# Refusal fiance visa



## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Dear sirs,

I´m a brazilian guy and i met a british man over the internet, we started a relationship and last year i visited him in UK and stayed with him for 1 month.
This year he proposed me and i applied for the fiance visa.

I send all the documentation required from the immigration, including pictures of us both together, e-mails exchanged, cards, bank payslips, passaports, everything!

However, the consulate emailed me saying i have been refused and that they are sendin the documents back to me.

I got really shoked as i am sure the documents are all ok. The only think i have doubt is the fact he´s been married before and the divorce document i submitted was a copy, not original. You think this should be a reason to refuse the visa?


When i appeal my appeal request will be sent to the consulate in Brazil or to UK?

How long does it take an appeal usually?

I deeply appreciate your comments and guidance. I am really shoked cause i am sure we met all immigration requirements, yet they refused without even call any of us before.

Regards,
Francisco


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Franciscotelles said:


> Dear sirs,
> 
> I´m a brazilian guy and i met a british man over the internet, we started a relationship and last year i visited him in UK and stayed with him for 1 month.
> This year he proposed me and i applied for the fiance visa.
> ...


Wait until you get your documents back and read the refusal letter. Tell us what it says exactly about reasons for denial.
All appeals first go to the visa office that decided it for review by entry clearance manager. You may be lucky and the decision may be overturned. This can be quick and you may get your visa issued within weeks. If not, it will go to the tribunal in UK and that can take many months - some have been waiting almost a year.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Joppa,

In your opinion is it better to apply appeals over fax, courier or online?

I think i´ll appeal on line cause its easier and faster i guess. All i have to do is scan the documents and send them over tier 1 website, am i correct?

Thanks.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I think so. Follow the rules and procedure on UKBA site and in their refusal letter.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Hey guys, i really need your help!

The refusal letter just arrived.
The immigration states:

"You have applied for an entry clearence to settle in the UK as a proposed civil partner. You have not provided any evidence that arrangments to enter into this partnership have been made. Therefore, i am not satisfied that you are seeking entry to the UK to enable your civil partnership to take place."

I really dont understand why they came up with such a non sense refusal reason, because i gave them enough proves that we are arrangind our civil partnership.
I applied the following documents in my application:

- 50 e-mails exchanged since the beginning of our relationship until now.
- A letter from the landlord of the house stating that my fiance lives in the house and that its known i am moving to live with him in the same house from December on.
-* A letter from the registration service of the council stating that the civil partnership have been booked to Feb 1st. ( copy)*
- A picture of the engagement ring and its receipt.


What should i do to prove to them that the i do intend to carry on with the civil partnership????

I thank you in advance,
Francisco


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Franciscotelles said:


> What should i do to prove to them that the i do intend to carry on with the civil partnership????
> 
> I thank you in advance,
> Francisco


To be honest, I would have thought your evidence was okay, but obviously not - which is a shame. If it helps, what we provided for evidence of our proposed civil partnership was:

1. Booking date and address for our first appointment to see the Registrar at a Designated Registry Office (the notice and checks they make prior to granting your permission to marry).

2. The name, address and date of the Register Office conducting the actual ceremony (which in our case was to be held at a different Register Office), together with emailed receipt for payment and the ceremony book sent to us.

3. Name, address and receipt showing the hotel bookings we'd made for during and after the ceremony, which included bookings for friends and family attending.

(1) and (2) should have been sufficient. (3) is not usually recommended in case the visa is denied and your money lost as a result, but the hotel we booked had a good cancellation policy (full refund provided cancellation was given in writing a minimim 24 hours beforehand) so we took the risk.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Thank you.



But in my case we won´t have ceremony, so the only evidence i can come up with is a letter from the registery office stating that our civil partership is scheduled to take place.
His parents are also coming to our civil partnership but they will stay over with us, so no hotel bookings.


Do you know any additional evidence i could get to prove that our marriage will take place?


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## Sticker (Oct 8, 2012)

Franciscotelles said:


> Joppa,
> 
> In your opinion is it better to apply appeals over fax, courier or online?
> 
> ...


