Got Refusal Letter

[rosa]

Hi everyone, Finally got delivery of results & we've been refused. We meet the criteria & provided more than ample evidence but ECO has ignored or isn't aware of the rules.

Says we dont meet accommodation requirements. We do by a mile, we submitted documents to prove it,

Says my sons Income Support is not enough & his DLA cant be used to support spouse as its "means tested." DLA is NOT means tested & case law states it CAN be used to maintain spouse, so maintenance requirements are met.

Says those offering third party support, which we got as back-up, have no obligation to support & there's no evidence they are supporting us now!...We made it clear that third party financial support is there "IF necessary" for my son & his wife & daughter, not something we rely on as a matter of course!

Says there's no evidence of a subsisting relationship apart from "messages on a social networking site& such contact is in itself merely substantive" & he's not satisfied of her intentions & doesnt think she genuinely intends to live with him & pursue a relationship as his wife!
Submiitted reams of chat logs & txt records & reams of photos of them together & their wedding so this is yet more nonsense that has left this young couple deeply upset.
He also made two comments suggesting that my son went out there purely to meet & marry her. Not true!

Sorry, I'm so angry I'm spitting nails! This guy has acted contrary to ukba's own rules, law precedent on DLA & maintaining spouse & is insulting everyone's integrity to boot!

Rosa

[imagine]

so sorry to read your post, im sure advise will be given for your son and wife soon

[lastlid]

Sorry to hear. Another bad result. There has been a few recently. I hope that you can overturn this one.

[rosa]

Thanks imagine & lastlid, appreciate ur sentiments.
I'm fairly well clued up on what I need to do, was just updating & giving the ECO's reasons for refusal....& venting my spleen... but good advice never hurts.

I think some of the ECO's were thinking & acting with the new rules in mind tbh, despite the fact some of us got applications in BEFORE 9th JUly. That said, this particular one doesn't appear to be aware of the old rules let alone new ones! Some of his reasons for refusal are contrary to the rules & have left a lovely young couple devastated. I really feel for anyone going through this.

Have a good day all...& best of luck to anyone awaiting decisions.

[lastlid]

I think some of the ECO's were thinking & acting with the new rules in mind tbh, despite the fact some of us got applications in BEFORE 9th JUly. That said, this particular one doesn't appear to be aware of the old rules let alone new ones! Some of his reasons for refusal are contrary to the rules & have left a lovely young couple devastated.

Exactly.

[ReemaOwens]

Just don't loose hope Rosa soon everything will be on the track

[rosa]

Thanks Reema & don't worry I'll be fighting this with everthing I've got. We'll be going for an Oral Hearing at Immigration & Asylum Chambers with an excellent Human Rights barrister in tow. It'll devastate us financially coming on top of the considerable expenses to date but better to win the appeal & be financially devastated than my son & his wife be heart-broken by this guys inhumane & unjust refusal....I'm still shocked to the core by his ignorance of the rules, his arrogant attitude & downright nastiness. I don't want to post the refusal letter here but if u guys saw it in full (& i know you've seen lots of this stuff before) you'd be gobsmacked. I've always hoped for the best but also been prepared for refusal but never imagined it could be this bad.

Thanks lastlid...for understanding exactly where I'm coming from

[NotYou]

I presume the ECO was a careworn, relatively low grade UK based civil servant, who has been drilled into a cynical attitude by his colleagues. Suggest you do not spend money on an immigration lawyer. Take a breather. Do whatever is asked, don't rise to any perceived insults...state your case as clearly as possible refer to new rules and carry on...or alternatively do whatever you want!

[Stuart]

Sadly I'm in just the same boat, we've followed all the rules and regulations and still got refused the fiance visa, we're devastated. The reason we were given was on the balance of probabilities the assessor did not believe we'd get married? Our appeal was in 2nd july. I have no idea how to fight this now? I really do need help but don't know where to go!

[bigmarco]

Hi Rosa and sad to say welcome to the refusal club. I do hope everything works out well for your son and his wife and its not too long before they are together.

[Terpe]

I presume the ECO was a careworn, relatively low grade UK based civil servant, who has been drilled into a cynical attitude by his colleagues. Suggest you do not spend money on an immigration lawyer. Take a breather. Do whatever is asked, don't rise to any perceived insults...state your case as clearly as possible refer to new rules and carry on...or alternatively do whatever you want!

