Family visa refused - appeal or apply for spouse visa?

[gringojoe]

Hi all,

I'm a UK citizen and my wife is Colombian, we have an 18 month old daughter and have been living together in Colombia since 2009.

We were planning a trip to the UK for easter so my grandmother could meet her great granddaughter but my wife was refused a family visitor visa on the grounds that both she and I failed to prove any strong ties to Colombia and it was therefore deemed unlikely she would return at the end of her visit. The refusal acknowledged my financial affairs are in order and that my wife and daughter are dependent on me.

I'm in the fortunate position of working for a flexible UK company that lets me telecommute from my home in Colombia but this does mean that my bank accounts, payslips etc. go to my parents UK address which doesn't help showing ties to Colombia. We rent a house but this is in my wife's father's name as my wife doesn't work and I had no status within Colombia at the time we needed the lease. Apart from passport stamps and my Colombian residency visa there is very little to prove I exist in Colombia at all. My wife has no substantial assets to speak of.

As we're intending to move permanently to the UK in the middle of next year anyway I was wondering if it's feasible to apply for a spouse visa now even though we don't intend to live in the UK yet and use that for a visit rather than settlement initially?
Ordinarily I'd leave it until nearer the time but I want my grandmother to meet our daughter as soon as possible as she's not getting any younger - she's in no position to travel to Colombia.
My parents are happy for us to use their address, it fits the visa criteria, and we will actually stay there until we get settled when we do move back.
I don't want to do anything that could be construed as misleading or trying to game the system.

Otherwise, is it worth appealing the family visitor refusal? I could get a letter from my employer stating that I live and work in Colombia, but that's about all the documentation I could provide. All my wife has are utility, cable, internet bills but they don't prove any commitment to come back to Colombia.

Any advice gratefully received.

[terriblescream]

Hi all,

I'm a UK citizen and my wife is Colombian, we have an 18 month old daughter and have been living together in Colombia since 2009.

We were planning a trip to the UK for easter so my grandmother could meet her great granddaughter but my wife was refused a family visitor visa on the grounds that both she and I failed to prove any strong ties to Colombia and it was therefore deemed unlikely she would return at the end of her visit. The refusal acknowledged my financial affairs are in order and that my wife and daughter are dependent on me.

I'm in the fortunate position of working for a flexible UK company that lets me telecommute from my home in Colombia but this does mean that my bank accounts, payslips etc. go to my parents UK address which doesn't help showing ties to Colombia. We rent a house but this is in my wife's father's name as my wife doesn't work and I had no status within Colombia at the time we needed the lease. Apart from passport stamps and my Colombian residency visa there is very little to prove I exist in Colombia at all. My wife has no substantial assets to speak of.

As we're intending to move permanently to the UK in the middle of next year anyway I was wondering if it's feasible to apply for a spouse visa now even though we don't intend to live in the UK yet and use that for a visit rather than settlement initially?
Ordinarily I'd leave it until nearer the time but I want my grandmother to meet our daughter as soon as possible as she's not getting any younger - she's in no position to travel to Colombia.
My parents are happy for us to use their address, it fits the visa criteria, and we will actually stay there until we get settled when we do move back.
I don't want to do anything that could be construed as misleading or trying to game the system.

Otherwise, is it worth appealing the family visitor refusal? I could get a letter from my employer stating that I live and work in Colombia, but that's about all the documentation I could provide. All my wife has are utility, cable, internet bills but they don't prove any commitment to come back to Colombia.

Any advice gratefully received.

To prove strong ties in this situation is really difficult, you could appeal and argue that if your wife intended to stay longer in the UK she could have applied as a spouse but the visit was a short one since we are setteled here in columbia.


If you go for the appeal process it will take between 6-9 months and probably longer even after you get the decision there are delays before they issue you a visa.

If you can cover the refusal reasons and get evidence, I would say re-apply, going for the spouse visa is your choice but you would have to cover different immigration rules for that for eg, genuine marriage, subsiting relationship etc go through the guidance for spouse visa