£400 For A Month?

[a man with a plan]

If I were to get a solicitor involved... which I have absolutely no experience in, would it be a fairly straight forward case i.e. they are clearly in the wrong, also, would I be entitled to get the second visa fee back along with lost earnings and solicitor fees?

Also we just found out a week ago that the missus is pregnant (we've wanted a baby for a while now so it's good news - everyone keeps asking 'Oh, is that good or bad news?) so would we be able to play the 'I want compensation for the fact that my wife has had all the stress of awaiting the home offices 'decision' on her visa extension and being suspended from work and the stress isn't healthy for the baby' card?

[the scouser]

In terms of law, nothing is clear cut and guaranteed, but there's no doubting that you are doubly out of pocket: having to pay for two BIA applications, and you wife has now been suspended w/o pay because of the BIA's failure to properly implement the relevant legislation. Indeed, the caseworker who is dealing with your wife's current application probably doesn't see the irony of asking you for additional documentation in respect of a relationship which the BIA itself accepted as being genuine only a month ago.

Get a good solicitor, take an hour's consultation and make your mind up from there.

Scouse.

[vinny]

Also we just found out a week ago that the missus is pregnant (we've wanted a baby for a while now so it's good news - everyone keeps asking 'Oh, is that good or bad news?)

Congratulations! See also The Pregnancy Book 2007 and Birth to five: 2007 edition

[the scouser]

In addition to being an immigration adviser, Vinny is also an obstetrician. Is there no end to the man's talents?

Scouse.

[a man with a plan]

Finally got the wifes pasport through the post this morning with the visa extended up til the end of '09. So I was happy... until I sat down with a calculator and added up that between unneccessary visa fees and lost earning due to suspension from work, this has put us £645 out of pocket; and as Scouse said before...

If the BIA has given the OP's wife a two-year extension from the outset, none of this would have transpired.

Scouse.

I've already sent a couple of letter s to my MP, is there anything more proactive I can do? Because quite simply - I want my money back! Not because I miss the money but because of the principle; and because the home office d!cked us around like that.

[Governor]

Just beeen reading this, it's simply awful - did you get any joy with any compensation?

[a man with a plan]

Hi guys, this is an old post now - in fact it's taken a year with all the faffing about.

It was really frustrating and the end result is that they just wouldn't admit that they were wrong.

Just as a brief recap...

My wife came here with a settlement visa, when the initial 2 year one was nearly expired we applied for the two year extension - the FLR. The FLR costs £400 and gives you a 2 year extension. It does not have any time bound stipulations as for when you can apply for it.

the other option is obviously the ILR, which costs £700 pounds, you have to have been here for a minimum of two years and have passed the life in the uk test or a certain level of esol.

we applied for the FLR, the passport came back with a months extension instead of 2 years.

I had to immediately had to apply for another FLR or my wife would become an illegal immigrant. I also sent a letter asking why I had been she had been given only a months extension when it should have been 2 years.

They replied, you need to be here a minimum of 2 years to apply for ILR... I sent another letter saying, we applied for FLR - not ILR (it's pretty obvious just from the amount of money I paid - £400 - not £700). They said we haven't made a mistake and won't refund your first £400.

I wrote to my MP, he said he'd look into it. Months later I got a letter back saying - 'They are not in the wrong as it appears you have to be here for a minimum of 2 years in order to get an ILR'... and so I replied - 'We applied for the FLR - NOT ILR' I also gave him copies of the rules and regs that clearly state that you do not have to have been here 2 years to apply for FLR, and that I should be refunded'

He then sent a letter to the Home Office (and forwarded a copy to me) saying - 'Mr and Mrs AMWAP are in the right, you have wrongfully charged them twice and should refund them immediately.

Then the home office said that they were deciding. I sent them a few letters in the meantime but they kept replying that they were still deciding.

They spent about 7 months deciding. Then sent me a letter saying - We have not made a mistake and will not refund the money. Case Closed.

They also said that many many people make the same 'mistake' each year... i.e. they pull this little con on thousands of people a year.

I really want to kick up a big stink. If the home office cons a thousand out of £400 a year, then they've just made a nice little £400,000 bonus from the pockets of those fearing deportation.

Anyone know the best place to start?

[DC1066]

You've got my sympathies.

The problem is getting through the thick brick wall of bureaucracy that is this particular agency and you can't get through to talk to anyone who makes a decision.

My gut instinct would be the same as you and to fight on principle, but you have to weigh up this decision against this and another year of banging your head against this particular brick wall.

Incidently I'm worried about the same issue your wife faced.

We've applied for ILR a couple of weeks ago and my wife's employer has said that when her visa runs out next week, she needs to see evidence that she still has the right to work.

As Scouse mentioned above, I know whilst the visa application is in progress she still has the same rights, but I don't expect her employer to know this and I also don't expect to get any help from the agency in confirming these rights.

I'll wait and see what happens.

Once again, good luck in whatever you decide to do in your case.

[Bangyai]

Hi guys, this is an old post now - in fact it's taken a year with all the faffing about.

It was really frustrating and the end result is that they just wouldn't admit that they were wrong.

Just as a brief recap...

My wife came here with a settlement visa, when the initial 2 year one was nearly expired we applied for the two year extension - the FLR. The FLR costs £400 and gives you a 2 year extension. It does not have any time bound stipulations as for when you can apply for it.

the other option is obviously the ILR, which costs £700 pounds, you have to have been here for a minimum of two years and have passed the life in the uk test or a certain level of esol.

we applied for the FLR, the passport came back with a months extension instead of 2 years.

