Hi everyone,

I've got a big problem at the moment so hopefully someone can help or give some advise on what to do next.

I applied for a UK indefinite leave to remain visa for my wife (from Myanmar) in February and have just had the application returned as it was invalid. The reason given for this was that they couldn't process the payment, and I think this is probably because the card I used to pay expired in May. I was sure initially that I had paid on a different card but this is the only possible reason I can think of.

Anyway, I called up the Border Agency to find out what to do next and they said the only advice they could give was for my wife to leave the country and apply for entry again. This is not a possibility for us as we have two small children (One three years old and the other 3 weeks old) and as a Citizen of Myanmar, wouldn't my wife be facing arrest by returning home as it's illegal for a person from Myanmar to marry a foreigner?

Any advice on what to do next, or recommended immigration advisors in North West London, etc would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Dan

I am surprised that they wont let her re-submit the application with the correct payment. I'm sure that they used to, when the payment was taken immediately the application was received. Now that they seem to wait until an application has reached the head of the queue for processing before taking payment it may have changed. Maybe you should try calling them again; unfortunately at times their helpline is not very helpful!

The OISC adviser finder will help you locate an adviser in your area, should you decide that you need one.

If she faces arrest on return to Myanmar simply for marrying a foreigner, then she may be able to claim asylum; see Asylum. You may also want to talk to your local CAB about this, or an OISC adviser.

Thanks for your advice 7by7.

You were right, calling again got a completely different answer . The second person I spoke to said they would still accept another application from my wife, despite her visa having expired in March, as long as it was made quickly. So to clarify the situation I went to see an OISC adviser who advised us to resubmit a new application and enclose the old one along with a covering letter explaining what had happened. We're going in for an appointment next week to try and get it sorted because the wife doesn't fancy a 5 month wait as an illegal immigrant.

Should the new application fail we've been told that there's a good chance of appealing on humanitarian grounds due to splitting a mother up from her children, and also because she's from a persecuted ethnic group in Myanmar.

I'm still trying to get hold of my original payment details form though, because I'm 99.9% sure I didn't make a mistake on it, which means they did when they were processing it.....

Thanks for your advice 7by7.

You were right, calling again got a completely different answer . The second person I spoke to said they would still accept another application from my wife, despite her visa having expired in March, as long as it was made quickly. So to clarify the situation I went to see an OISC adviser who advised us to resubmit a new application and enclose the old one along with a covering letter explaining what had happened. We're going in for an appointment next week to try and get it sorted because the wife doesn't fancy a 5 month wait as an illegal immigrant.

Should the new application fail we've been told that there's a good chance of appealing on humanitarian grounds due to splitting a mother up from her children, and also because she's from a persecuted ethnic group in Myanmar.

I'm still trying to get hold of my original payment details form though, because I'm 99.9% sure I didn't make a mistake on it, which means they did when they were processing it.....

Best of luck