No,
When you appeal online, you will get a reference number and asked to send copies of the documents to the Tribunal office in London. You can not send scans online. 

Only the application can be filled online. the documents still need to be posted.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Franciscotelles said:


> Thank you.
> 
> But in my case we won´t have ceremony, so the only evidence i can come up with is a letter from the registery office stating that our civil partership is scheduled to take place. His parents are also coming to our civil partnership but they will stay over with us, so no hotel bookings.
> 
> Do you know any additional evidence i could get to prove that our marriage will take place?


The act of you becoming civil partners before a Registrar is still a 'ceremony' as such, even without guests. 

I would have thought a letter from the Registrar would be good enough to start with, but clearly more is needed here. And it IS hard when it's a case of waiting to see if you get a visa before making more steadfast arrangements. I have some ideas though...

Have you also booked your 'intention to become civil partners' appointment with a "designated" Register Office (there are 76 in England and Wales, and ALL ROs in Scotland are of 'designated' status)? This is the appointment where you both present your identification and proof that you are both legally free to become civil partners (ie if either of you has been in a previous marriage or CP, you can present legal proof of divorce). If not, book it as soon as possible. There are timing restrictions for this first appointment: it cannot be any sooner than at least 7 days and nights of you living in the UK on your fiancé visa, but it must also be 15 days or more before the actual civil partnership is due to take place. You probably won't receive any official confirmation of this appointment, but you can write in a letter that you've booked it.

Also in your letter, name the venue, date and time of your booked civil partnership occasion (as said, this is still your 'ceremony' - the occasion when you become civil partners before a Registrar). Enclose the confirmation you received from the Registrar for this (and if you think it helps, an original bank statement showing that the deposit was deducted). You can also mention in your letter who will be coming (e.g. your parents - and there's nothing wrong with a very small CP as long as there are a minimum two guests attending who can be witness). You definitely don't need to fill a room full of people and, in the case of CPs, they can very often be smaller occasions because not everyone is lucky enough to have a swathe of welcoming and supporting guests around them.

Also, try to think ahead about what your plans are immediately after. For example: are you planning to go for a small informal meal with immediiate family, going to a party, or going on a trip somewhere? Or are you cooking a meal at home for parents? ANY plan is a plan, so put it in writing. Detail your plans as much as you can just to prove you've thought about it, if not discussed it.



By the end of this, you should have in your letter:

1. Details of your initial 'designated' Registrar appointment (date, time and location)

2. Details of your Civil Partnership (date, time and location - and who you think will be attending)

3. An outline of any plans you have for after your Civil Partnership (if any). Mentioning what you plan to do at least shows that you have thought about it AND are planning it. We only went for an informal meal and drinks with immediate family and a couple of friends, so it doesn't have to be anything big or formal.

As for anything else, yes you can include the receipt and photo of the ring again (it won't hurt) and anything else you have. For example: do you have screenshots of any conversations where you talked with each other about your planned CP? Being an internet-based relationship, have a look through any emails, messages, chats etc to see if you talked about plans, and include those as screenshots separately from the other 'relationship evidence', highlighting relevant bits. 

On how to appeal, I have no real experience with this, but someone like Joppa might be able to offer words of advice on what you need to do with the info you put together and how to present it.

I wish you the very best of luck.


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

2farapart,

Thank you very much for your guidance! Your message was really helpful and gave me valuable insights!

I have one question, though. All i have is a letter from the registration office from the town where we´ll get married stating that the civil partnership has been booked.
However i dont know about this intention to become civil partner thing.

What do i have to do to arrange this "intention to become a civil partner" booking? I´ve never heard about it and i really dont know how to do it. 

Thanks in advance.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Anyone marrying or becoming Civil Partners at a Register Office must first give notice of their intention to marry. Basically, it's an appointment you make with the Registrar where you provide details of your identity and (if applicable), proof that you are free to marry legally (ie previous marriages or civil partnerships have been legally dissolved). This is routine for anyone not marrying in a church in the UK, so everyone must do it (not just overseas people) and you and your partner can attend together, though the Registrar will interview you both individually. You will be required to provide various forms of identity which the Registrar will check after your appointment. It's mentioned on this page: https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships under "Other marriages and civil partnerships".

