Spouse visa application declined, need your help to appeal.

[rajauk]

Hi,
Need some urgent advice as my cousin has been rejected in his application for spouse visa. Need your help to fill in the form.
My cousin made an appplication to join his wife who is a British national in Pakistan but his application has been rejected.
My cousin's wife receives disability and incapacity benefits. Our lawyer told us as she receives benefits she can not support her husband for maintenance but after reading some posts here it seems it can be used for maintenance. Anyway due this reason one of her family members agreed to sponsor her husband for maintenance, but in the rejection letter the ECO says the third party support is not allowed in this case even though they have discretion over it. Is this correct?
We are planning to submit the appeal papers ourselves as I feel our lawyer who charged £900 let us down badily so would be grateful if you could point me to case laws where it shows third party maintenace support should be allowed and also disable people can use their disability benefits to support their spouse for maintenance so we can point to ECO that this is not the case in the appeal form.
Their are also other reasons but we can provide answers to them as it was lawyer's fault that we did not cover those grounds. Can't believe how a so called reputable lawyer can miss out on basic things, could have done a better job myself. Atleast its taught us a lesson to do some research ourselves and not to put all our trust in a lawyer.
I would be greatful for any advice you people can provide.
Best regards,
raja

[geriatrix]

My cousin made an appplication to join his wife who is a British national in Pakistan

1. Is the sponsor - your British citizen cousin - resident in Pakistan or UK?
2. The family members who consented to 3rd party sponsorship / support - are they based in UK?

See also 3rd party support and accommodation

[rajauk]

My cousin made an appplication to join his wife who is a British national in Pakistan

1. Is the sponsor - your British citizen cousin - resident in Pakistan or UK?
2. The family members who consented to 3rd party sponsorship / support - are they based in UK?

See also 3rd party support and accommodation

sushmetha thankyou for your response.

1) she is resisident of UK

2) the third party sponsor is also uk resident


Thankyou for any advice you can give

[rajauk]

I have read the supreme court judgement: Mahad v Entry Clearance Officer (2009) UKSC 16 and also IDI guidance. To me all of them are clear that Third party support is allowed.
So I am baffled why the Entry Clearance Officer in the decision letter for my cousin states the UKBA guidance on third party support for married couple is as follows:

"Members of the couple's families in the United Kingdom may offer to maintainthe couple adequately until they can do so from their own resources. This is acceptable in the case of fince(e)s/proposed civil partners who are not permitted to work until the marriage/civil partnership. However, for spouses or civil partners, such an arrangement would not satisfy the Rules, which require the couple to maintain themselves. Nevertheless, it may be appropriate in certain circumstances to exercise discretionfor a spouse or civil partner where it is clear that such an arrangementwill be for limited period and that the couple will be in a position to maintain themselves shortly after the applicant's arrival in the United Kingdom."

Now the above guidance opposes all the guidance I have found on UKBA website plus the Supreme court judgement on third party support. I also can't find the above guidance on UKBA website.
So I am puzzled by the use of the above guidance in the refusal letter. Am I correct that she has made a mistake here or used an old guidance version in refusing my cousin's application. I am totally baffled as all I have read states that third party support is permissable. Please enlighten me and if she has made a mistake, does that strengthen our case.

[rajauk]

Could someone please tell me if my reading of the third party support is correct and the ECO has got it wrong. Especially the guidance ECO used in the rejection letter, which is highlighted in bold letters in the above post.

[rajauk]

Could someone please provide some advice regarding the above. Would be grateful as need to submit the appeal papers.

[Casa]

The ECO is incorrect. 3rd party financial support for a spouse visa application is now allowed and has been for some time.