bank statements and she should have known this. Additionally, an application taking a month does not mean a refusal; it just means 'UKBA workload'. 

If you had a full set of original bank statements leading up to the point that the UKBA received your package (presumably in May), that should have been okay as far as your documents are concerned. The fact that UKBA didn't do anything until July is normal for most countries and they would have recognised that his application was in May and that your statement would therefore need to cover the 6-month (ideally - though the minimum used to be 3 months) period up to May. Something seems to have gone wrong at this point. Either the period covered wasn't suitable, some statements were not originals (or stamped by the bank if prints), there was a concern about available money or the application simply wasn't complete. In these situations, I don't know whether the UKBA would indeed decide that you will now be considered under the new rules instead.

Do the latest bank accounts show that you still hold £30,000? If you don't have £25,000 or more between you any longer, this might be why the visa has been refused (if UKBA are indeed fitting you under the new rules).

Question for Joppa: is it worth Burt888 contacting UKBA to enquire about whether the old rules DO apply in this case (ie if payment for the application was made (and accepted) in May?


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

I sent 3 different bank accounts statements all for past 6 months 2 savings accounts 1 has £30000 and 1 had £10000 and then my current account which I get paid into has about £4000 I'm dissappinted it's cos of money cos I've saved really hard all my life and the only thing I've been spending on is the necessary things such as car insurance food etc plus all the solicitors fees etc that's been over £5000 including application fees. I need to check the letter my fiancé received as maybe there is a different reason cos I can't believe it's just for money unless there using new rules


----------



## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

It doesn't sound like it could be money to me either.

Provided there was at least six months statements for your savings too (originals), then I'm not sure why the UKBA asked for more statements.

Your solicitor does not deserve that money for what she (hasn't) done for you. It would be different if you simply didn't meet the requirement, but based on what you've said here, you do, but UKBA were not satisfied by *something*. Your solicitor as at least partly responsible.

Yes, it would be interesting to know exactly what has been said by them. I'm so sorry.


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

Im going to read the letter he was sent tomorrow so then I can find out exactly what was wrong i'll post my findings on here. He says he can appeal 3 times but I don't fancy waiting that long. I think there must be something else but he just said its from not having enough money. I've never recieved any benefits and already have to much in savings to get them so it doesn't make sense


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

So I've still not seen the letter but he is currently speaking with a solicitor in Pakistan who will hopefully be better than the one over here as she was useless I think they want us to be refused first time so we pay more money for them to get it right when we appeal but this won't be happening...... Hopefully the solicitor will tell us where it went wrong and what we need to do next so then hopefully sucsessful next time 

Does anyone out there know how difficult it would be for me to get a visa to live in Pakistan as this may be the only option left soon .... In scared but willing to do anything so we can be together again ...... The only problem with doing that is it means we will never be able to live together in England as if I leave I would no longer have a job so wouldn't earn the correct amount of money


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Burt888 said:


> So I've still not seen the letter but he is currently speaking with a solicitor in Pakistan who will hopefully be better than the one over here as she was useless I think they want us to be refused first time so we pay more money for them to get it right when we appeal but this won't be happening...... Hopefully the solicitor will tell us where it went wrong and what we need to do next so then hopefully sucsessful next time
> 
> Does anyone out there know how difficult it would be for me to get a visa to live in Pakistan as this may be the only option left soon .... In scared but willing to do anything so we can be together again ...... The only problem with doing that is it means we will never be able to live together in England as if I leave I would no longer have a job so wouldn't earn the correct amount of money


Two years ago it was pretty easy to get a visa to live in Pakistan (a one-page form to fill in, copy of my husband's passport and that was it, a week later I had the visa) but that was from Germany and since these kind of things are reciprocal it might be considerably more difficult from the UK.

Usually you would get a visa that needs to be renewed on a yearly basis. I know a German woman who is on these one-year visas since the mid-seventies.

One thing to check: there was a change in law in Pakistan early this year, abolishing in-country visa renewal. A complete catastrophe of course. I don't know whether they have rolled that back, yet or not.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Burt888 said:


> Does anyone out there know how difficult it would be for me to get a visa to live in Pakistan as this may be the only option left soon .... In scared but willing to do anything so we can be together again ...... The only problem with doing that is it means we will never be able to live together in England as if I leave I would no longer have a job so wouldn't earn the correct amount of money


I just had to go heads to heads with the Pakistan Embassy in Berlin and had to think of you, reading through the POC section of their web site.

No matter how your situation works out, it could be a good idea to apply for a POC = Pakistan Origin Card (valid 7 years, allowing visa-free travel, etc.).

Embassy of Pakistan - POC

They keep changing the rules about whether spouses can apply or not, at the moment it appears to be possible.

I didn't find anything about the POC on the web site of the Embassy in London but that could be because the UK does not require to renounce citizenship when being naturalised. 

Can't hurt to ask them, though


----------



## Burt888 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks for that it was an interesting read i think I'm going to go to the place in Bradford so I'll ask about it there, we're not married yet so it may be more difficult although it is good knowing what options are out there for myself. Hopefully he will be applying again in the next week so I'll just wait and see what happens.... Just waiting for my statements and payslips to reach him then he can reapply.... Hopefully before September as that's when his speaking test runs out and also it's nearly 3 months since we did housing report and things so we need to do things quickly


----------

