Overstay refusal my wife. Stunned !

[tftom8]

hello everyone, thanks for reading our dilemma.
I'm UK citizen from birth, married to a Filipino since 2014, we recently had our premium service appointment at Croydon to extend 2.5yr further leave to remain where we told all that we submitted is fine except they would like to see more proof of residence for my wife and 6mths bank statements from myself.so gave us 14 days to do this, which we did immediately next day.we we're told if we complied with this request and posted back to them within 14 days that we would get approval however we recieved a refusal letter stating that we hadn't provided any reason or evidence as to why our appointment date was 8days after visa expired.
let me clarify dates etc
we applied online for premium service appointment
9th may 17
there were no appointments available before visa expired on 23rd may 17 so i booked earliest available appointment which was 1st June 17.
all day at Croydon they had our application/documents etc atleast 3 if not 4hrs and didn't mention this issue at all
which we obviously would have just explained simply that there wasn't any available appointments. I consider booking appointment 15days before visa expires to be reasonable and have read about 28 day grace period post expiry and 14day grace periods , this seems so ridiculous to us ,please can anyone give us any tips, reassurance or helpful advice on this...I'm stressed to the point if headaches. thanks again for reading.
tftom8

[bathanza]

OK to be clear with this, the visa expired on 23rd May 2017. You had your appointment on 1st June.

Did you put in the FLR M application online before expiry of the visa?

The problem is that on their site, ref https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... nt-booking states under the booking paragraph

"You can choose an appointment up to 45 business days in the future. Appointment times will be based on availability. If you can’t find an appointment at your preferred premium service centre location before your visa or leave expires, please choose an appointment at a different premium service centre"

Perhaps an oversight on your part which is horrible, but I am sure the admins or others more experienced can help with next steps. Best of luck x

[tftom8]

hi bathanza again thx for reading
yes we booked and paid for the appointment on 9th of may (15days before visa expired 23rd may)
of course we are really unhappy at the decision but even worse to swallow is that on the day of appointment our case worker told us everything is fine and as long as we go away and get the last couple of criteria fulfilled for them within 14 days then we will be approved... which we did immediately next day or day after that sent it all in signed for recorded delivery of course only to receive refusal letter and the case worker never mentioned the issue of us booking late whatsoever on the day...
this seems wholly unfair and immoral. alltho I agree that we perhaps left it a touch on the late side I still truly don't believe that we did anything wrong and that 15 days before visa expiry to book and pay is not unreasonable.
this is the reason I added "stunned" to the title because case worker let us believe if we complied with her requests that all would be fine.
also 14 days to appeal is harsh when the letter is dated 17th of June *(a Saturday do they really work Saturdays) because we received the recorded signed for refusal on weds 21st June, so we lost a few days there to arrange appeal. surely recorded signed for is almost 100% next day within the UK.

regards tom

[Obie]

It is necessary for legal advice to be sought, as laws changes ever so frequently. There are no 28 days concession, as this has been withdrawn. On the application, you ought to have stated why the application could not be made on-time.

The Other option was to put in a paper application if you cannot get a date before expiry, and then may only £500 for an online application.

If there is no child in your relationship, then your wife will be in a bit of a difficult situation.

You have to ensure that an application is made before expiry, or you can cause a long term problem.

[Obie]

The 14 days period starts from the day you received the decision. So do not get too stressed. There are safeguards in the law.

It is only at the tribunal, that time counts from the day you received the decision.

[tftom8]

hi and thank you Obie
I managed to get the appeal in in time but found it so very stressful
I'm very grateful for your input
I feel like the HO is seeking to refuse rather than assist or just check to make sure applicants are genuine valid and no threat or drain on resources etc
it very much feels like an insurance company trying to find a get out clause to not pay up. maybe I'm just very naive in these matters.
feels so horrible to have your entire future in thier hands.
regards tom.

[Obie]

All the best. Overstaying is a card they always use. It would have been sensible to apply in time, as this overstating will have conswquences for the 30 she has already accrued. Rather than 1 more renewal before ILR, you may have to do more, even if you were to succeed. Best wishe's.

[bathanza]

Wish you all the best Tom, please do post the outcome following the appeal.

This is such a lesson to learn, especially when there are specifics when it comes to the HO, and great advice from Obie - ever thankful for helping those in need.

[tftom8]

all very true.
expensive life changing lessons

many sincere thx to any who responded or respond in future and I will definitely post the outcome, or any progress we have.
situation at moment is, we posted an appeal in time for oral tribunal and we received an acknowledgement email and are now waiting for a date for our tribunal.
regards tom