Immigration Tribunal

[Jack1969_uk]

Hello Fellow forum members

Its been quite a while since I posted on Filipino UK

In July 2012 I was married here in UK to my wife Bea who originally came here to UK in 2009 on a Student Visa.

We applied to UKBA in January 2013 for FLR and we received our answer in June which was a refusal.

As some may be aware, I had been out of work in 2012 but secured Employment as a Courier/Delivery driver but the salary did,nt come anywhere near the £18,600 required by UKBA so we applied outside the rules based on my medical history and Right to a family life here in UK.

Their decision mentioned nothing about the UKBA monies needed to live on or about my medical grounds. Their wording was that, because my kids are all over 18yrs old, they saw no reason why I should not go live in Philippines.

On July 17th this year while at work I suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised at West Middlesex Hospital for 10 days and within that 10 days had Stents fitted at Hammersmith Hospital.

Since that time the doctors won,t allow me to work and I had to resign the Job I was doing on Medical Grounds.

We were informed about our appeal date about a month ago and it will take place in Angel in London on January 16th 2014.

Our worry is that it may be refused again and If so what other course of action can we take.

I have been told if I,m on DLA a visa will be granted but I can,t even apply for that till at least January 2014

I don,t claim benefits for my wife she does work and its a big struggle for us but we are just about surviving albeit financially on our knees.

I feel shame because I can,t provide for her properly and feel I have let her down but she says that's not so and we will get through this together.

I spoke with my GP and he will support us regarding medical grounds and he will state that giving up my life here in UK would cause more medical problems and although some of the hospitals are good in Phil he is worried about not just my physical well being but my emotional well being too.

This problem as caused me untold stress and severe depression and I know its making Bea depressed too but like she says we must keep fighting it and we will come out stronger.

I love Bea and the thought of them sending her home to Philippines is causing me sleepless nights

Any advice that anyone can give please feel free to say so I will listen to good advice.

[Terpe]

I'm really so sorry to learn about your heartbreaking story.

Do you have any Immigration Advisor helping to put your case together and representing you at the hearing ?
I fully understand that financials can be a constraint, but your case is not straightforward
and I'm sure you'll be better to seek professional advice of some sort.

[Jack1969_uk]

Yes we have legal representation and a Immigration barrister all this as come at a cost of nearly £2,000 so I am hoping that a decision is made because if its another refusal I don,t know whether we can appeal to the Upper tribunal.

I won,t go down without a fight

[Dedworth]

I'm very sorry to hear of all this Jack, just shows how the system treats decent law abiding folk. If your wife had arrived on a plane, binned her passport and claimed asylum she would be housed, financed and be represented on legal aid by Mrs Blair claiming her human rights had been violated by the UKBA.

Good luck

[Terpe]

Yes we have legal representation and a Immigration barrister all this as come at a cost of nearly £2,000 so I am hoping that a decision is made because if its another refusal I don,t know whether we can appeal to the Upper tribunal.

I won,t go down without a fight

Well done Jack

That's a lot of money, I hope your advisor has given you a very high probability of success.
Your legal representative is best placed to take your case forward since they know all the background details.

We here will give you any support we can.

I assume that your representative is both registered with the OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) and experienced with article 8 caselaw.

[grahamw48]

I wish you and your wife all the luck in the world Jack.

Have you contacted your MP....and local press ?

I feel that publicity and your MP on your side would also help in this sort of case.

[Michael Parnham]

Sorry to hear your story Jack, I wish you and your wife lot's of luck and sincerely hope you are successful!

[Jack1969_uk]

Update on Tribunal hearing

Attending hearing at Taylor House in London on 16/01/14
Arrived early at the Venue as needed to meet up with Barrister and clarify a few points then proceeded to sign in and told we were on the float list which basically meant we would be seen by a judge who had dealt with similar cases throughout the day.

Place was packed with people from all countries but by 1pm this had dwindled to a handful. We were told to come back at 2pm and we were informed we were in court 4 at 2:15pm now the nerves kicked in.

We sat in court with our barrister and waited for UKBA rep to arrive all of a sudden we had to stand as the judge arrives and tells us UKBA would not be in court as they had gone off sick. Judge says well I,m dealing with it today and we went ahead.

Questioned my wife on a few points nothing major just to clarify her working hours then called me and asked me questions on my medical conditions and couple of other points nothing too troubling and felt a little easier.

Judge reserved is judgement and was told we would hear within a few weeks.

