# Spouse Visa Refused



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Hello 

My wife's spouse visa was recently denied on 15th May 2014, applied 14th February 2014, notice received 27th May in Nigeria. The visa was denied under the eligibility for entry clearance as a partner.

I stated in my sponsor introduction letter that my wife was introduced to me by my sister in October 2011. I first visited her in November 2011, then June 2012, November 2012, May 2013 and November 2013. We got married in Nigeria on the November 2013 visit.

My intention was to apply for the visa while i was in Nigeria in December 2013. But my wife didnt obtain the required pass mark for english test. She has since passed a second time. And i forgot my birth certificate in the UK. 

1. The first reason for refusal was we only sent photos of us together on three separate occasions. And i had phone records (Lyca mobile) from 10/6/12 to 27/11/12 and from 03/06/2013 to 25/11/2013. We have not shown evidence of contact throughout the relationship.I could understand the phone records, i thought if i had few months that will be enough. That was an oversight in my part. contacted Lyca mobile last week and was told i could only obtain 12 months call history from the day of request so now i can only obtain June 2013 to June 2014. We didn't include text messages. We communicated by phone and text

I have been able to access text messages my wife sent me on my Nokia N95 phone. the earliest dating back to December 2011 and at least 1 or 2 or 3 messages for every month upto November 2013. So it shows communication throughout the two years although my phone doesnt save sent messages as much. So i only have sent messages from August last year.

I dont have a tonne of photos of us together but i have a few in my ipad which i didnt send that i could add to match the four visits i made. I included photos on two separate visits, photos of our wedding, photos of our honeymoon in dubai in December 2013.

2. The second reason really was another oversight by me, because we sent 6 months bank statements and payslips up to December 2013. Infact i sent April to December for both. Because i had originally intended to submit the application in December or early January while i was in Nigeria for the wedding and we actually submitted on the 14th of Feb 2014 as such the bank statements were dated more than 28 days days before the date of application.


I need your help please on the next step, should i contact a lawyer here in the UK to help me lodge an appeal so they they can review my application with the missing supporting docs i.e. January bank statements and payslips, extra photos and text messages i downloaded or consider re-applying

Also i hear it takes up to six months for appeals to get through, is that for every case?

Thank You for taking the time to read the post and hope to hear from you


Cheers


----------



## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

If it was me, I would probably submit a new application because I don't think the appeal is going to cost less (well, I think the lawyer's fees are going to be probably in excess of the visa fees), you can easily submit the documents over which you were rejected (maybe it would be good if you could find the plane tickets as well) and it will probably be faster than appealing.

You should probably type out the entire refusal letter or the reasons for refusal. I remember someone was refused recently possibly because the marriage was not recognised by the UKVI (they failed to inform the embassy when they got married). You don't want to be refused again because you misunderstood the reasons for refusal.


----------



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Thank You for tour reply Ashkevron...Here is the reasons for refussal as stated in the letter:

1. " In support of your application you have provided a marriage certificate, photographs and Lyca Mobil records. The photographs provided are of your wedding, time together in Nigeria and in the UAE. Your sponsor has stated in the 'Letter for spouse sponsorship' that he was first introduced to you in October 2011 and he first visited you in November 2011. He goes onto further state he visited you in June 2012, October 2012, May 2013 and November 2013. I would expect to see photographs showing other stages of your relationship and of times you state you have seen each other. However the photographs submitted of you and your sponsor together in Nigeria only shows you and your sponsor being together on 3 separate occasions. The Lyca mobile records that you have provided only shows calls made between 10/06/2012 to 27/11/2012 and from 03/06/2013 to 25/11/2013. On the basis of this evidence, you have not shown evidence of contact between you and your sponsor for the whole of your relationship. 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 others welfare and well being throughout the entire duration of your relationship.

Having considered all of this I am not satisfied your relationship is genuine and subsisting or that you intend to live together permanently in the UK

2. Financial Requirement: 

"You have stated you wish to rely on your sponsors earnings from salaried employment. You have stated your sponsor earns 20k per year. Appendix FM-SE states that you need to provide wage slips and bank statements covering 6 months prior to the date of application and a letter from your sponsors employer confirming the terms of their emplyment and salary. Appendix FM-SE also states that evidence must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the date of application and that bank statement should cover the same period as pay slips. Whilst i acknowledge you submitted a letter from your sponsors employer confirming employment, no wage slips have been submitted which covers 6 month period to the date of application. You have also submitted bank statements from 17.04.13 until 16.12.13 reflecting your sponsors monthly income. You submitted your application on 14.02.14 and as such these bank statements are dated 28 days before the date of application. In light of the df the documentation submitted with your application, I am satisfied you have not provided all of the require documents"

"I have therefore refused your application because i am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities, that you have met all of the requirements of the relevant Paragraph of the UK Immigration rules"

Thank you for taking the time to read the above.

