Appealing a UK Spouse Visa Rejection - Questions

[Brotato]

Evening all, wonder if I could take a moment of your time to ask some questions regarding what I am almost certain will be a visa refusal. Brief timeline below for context:

18th Feb - Wife in Japan gets an email (working day 57) from HO stating that we haven't provided the English language documents required, either the NARIC statement or a test. We have TEN working days to get the information to them. We had provided the NARIC statement of compareability as my wife was educated to degree level in Manilla, PH.

18th Feb - we send again the NARIC statement of comparability asking HO to get in touch if they have any further issues or questions

19th Feb - horrible feeling we might not have the right document, so send NARIC an email for clarity.

22nd Feb (4 days later, thanks NARIC!) - NARIC respond saying we do indeed have the wrong document. We need the combined document which has the statement of comparability (that we already have), but more importantly the documment from them certifying that the degree was taught in English (thus no IELTS etc needed). We immediately buy the right document, on priority service (£300!) but it's after hours. We also email the HO to tell them exactly what we are doing, and that the correct doc will be with them beginning of this week.

Also 22nd Feb - VFS Global email received later on stating that the processed visa application has been received.

25th Feb - NARIC post correct document and VFS state that they've couriered my wife her docs.

So, if I am reading this correctly, the HO have made their decision, meaning it's quite likely that they went off the first incorrect document we sent. They also didn't give us the ten days either.

So stressed and anxious right now it is unreal. IF it is a refusal (because how can it not be), do you think we could appeal? If we do, how long does it take? Can we send the new NARIC document to them with the appeal?

Cheers
Brotato

[ariamus]

I believe that if the visa is refused because you didn’t supply the correct documents, the refusal would be correct.

Therefore there would be little point in appealing because you cannot include new documents in an appeal.

You could as for a reconsideration but again if the decision was correct then it would not achieve much.

In such cases you would need to re-apply and pay the visa fee again, although you would receive a refund for the IHS fee already paid.

On the positive side, if the decision for refusal only is because of what you think, you can be confident of the next application being complete and correct. Note any bank statements and salary slips would need updating to not be older than 28 days of new application date.

[Brotato]

Thanks for your swift reply. Can we not argue from the point that we were given ten days and that we didn't get that? That despite constant contact, they still went ahead with the rejection?

The most annoying thing in all of this is that my wife IS AN ENGLISH TEACHER. The ECO had her CV and contract of employment from the English Language Centre at which she teaches English to Japanese students... Her boss is British.

I know it's likely all academic, but I really do question the morality behind some of these decisions.

[seagul]

The most annoying thing in all of this is that my wife IS AN ENGLISH TEACHER. The ECO had her CV and contract of employment from the English Language Centre at which she teaches English to Japanese students... Her boss is British

HO is chained up with their own guidance with no sense of discretion over that matter. Re-applying will be more better but if you are not in hurry then might appeal and also ask for reconsideration on grounds of evidential flexibility that why were you not given chance to submit them the missing document.

[ariamus]

HO is chained up with their own guidance with no sense of discretion over that matter. Re-applying will be more better but if you are not in hurry then might appeal and also ask for reconsideration on grounds of evidential flexibility that why were you not given chance to submit them the missing document.

@Seagul, OP has said they were given the opportunity to provide correct documents, and in response they resent their document in belief it was correct - only after that they realise it wasn’t correct and by then possibly too late if their thoughts of a refusal are true.

[seagul]

HO is chained up with their own guidance with no sense of discretion over that matter. Re-applying will be more better but if you are not in hurry then might appeal and also ask for reconsideration on grounds of evidential flexibility that why were you not given chance to submit them the missing document.

@Seagul, OP has said they were given the opportunity to provide correct documents, and in response they resent their document in belief it was correct - only after that they realise it wasn’t correct and by then possibly too late if their thoughts of a refusal are true.

Decision seems like be primarily made than even the deadline. OP tried to inform them too.

[Frontier Mole]

Wait and see is the only advice.... the bad bit... they offered evidential flexibility by asking for a missing document - it was not supplied in the correct timeframe so HO can legitimately refuse on that basis...

The good bit - you have sent the correct document and it will / should be provided in the caseworker pack, it was only a couple of days late and there is little chance that the caseworker was even allocated at that point.

I suggest you confirm with VFS that the additional document was passed on... good luck with contact, not too many success stories on that front.

[chenmyster]

It is shocking how long HO takes to do anything yet on a random day they email you to give you a short period to complete something.

Do not reapply, as it is supporting HO in their way of rejecting applications for any excuses(a lot of times false excuses) they can think of.

First of all you need to wait for your rejection letter, because you need to find out all their reasons for the rejection.

Then you need to ask your local MP for help and get ready to appeal and also ask them to do an administrative review by sending your documents back to HO with your reason that you weren't given the dates you were told to be given etc.

Your local MP will be able to contact HO through methods you don't have.

As long as you have all the documents and you are eligible you will have a good chance at getting the refusal withdrawn with the administrative review which happened with my case( my case is slightly different but all the same). Even if not, you should win the appeal.

Having said that, it will still take longer than reapplying with priority, but who to say that HO won't reject it again, because I've seen a few cases on this forum where people have provided correct documents still managed to get rejected by HO saying some of them were missing.