I had to immediately had to apply for another FLR or my wife would become an illegal immigrant. I also sent a letter asking why I had been she had been given only a months extension when it should have been 2 years.

They replied, you need to be here a minimum of 2 years to apply for ILR... I sent another letter saying, we applied for FLR - not ILR (it's pretty obvious just from the amount of money I paid - £400 - not £700). They said we haven't made a mistake and won't refund your first £400.

I wrote to my MP, he said he'd look into it. Months later I got a letter back saying - 'They are not in the wrong as it appears you have to be here for a minimum of 2 years in order to get an ILR'... and so I replied - 'We applied for the FLR - NOT ILR' I also gave him copies of the rules and regs that clearly state that you do not have to have been here 2 years to apply for FLR, and that I should be refunded'

He then sent a letter to the Home Office (and forwarded a copy to me) saying - 'Mr and Mrs AMWAP are in the right, you have wrongfully charged them twice and should refund them immediately.

Then the home office said that they were deciding. I sent them a few letters in the meantime but they kept replying that they were still deciding.

They spent about 7 months deciding. Then sent me a letter saying - We have not made a mistake and will not refund the money. Case Closed.

They also said that many many people make the same 'mistake' each year... i.e. they pull this little con on thousands of people a year.

I really want to kick up a big stink. If the home office cons a thousand out of £400 a year, then they've just made a nice little £400,000 bonus from the pockets of those fearing deportation.

Anyone know the best place to start?

My sympathies. Sounds like you've had a lot of grief. I have had dealings with the home office myself and found them as you have described ... beyond belief. If possible, it might be advisable trying to phone them instead of sending correspondance. This is next to impossible as the lines ( probably just one ) are always engaged. It took me days to get through but I finaly managed to speak to someone and get their name so that I could deal with only them in future instead of an anonymous bureaucrat. Even better go in person. You could also try getting some legal advice...might help ?

[vinny]

I wrote to my MP, he said he'd look into it. Months later I got a letter back saying - 'They are not in the wrong as it appears you have to be here for a minimum of 2 years in order to get an ILR'... and so I replied - 'We applied for the FLR - NOT ILR' I also gave him copies of the rules and regs that clearly state that you do not have to have been here 2 years to apply for FLR, and that I should be refunded'

He then sent a letter to the Home Office (and forwarded a copy to me) saying - 'Mr and Mrs AMWAP are in the right, you have wrongfully charged them twice and should refund them immediately.

Then the home office said that they were deciding. I sent them a few letters in the meantime but they kept replying that they were still deciding.

They spent about 7 months deciding. Then sent me a letter saying - We have not made a mistake and will not refund the money. Case Closed.

They also said that many many people make the same 'mistake' each year... i.e. they pull this little con on thousands of people a year.

I really want to kick up a big stink. If the home office cons a thousand out of £400 a year, then they've just made a nice little £400,000 bonus from the pockets of those fearing deportation.

Understandable. If they had admitted that it was their mistake, then they probably would have to refund a lot of people. Interestingly, Family Settlement Visas Now Valid For 27 Months.

Edited November 1, 2008 by vinny

[mrbojangles]

Cheers Vinny. At last they seem to have done something reasonably sensible for a change. As many of the applicants don't travel on the day the visa starts, they were unaware of the short time frame to apply for FLR. The should stop any confusion, the old way caused.

[a man with a plan]

Yeah, that was always a bit of a catch there. Unless they arrived in the UK the same day that the visa was granted - it's actually impossible to get the ILR the first time round. Because you have to have been here at least 2 years to the day to apply, which means that unless you want to be here illegally for a week or so, you can't do it.

[yaketyak]

I can actually see what both sides are saying in this farce.

Unfortunately i don't have the time to thoroughly read and digest each post , but its clear to me that either the BIA are right (from my quick reading it seems they are not right) or they are not. How can there be a grey area? So how can this possibly take long to solve .?

There should be a way to ring them up , speak to someone senior (as you can with any normal organisation) point out the problem , have it looked at overnight and solved one way or the other in the morning. Instead there is little redress and that which does exist deliberately takes months or even years to get looked at. The whole system of immigration is deliberately shrouded by a lack of speed and complete disregard for the implications of their decisions on peoples' lives. Thats how the Govt want it to be. Unfortunately thats how the opposition want it to be as well so no change in our immediate lifetimes.

Of course if this farce of a Life in the UK test didn't exist at all a lot of this particular problem would not exist either.

[DC1066]

Latest update in this pain-in-the-ass string of events; my wife got to work this morning to be told she has to be suspended until she can show the company up-to-date documents proving she's allowed to work in the UK. So now she's fuming about lossed earnings on top of all the hassle we've had.

As predicted, we got a call from my wife's employer yesterday - her day off - saying that she is not allowed to go back to work unless she can show them a valid visa.

I called them and explained that she is still legally allowed to work whilst the latest visa application is being processed. They've asked to see some form of official confirmation that the application has been submitted. My wife has to take them the letter confirming receipt of the application before she can start work again - which she is doing tomorrow. Hopefully this will be ok, but watch this space.

P.s. visa application now in for 3 weeks and counting - fingernails getting ever shorter !!