This initial appointment doesn't have to be the Register Office where your ceremony will be (our appointment was at our nearest designated RO, but our ceremony was at another RO some 200 miles away nearer the bulk of family). If the identity checks are fine, you won't hear anything further; the Registrar logs on a computer system that your ceremony may proceed so that the RO where your ceremony will take place will know all is fine. If there_ are _any problems, the Registrar will contact you to advise.

When a ceremony will involve a non-UK national such as yourself, not all Register Offices are equipped with the facilities to check an overseas national's identity, and so you are more restricted in which office you can attend for this first appointment and you must attend one of 76 "designated" Register Offices in England and Wales (or ANY in Scoland because ALL ROs in Sctland carry "designated" status). Here is the latest list of designated ROs in England and Wales: http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consu...vernment/documents/digitalasset/dg_176374.pdf

You can book an appointment by telephone (they will advise on what identification you will need to bring). It's best to book as soon as you can because it seems some ROs have limited appointments. Our designated RO only offered appointments on Tuesday and Thurday mornings which is rather limited given how many people get married. Just bear in mind the time limits I mentioned (you have to have been resident for 7 days and nights in the UK first, but there must be at least 15 days (preferably more) before your ceremony date).


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

2farapart said:


> This is routine for anyone not marrying in a church in the UK


Strictly speaking, not in the Church of England or Church in Wales (Anglican). If you marry in any other church such as RC, Methodist, United Reformed etc or religious bodies like Islamic or Jewish, you still have to go through civil formalities (as well as any church/faith procedures as laid down by the individual denomination).


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## Franciscotelles (Oct 18, 2012)

Guys, i really need some help!

I have collected all additional evidences according to the Visa refusal request and sent my appeal to the Tribunal in UK. 

The tribunal staff told me that they are looking through my evidences, then will send to the embassy in Brasil so the ECM will have a chance to look through it again and overturn his decision. 

However, the staff couldn´t tell me when they will send it to Brazil and once it arrives in Brazil embassy, he told me the ECM will have from 6 to 19 weeks to handle it!!! This is a really big problem because my civil partnership has been booked to take place in the beginning of the 2013. Therefore, if they take too long to handle my appeal and make the decision i will miss my civil partnership booking!!!


In your opinion and experience, is there any option i have to highlight how important the timing issue is in my case and make them express the appeal decision????

Thanks in advance!
Francisco


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## mariag (May 1, 2014)

*Given notice of marriage (expired)*

Hi all,
We have been refused before, so now we are trying to gather evidence for the new fiance visa application. In order tu support our intention of get married, last application we provided a certificate that we got when we gave notice at the registry office, on a trip I made to Uk, but this certificate expired last month. It is necessary to book a new appointment and show that paper as evidence?
Or the letter from the priest saying he is able to celebrate our wedding on October 4th or a flexible date till we get our visa in determinated church, in determinate church will be enough?

thank you all in advance for all your help!


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## AmyD (Jan 12, 2013)

You must show that the plans are well advanced. An expired paper is not enough. You need to show receipts for rings, a wedding gown, flowers, honeymoon, etc. You don't have to have a big wedding but you must show that you're coming to the UK to attend a wedding that is *already* planned, not that you'll plan the wedding when you get here.


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## mariag (May 1, 2014)

AmyD said:


> You must show that the plans are well advanced. An expired paper is not enough. You need to show receipts for rings, a wedding gown, flowers, honeymoon, etc. You don't have to have a big wedding but you must show that you're coming to the UK to attend a wedding that is *already* planned, not that you'll plan the wedding when you get here.


Hi AMyD, so you think will be better if we try to get the appointment to give notice? The point here is the next: My partner phone to the registry office and they said they cannot give him an appointment before me be there in the uk. Next: we have the letter from priest delcaring the date, time and place. My got a letter from England´s Glory, the place for the recpetion, with date, and the price but they will not book the place if we dont show my visa first, so they only extend that letter. My fiance did not get rings now because I want to choose them together, I have the engagment rign only, my mother make my wedding dress, she is dressmaker, I dont know how to prove all this.

What would you recommend?


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