Settlement visa appeals update, and 'Suitable Accommodation' in the UK.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Hi all.

A couple of simple queries -

1) What is the up-to-date position on appealing against a Settlement (spouse) Visa refusal ? A link to the overall current process would be great. Is there actually still a 'right of appeal' ? (or only a 'review' procedure).

2) I have read about refusals of applications, with the reason given being that the 'Suitable Accommodation' element had not been satisfied. Specifically, in the case of an offer of the free use of a room in a friend's 3-bed house - the only other occupants being the friend and wife - the refusals cited the 'Lack of a Tenancy Agreement'. The reasoning being that the parties involved could 'fall out' and the accommodation swiftly withdrawn, presumably leading to the applicant and sponsor turning up at the door of the local housing department - as if that would do them any good! I cannot find any reference to the need for a Tenancy Agreement in any government guides on this, so has anyone encountered this requirement either as sponsor or adviser ?

Thanks in advance.

[Maestro]

Settlement obviously implies a lot more than bunking at a friend's house, without the need of written guidelines to spell this out. What exactly do the guidelines say?