He seemed a fair old guy me I was just a little miffed that UKBA did,nt have the balls to turn up or send in another rep after all the stress they had been putting us through,

Now at the end of week 1 and just waiting the result fingers crossed guys

[Slip]

Good luck with all this. Sounds to me like UKBA know they will lose, hence not even bothering to show. Glad the judge went ahead in their absence.

Good luck with the result.

[Terpe]

Wishing you both the best outcome with this.
The situation you describe is not uncommon.

It will sometimes happen that UKBA will not turn up on the day but will send a message that they withdraw their decision to refuse. All very unfair.

Please do keep us informed Jack

[grahamw48]

Good luck.
Sounds like the UKBA have exceeded their budget restrictions on this one.

[Jack1969_uk]

Just a update guys on our appeal

We lost and now will after go to Upper Tribunal at a cost of another 1500 which we can,t afford

[tiger31]

Just a update guys on our appeal
We lost and now will after go to Upper Tribunal at a cost of another 1500 which we can,t afford

I thought you were applying for DLA ? you need to get on a benefit asap it seems the only way you can win.

[stevie c]

Im so sorry to hear of your refusal jack what sad news i can only wish you & Bea the best of luck in your appeal to the upper tribunal life is just not fair

[Michael Parnham]

May luck be with you Jack!

[gWaPito]

Im so sorry to hear of your refusal jack what sad news i can only wish you & Bea the best of luck in your appeal to the upper tribunal life is just not fair

I've read this story. ..how sad! Honesty Jack you and Bea have my sympathy. ...I wouldn't know what to suggest. You've spent so much already. Surely your barrister can advise you whether it's worth finding the 1500 or not. It's a terrible state of affairs.

[andy222]

What a mess thoughts are with you both. Like has been said if your genuine you get kicked in the googlies. I hope the decision goes in your favour.

[marksroomspain]

Jack may I suggest get some publicity on this, inform your MP involve the local press it can't do any harm.

Whether you fall under article 8 of a right to a private family life is anyones guess I suppose the upper tribunal will decide that.

Please put forward your claim for DLA (now PIP for new claimants) even to grant that elusive visa if all fails but for the future.

I feel for you buddy take care and good luck...

[Jack1969_uk]

DLA as been applied for I,m imformed I have to have a Atos assesment to determine whether i,m entitled to it regarding my medical conditions ATOS are worse than UKBA so I,m really fighting a uphill battle

[tiger31]

I,m just wondering if ukba non attendence is a new tactic they are using,The judge could be an anti immigrant type ya never know these days mmmm.

[Jack1969_uk]

We are now sending in permission to First Tier tribunal to appeal to the Upper Tribunal if its granted we go back to Court but if we fail there we will look into Surinder Singh route Via Dublin but doing that I could lose our Council flat here in London so I,m unsure of which way to jump right now. There also talking Zambrano ruling but Bea is not my carer unless I can get the Dr to state I need her care because of madness brought on by Teresa May and her motley crew if I plead insanity I get DLA or Zambrano ruling if I,m lucky if i seem normal i,m screwed so will become a part time paddy for 3 to 4 months to avail of EEA residence permit then we can just walk back in and she weill be given residence for 5yrs then PR

These rules are confusing at the best of times and what we do if we go Surinder Singh Route circumnavigates the Immigration rules yest they can,t do a damn thing about it.

If theres any good people from Ireland especially Dublin who knows of acommodation out there or a possibilty of a job please let me know as I need to find both even though i,m unfit to work Teresa May is forcing me to do it

[grahamw48]

Fancy a houseshare ?

[Jack1969_uk]

Yes we would be interested in a house share in Dublin or any city in Ireland as long as I can find some kind of work

[grahamw48]

I'll be in the Phils until June, but after that I'm open to ideas.

Being in sales/marketing, finding work is not usually a problem for me, even at my age.

You/we could also consider self-employment...even leaflet-delivery, that kind of thing. It's a legit occupation....no qualifications required.

Big issue sales ? (Joke that one ).

Anyway, if any member is planning to go down this route, do please PM me.

Do bear in mind though, that one would need to 'up sticks' completely, on paper...not just have some sort of holiday address in Ireland.

[Jack1969_uk]

Just an update guys on where we are now.

Applied DLA and had assessment with ATOS on 15th May. Which suprisingly went well as the Dr was independent and did not work for DWP or ATOS.

While at the assessment, I answered as many of their questions as I could, but Bea my wife stepped in as I was becoming confused. At the end of the assessment the Dr suprisingly asked us to hold on a few minutes.