Nearly all of the ECO's at visa hubs are "local's" not UK-based.
In most cases of clear ECO error the ECM will overturn.
If the case goes all the way, then in my opinion an experienced immigration advisor offers many advantages, especially in the presentation of caselaw.

[joebloggs]

definitely an increase in refusals on this forum

[rosa]

Bigmarco & Stuart. Don't know your details or if you're appealing but wish you & your partners the very best of luck...

Stuart you said you don't know what to do. Get a good lawyer if you can afford one. Don't know your location but PM me if you want the name of a Human Rights Barrister who also specialises in immigration law.

Notyou. Thanks for the advice but there's no way I'm doing this without our visa advisor AND an Immigration lawyer. As for do whatever they ask & take a breather, they're not asking us to do anything it's an outright refusal & there's no time for taking a breather. Appeals are time limited.

Terpe. Yes, hopefully the ECM will overturn the decision due to the ECO's numerous errors. That would be wonderful. If on the other hand the ECM agrees with ECO's "opinions" & "balance of probabilities" on third party support, which is rock solid, & marriage not being genuine, which it is, then I'm ensuring that we have every chance of succeeding at appeal.

Joebloggs...Problem is the ukba were thinking along the lines of new rules BEFORE the new rules applied. That & all the propoganda meted out between govt & media about immigration makes for suffering of genuine people. Same with tarring disabled people as "scroungers" has dramatically increased hate crime & verbal abuse towards disabled people.We have a fascist govt acting under the guise of democracy.

Thanks again everyone for the moral support & advice

[Stuart]

Stuart you said you don't know what to do. Get a good lawyer if you can afford one. Don't know your location but PM me if you want the name of a Human Rights Barrister who also specialises in immigration law.

Thank you for your kind offer. It seems I cant PM you? But if you could send me info on a Human Rights Barrister that Specializes in Immigration Law that would be most Helpful, I'm in Gloucestershire. POST CODE GL3 2BB. My email is ************** Removed for your safety. Thank You. I hope you get the result you need very soon.

[rosa]

Hi Stuart...Not sure why PM isnt working as I've exceeded the number of posts required for that to kick in. Thanks for your email add, I'll ask the guy we'll be using if he can recommend someone in your area & get back to you. Could be he takes on cases that far afield.

[Stuart]

I'm sure we will be chatting more about things in the future. It just seems crazy that we are meeting all the crieria they set,... yet we still get refused..... I really want to enjoy life with my fiancee without all this stress... I don't think that's unreasonable.... We are all short of monies these day's why should we need to pay more because were disabled? It just seems wrong that the paid managerial staff are not keeping an eye on their workers..... I'm starting to think we are flagged once we use the word disabled?

Regards Stu.

[swayze]

my wife was refused visa so i went to immagration lawer and the case diddent even get to court within a month they issued us with visa.so you could try that

[BriaNoreen]

Some people have suffered refusals here and have been persecuted because they are on DLA. A key point to remember is that DLA is used to 'facilitate' - and facilitate is the key word you must use - the receiver of the benefit to live a life more equal to that of abled people.

In a nutshell, DLA helps you keep up with everyone else, just as a wheelchair helps a person get around as quickly as people who can walk and run.

DLA therefore, can be used to help you marry, and live a civil married life, like everyone else.

Basically - when you are using your DLA to help you live your normal life, which includes getting married and starting a family [which you have the absolute right to do] - your use is legitimate and an ECO nor anyone else can argue it cannot be used for that.

I wrote this in an easy format and I hope it helps everyone here.

If you take this issue of facilitation to a lawyer, he will explain it better for you and help you write it into your application or appeal. You can also consult Disability Rights UK for more help:

http://www.disabilityalliance.org/

[ConfusedMe]

Sorry to hear about this news. I'm sure everything will be fine Rosa. I notice there are many people in the forum lately having the same problem.

Aside from this, there are loads of delays with the processing as well. I applied to change my name from maiden to married name so to avoid using different names on documents. 3 months now and no news from them yet. What happened to Home Office lately?

[joebloggs]

one of the causes of the delays is job cuts at UKBA