As i said earlier I have text messages from my wife from Dec 2011 to Nov 2013, and i can provide the bank statement to May 2014 and corresponding payslips. I do have some photos taken on 3 separate occasions in my ipad which i could include to support my appeal

Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I'm not surprised. There is always extra scrutiny of Nigerian applications because of high incidence of fraud and deception. They do demand solid, continual evidence of devotion and attachment over the entire period of relationship. While some other nationalities may get away with less, you really have to pull all the stops to show your relationship is genuine and subsisting. So make sure in any future application you cover every stage of your relationship with evidence.

You were clearly wrong in supplying out-of-date statement and payslips. If only you had asked us before submission, we could have pointed out to you. So next time make sure your evidence is up to date and complete.

You can appeal but that can take up to a year. If you re-apply with new evidence and documents, and pay again, you can be approved in a month or two.


----------



## Pannyann (May 31, 2014)

Joppa said:


> I'm not surprised. There is always extra scrutiny of Nigerian applications because of high incidence of fraud and deception. They do demand solid, continual evidence of devotion and attachment over the entire period of relationship. While some other nationalities may get away with less, you really have to pull all the stops to show your relationship is genuine and subsisting. So make sure in any future application you cover every stage of your relationship with evidence.
> 
> You were clearly wrong in supplying out-of-date statement and payslips. If only you had asked us before submission, we could have pointed out to you. So next time make sure your evidence is up to date and complete.
> 
> You can appeal but that can take up to a year. If you re-apply with new evidence and documents, and pay again, you can be approved in a month or two.



I also have applied from Nigeria and I also didn't have call records from the start if my relationship. To be honest I wasn't thinking about collating evidence in the early days as we were the same as all people in new relationships no idea what will happen as nobody can predict the future. Am worried now as at the start I used to use a calling card. I explained all this in intro letter. I wish the ECO would understand that you don't start out in a relationship with a visa in mind. 

Also Joppa if you meet the financial threshold do they also scrutinise how you spend your money each month and the balance?


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Pannyann said:


> Also Joppa if you meet the financial threshold do they also scrutinise how you spend your money each month and the balance?


They don't care how you spend your money.


----------



## Pannyann (May 31, 2014)

nyclon said:


> They don't care how you spend your money.


Thanks for your help.


----------



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Thank You Joppa for your advice, I will definately consult you before we re-apply and list the supporting documents.

If we re-apply, do we explain to the officer that we previously applied and missed certain supporting documents?

Also can i use the text messages which show a continuous communication from my wife dating back to December 2011 as i dont have continous call history only for the last 12months which i've requested from Lyca Mobile. 

Thank You for your help


----------



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Just a quick one, They posted the supporting documents to me here in the UK. To re-apply i guess i will have to post them back to my wife or can i post them to Sheffield while my wife submits the application and her passport in Nigeria.

Thank You


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

In your next application, you must declare visa refusal, give brief details, take responsibility and you are remedying the errors and omissions.
Anything that shows continual line of communication should be submitted.
You can send the documents to Sheffield yourself, but they will be returned to Nigeria.


----------



## yunnipie (May 12, 2014)

Joppa said:


> I'm not surprised. There is always extra scrutiny of Nigerian applications because of high incidence of fraud and deception. They do demand solid, continual evidence of devotion and attachment over the entire period of relationship. While some other nationalities may get away with less, you really have to pull all the stops to show your relationship is genuine and subsisting. So make sure in any future application you cover every stage of your relationship with evidence.


Joppa - I will be applying from the US, and am a little concerned. We have screenshots of our Skype conversations, but when we updated the app on our phones it deleted records prior to February of this year - precisely two months. Will it be a problem that we cannot account for phone calls, but can show texts on Whatsapp, from the start of the relationship?


----------



## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Joppa I am now in a similar situation. I used my old sony Ericsson phone at the start of my relationship in 2011. That phone couldn't store many text messages so I had to keep deleting them. I have since changed my phone several times. I looked back at my old phones and text messages and it only goes back to last year. I have no text messages dating back to 2011. I also used sim cards available in the country I visited with my husband. Also in 2011 when met my husband I also didn't think of visa processing etc. I consider my relationship as a relationship at that time boyfriend and girlfriend. What shall we do now?


