Settlement Refusal After Marriage Uk

[malct]

Hi all

need some help for a friend.

Last Year a friend of ours brought is girlfriend over to the UK on a fiancée visa and she fell pregnant right away and got married well within the time limit.

His wife was going to fly back to Thailand to have her baby but could not get insurance because she was to far pregnant and the airline would not allow her on the flight

They applied for the Settlement visa in February 2012 and they have just got a refusal letter, but no reason why the application was refused, Only saying See page 2 on why it was refused and when checking, It states that they have 20 something days to appeal and how to appeal

They had contacted the UKBA before the Birth and that they had submitted the Settlement application and that they were worried that her visa had ran out, the UKBA told them not to worry because if her baby is born in the UK, she cant be sent home (mother and baby cant be separated)

Because she no longer has a Visa, they had to pay £1700 Hospital costs for the birth.

They are now seeking help for a solicitor at a big Cost,

So to summarise

1. Came into the UK to get married

2. Got pregnant

3. got married

4, applied for the settlement visa in February (he seems to say that there is another visa between fiancée visa and Settlement but unsure)

5. They informed UKBA that baby was due in July

6. got a refusal letter from UKBA (Nov 10th)

They are now lost to know whats going to happen next.

Malc

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Hello ypu must have a reason for a refusal tske another look at the GV51 refusal of entry clearance.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[malct]

The letter as been checked and there is nothing to say why. they are scared that they will send his wife home.

[7by7]

They must say why she has been refused.

The procedure for fiances is:

1. Receive fiance visa, which is valid for 6 months.
   
2. Travel to UK and marry.
   
3. Apply for Further Leave to Remain after marriage but before fiance visa expires.
   

When did her fiance visa expire?

When did she submit her FLR (settlement) application?

[JohnC]

You don't " fall " pregnant, it is a conscious act, so obviously they did not take precautions, sorry seems to be planned to me to get her a visa quicker.

[7by7]

'Fell pregnant' is a common term in the UK for becoming pregnant, whether planned or not.

No contraceptive is 100% foolproof.

Pregnant or not, she had the correct visa for the UK and, providing she applied for FLR in time, no reason to worry about being granted that. Being pregnant would not have changed anything.

Your accusations are unfounded.

[malct]

Her Visa was to Expire in April and they applied for Further Leave to Remain in February and its taken 8 months for the refusal letter.

They have done everything by the book,

[7by7]

They must submit their appeal before the deadline.

However, it is difficult to appeal if they don't know the reason for the refusal!

If the refusal notice definitely does not give any reason for this refusal then they must contact the UKBA first thing tomorrow (Monday) to ask why she was refused.

In over 10 years of being involved in various immigration forums this is the first time I have ever heard of a fiance being refused FLR after the marriage when the FLR application was submitted in time.

[theoldgit]

Off topic posts removed, please don't make wild suggestions.

Of course the UKBA have to justify their decisions.

[malct]

I have just spoken to her husband, He talks about a variation Visa which is the one before a Spouse visa, I have not heard of one of these.

He has an appointment tomorrow with a solicitor, So may have some more info.

[malct]

Just found out the reason for the refusal, the Thai lady sat a English test in Pattaya and passed, and this was Ok when they applied for the fiancée visa, Now they are saying that the test certificate is no longer accepted and that she should have done another test in the UK

Not sure what test she did in Thailand, But it have Reading, Writing, Speaking and listen and she passed all 4.

Any Ideas on what they can do.

she sat her test at http://www.plcpattaya.com

Thank you all

Malc

Edited November 19, 2012 by malct

[durhamboy]

I think this is not a valid English test as there is no APPROVED test centre in Pattaya - only Bangkok (CPA, Pearsons and Vantage) also one in Chang Mai but definitely not Pattaya. The tests were introduced in 2010 so I cannot therefore understand that she got a fiancee visa and I suspect it might have been just a visitor visa but then you cannot switch directly to a settlement visa without going back to Thailand first. Something doesnt add up here.

[Eff1n2ret]

I think this is not a valid English test as there is no APPROVED test centre in Pattaya - only Bangkok (CPA, Pearsons and Vantage) also one in Chang Mai but definitely not Pattaya. The tests were introduced in 2010 so I cannot therefore understand that she got a fiancee visa and I suspect it might have been just a visitor visa but then you cannot switch directly to a settlement visa without going back to Thailand first. Something doesnt add up here.

There were two approved centres in Pattaya whose certificates would have been valid up to mid-July 2011, before UKBA restricted the list of approved suppliers of the A1 tests to 5 companies, which did not include those for whom the Pattaya centres were working. We are lacking the chronology in this case, so it's not possible to be so certain about the chain of events.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Eff1n2ret

[malct]

Hi

Just found out that the test that she did was done in Pattaya in May 2011 and it was that document that they used to get into the UK on the fiancée visa.

What the UKBA are saying is that document is no longer valid and it was up to them to know that.

They now have a solicitor on the case to help them, But it may mean going somewhere in the UK and doping the Test.

Not sure if they can get an extension on the appealing date.

[malct]

Hi.

I have just spoken to my friend and he has arranged for his wife to sit the Listening and speaking test in Manchester on Tuesday.

