I recently submitted an application for a Tier 2 shortage occupation visa. The Home Office requested I submit criminal check certificates, but the field I am working in doesn't require it. I declared I got some traffic violations and another small ticket. I submitted one of the criminal checks first, but didn't submit the other. This is a comment from the refusal.
Paragraph from ECO comment:
There are many things wrong with this. Firstly, I did not say in the email to the Home Office I couldn't obtain the German one, I just submitted the American one first. Second, applications can't be made online from the Federal Office of Justice website. Third, as evidenced from my entry stamp in my passport, I have only lived in Germany since December 23th 2016 (not a full 12 months). I had wrote "1 year" in my application, but this is rounding it up as anyone would naturally do (should have just wrote the exact date). Finally, I am nearly unable to obtain the German one. The process here is for them to mail them to your registered address. Well, I don't live at my registered address (lease was up when I got the job offer in UK) and am living in a hotel currently. I went to several offices around my city and they tell me the same thing. They will not keep it for me to pick up, they will only mail it.You have stated that you have attempted to, but were unable to obtain a police clearance
certificate from Germany. Your stated reason was that you were unable to find anywhere
in Germany that provided this service. Open source checks conducted show that police
clearance certificates are available to residents in Germany from either the local
registration office which you are currently registered, or applications can be made online
on the website of the Federal Office of Justice.
From my request for an Admin Review
This application has been refused under paragraph 320 (8A) of the Immigration Rules on the grounds that I failed to provide information/documents requested by an Immigration Officer. Specifically, this relates to police certificates for any country I have resided in for more than 12 months in the last 10 years.
Firstly, I would like to submit that I fully meet the criteria laid out in the Tier 2 (General) guidance and that I achieved all of the relevant scores required as part of the Points Based System assessment process including Certificate of Sponsorship, Appropriate Salary, English Language and Maintenance.
Police certificates are not required as part of the standard Tier 2 application documents and I am not working in an industry which requires a police certificate. I appreciate that the Home Office are within their rights to request additional information, however there has been no effort made to explain why these documents are relevant to my application or on what grounds they are being requested.
The comment from the Entry Clearance Officer states that my application has been refused because I failed to provide a police certificate from Germany, however as you will see from the entry stamp (from Frankfurt) in my passport I have only resided in Germany since 24th December 2017 **YES I KNOW THIS TYPO I HAD ALREADY SUBMITED IT**. At the time of writing (and of the submission of my application) I have only resided in Germany for less than 12 months, therefore the police report from Germany is not required according to the Entry Clearance Officer’s original instructions.
I was originally given a deadline of the 26th December 2017 to provide the police certificates, however my immigration advisors contacted the Home Office on my behalf on the 4th December 2017 to provide the police certificates for the USA and to let them know if anything further was required. If further documentation was required after this, you should honour the original deadline of the 26th December 2017 to give me a reasonable chance to obtain and provide the additional information.
To refuse this application outright (weeks before the original deadline) is extremely harsh, particularly when I meet all of the other Tier 2 (General) eligibility requirements and no explanation has been made as to why police reports are required in my case, particularly a police report from a country I lived for less than 12 months.
I therefore conclude that this refusal is not only harsh but also incorrect, as you are asking me to provide a document which is not required as part of a typical Tier 2 (General) application and is not relevant in my case. Without this explanation, it makes re-submitting my application impossible as I do not know which areas need to be addressed in any new application I may be required to make.
I kindly ask that you reconsider my case on the basis of the above and to issue my Tier 2 (General) visa in accordance with the immigration Rules.
What can I expect? Do you think they will overturn this decision? In my opinion this is pretty insane to outright deny a visa FOR A JOB over some mess like this when not even providing me at least the deadline to obtain the other document.
Regards,
Grenze
