My Visit to the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Tribunal Case Study.


Monday 30th March 2009 - York House, Feltham Middelsex.


As some of you may know, I had been recently invited to attend and observe a live case involving a Filipino citizen who has applied for a spouse visa to enter the United Kingdom, of which the Entry Clearance Officer at the British Embassy in Manila had refused to issue.

Therefore I propose to relate the case history, composition of the tribunal, instructing solicitor, Barrister, Home Office representative, Witnesses, and the Sponsor's role, and that of the appellate.

I will start by relating first the case history and background to this test case for your perusal.

For privacy reasons, and as judgement has not yet been made on this case, I propose to mask the identity of the sponsor, witnesses and appellate, but will simply refer to the Appellate as Mrs C.

The sponsor will be referred to as Mr C and the co-respondent witness as Mr
H.


Case History and timelines.


During August of 2006, Mrs C met by way of an Internet Chat room, Mr H, a Uk Resident, they chatted for some 3 months, and it was decided that Mr H would visit the Philippines and subsequently did so, to the latter part of 2006, during this time, Mr H proposed marriage to Mrs C and left the Philippines to return to the UK.

Mr H suggested that Mrs C apply for a tourist visa to visit the United Kingdom, but some time had elapsed between the visit of Mr H to the Philippines, and finally in August of 2007, a visa application was successful, Mrs C was granted a visa to enter the UK for 6 months, with the application showing that she would visit Mr H.

At the time the visa was granted, Mrs C was also chatting on Internet with a Mr C and on social networking sites, Mr C was listed as a casual friend, and the appellate claimed that she was not involved in a relationship with Mr C, and that they were just friends.

Having secured a tourist visa to enter the UK, Mrs C made plans to fly to London, and did so, during late August of 2007, however after much consideration, Mr H had also been involved in a relationship with a Thai Woman, Miss A and Mr H told Mrs C that he had transferred his affections to Miss A.

Mr H then informed Mrs C not to fly to London as he no longer wished to see her, and that the relationship was over, not convinced of his scant disregard for her, she nevertheless flew to London, expecting that Mr H would be there to meet her.

On arrival, she was shocked to see that Mr H was not there, in fact at the time, he had flown to Thailand to see Miss A.

Having no contact with Mr H, and not knowing what to do, Mrs C contacted a Filipino female friend living in East London, to come to her aid, she then found lodgings at the friends flat in East London.

As Mr H refused all contact with her, she made numerous attempts to contact him, and finally did so, they had a meeting in London to discuss if there was any future in the relationship, Mr H stood firm and told Mrs C he was not interested in her any more.

Rather than return to the Philippines, Mrs C decided to stay in the UK and make the best of her tourist visa, it was during this time that she renewed her friendship with Mr C, chatting with him over internet, after some weeks, they met in London, and continued their friendship.

After a brief sexual relationship, Mr C proposed to Mrs C (Formally Miss S), and they agreed to marry in the Philippines in early 2008.

At the end of her tourist visa, Mrs C complied with the rules and returned to the Philippines engaged to be married to Mr C, a wedding in the Philippines ensured forthwith, and the appellate applied for entry clearance as the spouse of Mr C.

Entry Clearance Officer - British Embassy Manila Refusal to Issue a Visa.


Entry clearance refusal letter stated as follows:

1. I am not satisfied that the marriage is genuine, and that their exists a case of deception to deceive her Majesty's government and UK Border and Immigration agency for the reasons given:

Miss S has already made an application to visit the UK to see Mr H, and returns to the Philippines requesting entry clearance to marry Mr C, I am not satisfied that the applicant's marriage is genuine, and there is no prospect that the applicant and sponsor will remain together.

2. The arrangements for housing is not genuine, applicant states that she will reside at the sponsors address, but investigation shows that the sponsor has no legal right to live as a sub tenant in the property of an existing tenant.

3. Maintenance for the applicant is inadequate, sponsor's bank account is overdrawn, and no evidence of a permanent job is shown.


I therefore am not satisfied that a visa should be issued to Miss A, and that the application to enter the United Kingdom is denied.


The Appeal and day of the Hearing.