The main issue that he has at the moment, He needs a solicitor who deals in appeals to deal with his case, The solicitor that he has spoken to has little knowledge on immigration and does not want to take the case on.

Can anyone give me details of anyone who can deal in his appeal who is based in the UK.

[Waterloo]

would recommend looking up your nearest CAB with a specialist imigration department, they will have a list of local solicitors which they have personnal experience of.

[norrona]

similar thing happened to us, my fiance was granted a visa and came to the UK Oct 2010 after she got her visa and arrived the English test rule wa brought out and I took it as it was for those who are applying from then on so thought we were exempt.

Filled out the further leave to remain form and sent off, got the refusal telling her to leave within so many days etc.

Completely shat myself and was very worked up over the whole thing to be honest and I normally do not flap.

My wife then sat the test in Ilford Essex and passed and we appealed and had to go to tribunal in London and was represented by an immigration lawyer who in front of the judge explained our chain of events and the fact she has now done the correct thing and passed the test, mentioned the distress we had both been through and how I am fully employed, the judge rolled his eyes at the whole thing and was completely on our side and sympathetic to the point he was embarassed by the UKBA and their actions and this was another waste of everyones money and time etc and told she was staying and we would get a letter to confirm this, oh forgot to mention the UKBA didn't even bother to represent themselves in court that day!

Letter received and we then had to send that off with her passport to the UKBA who then requested for her bio metrics to be taken at one of the allocated post offices which was done, then after all that she final got her ID card!

Your friend is in for a few months of sodding about is all I can think on this matter.

Best of luck

[7by7]

Can anyone give me details of anyone who can deal in his appeal who is based in the UK.

Rather than hunting for a suitably experienced solicitor, it may be quicker, and probably cheaper, to talk to an OISC adviser. They need to be a level 3 adviser to deal with appeals.

See the adviser finder to search for one in your area.

[cuddleypete]

Good luck hope it all works out ok

[bobrussell]

If the test was taken whilst the Pattaya test centre was still approved (as it sounds from the timeline) then it should still be acceptable. Rule changes are not normally 'back-dated' so an application that was approved for the marriage visa application should still be accepted for the next stage (FLR).

Something does not add up. It appears the application was in time so it seems odd that the application should have been refused.

CAB would be a good place to start but they don't always have suitably qualified expertise in all parts of the UK.

[theoldgit]

In addition to list supplied by 7by7, you might want to consider contacting Davies Khan, though he his in Liverpool.

Mr Davies is a first class and highly competent advisor, I'm sure he will give you initial advice free or at least for a very competitive price.

Like the guy at Visa Plus he is an ex Immigration Officer and is married to a Thai lady.

[malct]

Just a update, My friends wife passed her Listening and speaking test and she has now got the certificate and they now appealed. We don't know how long it will take to hear the appeal.

[Waterloo]

Do please keep us up to date on how it goes, seems very harsh if all is as it appears

[Basil B]

I am sorry for those who have paid for an "English Language" test at a UKBA recommended test center only to find there pass certificates now invalid and having to to pay again to resit the test or even worse having a visa refused and all the costs (financial and emotional) involved in appealing and reapplying.

I can only suggest those who have been affected by this should also complain to their MP's.

[malct]

Just a up-date, our friends won their appeal and received the Visa and passport back today, But looking back, The UKBA got it wrong again causing expense and heart ache.

The UKBA did not turn up at court, Only sent their solicitor who agreed with our friends that the application should not have been turned down, The judge sent the paperwork back to the UKBA for review and our friends got the passport back. No sorry or anything. Our friends had to do a 200 Mile trip with a your baby for the appeal.

Malc

[norrona]

Just a up-date, our friends won their appeal and received the Visa and passport back today, But looking back, The UKBA got it wrong again causing expense and heart ache.

The UKBA did not turn up at court, Only sent their solicitor who agreed with our friends that the application should not have been turned down, The judge sent the paperwork back to the UKBA for review and our friends got the passport back. No sorry or anything. Our friends had to do a 200 Mile trip with a your baby for the appeal.

Malc

good to hear, it is no surprise they didn't show at court.....cases like this they never do!

No way would they say sorry or admit they were in the wrong, civil servants in this country only seem to get promotion or paid off when they make errors....

[durhamboy]

Interesting case with the right result in the end although they shouldn't have had to go through all the hassle and worry.

Someone posted recently in another topic that there was to be a worldwide review of English language testing centres by UKBA/Home Office and therefore if some existing test centres are "struck off" then this situation could happen again.

If possible it would be helpful if Malct could give us the names or reference of the case as it that would be useful for anyone caught up in this situation in the future i.e. it could be quoted back to UKBA.

[malct]

I could ask my Friends for a Reference number, But Regarding Names, I would forward anything on to my friends for him to offer advice, But i don't think the UKBA would talk about someones past case, but would be useful to use the case if you had to go to a Solicitor or CAB,

[Waterloo]

Congratulations glad to here justice has been done, pretty discraceful they treat there customers with such contempt.

[mjj]

Congratulations to your friend. Happy days. Forget about the worry and stress now and enjoy.