Here's me thinking did we do something wrong? And then she spins the PC Monitor around and went through the DWP descriptors with us and the points she had awarded. To qualify for care I needed 12 points - on screen I had 28 points.

To qualify for mobility I need 12 on screen - it was 15 points. She stated that she would be writing a report to DWP saying I warrant being on DLA/PIPs. Just waiting their decision and spoke with them yesterday as I received a letter to say they had all the info they needed and they say about 2 or 3 weeks till decision is made.

On 19th June we go back to court to Upper Tribunal to fight our case and the stress is killing us. But hopefully, DLA/PIP will come through before then. If it does, then game over. If not, we go through the mill at court.

So fingers crossed either way

[grahamw48]

Oh, that sounds really positive.

Good luck to both of you.

[tiger31]

Just an update guys on where we are now.

Applied DLA and had assessment with ATOS on 15th May. Which surprisingly went well, as the Dr was independent and did not work for DWP or ATOS.

While at the assessment, I answered as many of their questions as I could, but Bea my wife stepped in as I was becoming confused. At the end of the assessment, the Dr surprisingly asked us to hold on a few minutes.

Here's me thinking did we do something wrong? And then she spins the PC Monitor around and went through the DWP descriptors with us and the points she had awarded. To qualify for care I needed 12 points - on screen I had 28 points.

To qualify for mobility, I needed 12 - on screen it was 15 points. She stated that she would be writing a report to DWP saying I warrant being on DLA/PIPs Just waiting their decision and spoke with them yesterday, as I received a letter to say they had all the info they needed and they say about 2 or 3 weeks till decision is made.

On 19th June, we go back to court to Upper Tribunal to fight our case and the stress is killing us. But hopefully, DLA/PIP will come through before then. If it does, then game over. If not, we go through the mill at court.

So fingers crossed either way.

Well done m8. Hopefully everything will be ok now. Good luck!

[Arthur Little]

Just an update guys on where we are now.

Applied DLA and had assessment with ATOS on 15th May. Which suprisingly went well as the Dr was independent and did not work for DWP or ATOS.

While at the assessment, I answered as many of their questions as I could, but Bea my wife stepped in as I was becoming confused. At the end of the assessment the Dr suprisingly asked us to hold on a few minutes.

Here's me thinking did we do something wrong? And then she spins the PC Monitor around and went through the DWP descriptors with us and the points she had awarded. To qualify for care I needed 12 points - on screen I had 28 points.

To qualify for mobility I need 12 on screen - it was 15 points. She stated that she would be writing a report to DWP saying I warrant being on DLA/PIPs. Just waiting their decision and spoke with them yesterday as I received a letter to say they had all the info they needed and they say about 2 or 3 weeks till decision is made.

On 19th June we go back to court to Upper Tribunal to fight our case and the stress is killing us. But hopefully, DLA/PIP will come through before then. If it does, then game over. If not, we go through the mill at court.

So fingers crossed either way

's truly GREAT news!

Chin up ... you'll be alright, Jack!

[Terpe]

Here's hoping you'll be able to turn the situation to your advantage.

How does you your immigration advisor see it? Press ahead with the appeal or submit a new application?

[Jack1969_uk]

Just a update guys

We attended the Upper Tier Tribunal on 19th June 2014 at Bream Buildings in London and success we WON our appeal outright.
Judge in First Tier made errors in law with Appendix EX1 and Article 8 by not taking into account all my health issues and since the First Tier more health issues had arisen so Judge at Upper Tier allowed the appeal.
Home Office were there but they had lost the case before half time (we had 15 minute break) Their only questions were to my wife Bea and about her family in Philippines but I think our barrister and him had discussed it in the break and the HO pretty much gave up the fight. Their argument was for the public good but my wife had a impeccable immigration record so they fell flat on that for them it was about immigration statistics.

The judge gave the decision there and then in court when he spoke those immortal words APPEAL ALLOWED I just broke down and Bea thought we had lost again but we had a great barrister Mark Symes from Garden Court Chambers in London and he was not just a barrister he is also a First Tier Tribunal Judge.

When we explained to Bea we had won she was so relieved and broke down in tears but now is walking on air
We should receive the determination in the post in about 3 weeks and HO have then 12 days to appeal but our barrister said very unlikely because they had no argument to fight with and if they want to take it further then it will be Royal Courts of Appeal and at their cost so very doubtful that they will do that.

So now we can get on with our lives and make plans for the future

I want to thank everyone here for your never ending messages of support


Regards

Jack and Bea Wallace