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

In either case, do you have other evidence such as photos, travel tickets, accommodation receipts etc that show continuing devotion and contact?


----------



## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Yes, I have flight tickets and photos. Accommodation hotel reservations are either in my name or my husbands. Not both names.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

That's fine. Make some kind of a timeline and ensure you have at least one piece of evidence every 3-6 months of your relationship, in a Facebook fashion.


----------



## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Thank you for your advice. X


----------



## Ob111 (May 23, 2014)

Joppa said:


> I'm not surprised. There is always extra scrutiny of Nigerian applications because of high incidence of fraud and deception. They do demand solid, continual evidence of devotion and attachment over the entire period of relationship. While some other nationalities may get away with less, you really have to pull all the stops to show your relationship is genuine and subsisting. So make sure in any future application you cover every stage of your relationship with evidence.
> 
> You were clearly wrong in supplying out-of-date statement and payslips. If only you had asked us before submission, we could have pointed out to you. So next time make sure your evidence is up to date and complete.
> 
> You can appeal but that can take up to a year. If you re-apply with new evidence and documents, and pay again, you can be approved in a month or two.


Hi Joopa... Quick question do you need to send skype screenshots amd phone records even if my passport shows i was in d uk in march and i had put on my application i was travelling with my husband.. And most of all we have been married for over 3 years and we lived together all thru this period except now am waiting for my visa.. And our marriage has been probed everytime we have applied for our kids british passport.. We have submitted wedding albums and pictures everytime. Now i just submited my album and pictures of us during our relationship and marriage. But i did nt send call logs or nothing... I have none of that right now esp for our relationship that started in 2008


----------



## QBOY1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Joppa can I ask that the whatsapp messages I have some are private and some in English and some in another language so how does this work? I do feel uneasy printing out private conversations. Also I have phone records mostly as where my wife lives phone is the best option. 
2ND question is that I use to send money to my wife every other month however because she lives in Pakistan and its very hard for women to go out and about to the bank to collect money I sent the money in my father in law name. can I send the receipts? and explain this

PLEASE HELP both questions. thanks ever so much


----------



## helpmeplz (Sep 23, 2013)

QBO1, just get some screens shots of messages sent every month with the time and date. They don't need to know/read the whole conversation, just make sure it shows the time/date, and your wife's mobile number. Which you can also take a screenshot of. If you use skype/facetime, get screen-shots of that too. This can be proof that you are in a constant relationship, and are communicating.

Sending money also proves this, but it should be in your wife's name, and not anyone else's.


----------



## QBOY1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Thanks for your help, it's so frustrating that I sent money throughout whole year i was apart but in my wife's dad name as the situation in Pakistan and where my wife live is not like In the city. It's proven that's her dad and I can always explain that.


----------



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Thank You for your help Joppa...Regarding the appeal, what are the chances for my spouse visa decision will be overturned by the ECM if i send extra pictures, text messages received from my wife from Dec 2011 to Nov 2013 and 6 months payslips and bank statements Aug2013 to January 2014 as the original application was submitted 14th Feb 2014. I am a crossroads whether to appeal or re-apply

I visited my wife recently in April 2014...can i use new evidence i.e. my ticket, call history for last six months and couple of pics we took while i visited her with the appeal docs?

Thank you


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Sagent said:


> Thank You for your help Joppa...Regarding the appeal, what are the chances for my spouse visa decision will be overturned by the ECM if i send extra pictures, text messages received from my wife from Dec 2011 to Nov 2013 and 6 months payslips and bank statements Aug2013 to January 2014 as the original application was submitted 14th Feb 2014. I am a crossroads whether to appeal or re-apply
> 
> I visited my wife recently in April 2014...can i use new evidence i.e. my ticket, call history for last six months and couple of pics we took while i visited her with the appeal docs?
> 
> Thank you


You can't submit new evidence in an appeal. You can only use evidence which existed at the time of application.


----------



## Sagent (May 29, 2014)

Thank You Nyclon, do you suggest i go ahead and lodge an appeal? 

Regarding the supporting documents, they were returned to me here in the U.K i.e. wedding pics, wifes english test scores, TB test, land registry docs, gas bills, council tax letter, birth certificate for both, letter from employer confirming my employment and salary. The question is should i only send the documents related to the initial refusal: all pics, text messages history downloaded from my phone as i dont have a complete call history, 6 month payslips and bank statements or send the whole supporting documents all over again

Thank you for your patience


----------

