I and my fiance Wena applied back in September 05. We had read your site for months,took solicitors advise, followed all the rules set out by immigration made up our application with every bit of documentation and more. We thought we had it cracked, no interview (I believe according to the ECM that Wena was the first ever person to go thru the application without an interview). We were told no interview needed cos the documentation was so thorough, and guess what ?

WE WERE TOLD OUR APPLICATION WAS REFUSED ON THE GROUNDS THAT THEY BELIEVED I COULD NOT SUPPORT MY FIANCE WITH USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS. LOL

I laugh because sat in my bank account was well over 35K, my business is value on asset value alone at 135k, my mortgage is fully paid up, and other accounts i have combined a total savings of 7k on top of everything.

We approached our rather surprised solicitor, who promptly sent off the appeal forms and asked for an immediate review of the case, asking the ECO to explain just how much finance was required to live without public funds for over 2 years !

We waited..........and waited........(sent a shed load of e-mails and letters to the embassy), and 3 days AFTER the date given for the embassy to send documentation in supporting their reasons to the court in Liverpool we were told they had made a mistake, and issued Wena her visa. Making her wait a further 2 weeks whilst they held her passport at the embassy, and only released it with visa after my solicitor made a rather strong call to the embassy.

Well, Wena is here now, and is settling and getting used to life here in the UK. So I guess the wait was just a minor inconvenience, when compared to the rest of our lives being spent together, and will no doubt be looked back on as an adventure (once my red mist has cleared). We are getting married on 19th August and Kendal Registry Office and then just a 24 month wait till its permanent. Cant wait till then, but now being together is all we ever wanted. I just hope no one else ever has to go thru the hell we did with such a sound application. In view we should be able to sue the embassy for being downright unprofessional, and not knowing the their job in the first place. It seems to me they only know the grounds for refusal, but need to work on understanding the documentation they so painstakingly ask you for !

Maybe someone else has a view on this ? It would be nice to hear it.

Russ & Wena