Dependent Visa denial/Reapplying

[Candicesayss]

I have been refused a tier 4 general student dependent visa for not providing proof of my relationship with my boyfriend. I was under the assumption that as a "low risk" applicant (American, applying at the same time as my partner, same nationality, living in the same country, and leaving the country at the same time) that I didn't have to provide any proof with my application, and that anything needed would be requested. A week after they received my application I got an email requesting I show proof of my financial status, understandable. That was sent. A week after that was received they asked for my "actual" statement (as opposed to the cover page that I sent them). Yet another week later I got an email saying my visa had been refused and that the denial letter with the reason would be sent in the mail. Since I had been asked for financial documents (and since I'm sure I read somewhere on their website that they won't request documents for one thing, then deny you for something else) I assumed I had been denied because I somehow did not meet the required amount of money necessary to live abroad for "up to 9 months".

A few days later I read the letter and to my surprise I had been denied because they did not believe that I have been in a relationship with my partner. This was a complete shock... SO my first question is, why would the british consulate waste my time requesting these documents if they knew that I would be denied for a complete different reason. I know that once you submit your application, you can't send any further proof for it unless it is requested... That means wether I had sent my financial documentation or not they would have denied me because I lacked proof of relationship.

I appealed for this reason, and will be leaving my appeal open while I apply again for my dependent visa. I would just like to know if anyone has had a similar situation to this, or knows why they would waste my time (that I could have been using to reapply...) to ask me for unneeded documents (which they did not return).


I am now getting ready to reapply for the same visa. I feel more prepared now knowing what is needed but would like some suggestions if I should provide any further information than what I will already be submitting.


- Cover letter explaining reason for original denial
- Denial letter with the emails sent to me asking to provide ONLY financial proof
- Letter with mine and my boyfriends signature confirming our relationship
- Old Shared bank account with my unmarried partner (who is now living in the UK)
- Congressional letter proving relationship
- Mail in several month increments for the over two years we have lived together
- Letter from our landlord stating our address, his phone number, and the length we lived there (we signed a year lease then continued to live there month to month for a year and a half longer so we no longer had a lease agreement)
- Letter from my boyfriend new landlord in the UK stating the price, location and my permission to live there upon arrival
- My personal bank account with well over the required amount of funding


I know that visas are determined on a case to case basis, so I want to provide as much information as possible to state my case (especially since I have been denied a visa previously).Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Lucapooka]

I have been refused a tier 4 general student dependent visa for not providing proof of my relationship with my boyfriend

So, in your own words, he is not your unmarried partner? Did you refer to him as BF in the application?

Anyway, whatever happened in the actual application, if you can provide robust evidence for a historical (24 months), on-going, co-habiting relationship with pooled resources, akin to a marriage (so, not just BF and GF) you should have no problem with the appeal, but a new application will be much quicker by about 5 months.

You have to look at it like this: There is a lot of immigration fraud from couples in your situation and the UKBA want to satisfy themselves that this is not a simple case of boyfriend and girlfriend who are not that close and are living what amounts to independent lives, or intending to live independent lives in the future, and his parting gift to you is a residence visa that allows you to live and work in the UK, which amounts to no skin off his nose and keeps you sweet.

[Candicesayss]

I have been refused a tier 4 general student dependent visa for not providing proof of my relationship with my boyfriend

So, in your own words, he is not your unmarried partner? Did you refer to him as BF in the application?

Anyway, whatever happened in the actual application, if you can provide robust evidence for a historical (24 months), on-going, co-habiting relationship with pooled resources, akin to a marriage (so, not just BF and GF) you should have no problem with the appeal, but a new application will be much quicker by about 5 months.

You have to look at it like this: There is a lot of immigration fraud from couples in your situation and the UKBA want to satisfy themselves that this is not a simple case of boyfriend and girlfriend who are not that close and are living what amounts to independent lives, or intending to live independent lives in the future, and his parting gift to you is a residence visa that allows you to live and work in the UK, which amounts to no skin off his nose and keeps you sweet.

That's understandable. I guess I hadn't thought about it like that, I refer to him as my boyfriend because we are unmarried. We do plan on getting married in the future, when we're more established in our careers and financially (we're only 21&22) and I have mentioned this in my cover letter. We've known eachother for 10 years, and have been living together for 2.5 so spending a year apart would put a strain on our relationship. This is why I applied for the dependent visa in the first place. We hadn't thought it would be this hard for me to be able to join him, so I'm just trying to think of everything possible to help my case so we don't have to spend so much time apart.