₦airaland Forum

ineedhimbadly:
@ IKATO - I understand completely everything you have said, the judge quoted this case which have nothing to do with our case. Which is RAZGAR (2004 UKHL 27). She also quoted PS (2010 UKUT440) (IAC). All the cases which she stated were all allowed at the upper tribunal based on Article 8 family life and they all met the requirements. Can you quote that thai case? And what was the issue regarding other people going to court for the second time.


@ Justwise - I hope your not offended. Life is too short. Trust me.

I know no-one is a expert. I have never said that.

The Thai case is a long shot as I stumbled across it when I was making my application almost a year ago... But it's on one of the Thai spouse visa forums. The case was complicated - very complicated ... And the court due not overturn the refusal.

On the other hand,
When I said people's cases were successful on the second appeal I meant at upper tribunal.

It can go either way depending on what the history is.

I wouldn't necessarily count on right to family life. The refusal of a spouse visa is not a breach of right to family life; as it can be argued as it has been done severally before, that family life can be maintained outside the UK.

It depends in how bad the case is and the compelling factors which may exist.

If the breach(es) is/are not extraordinary, then I don't see why you can't overcome the hurdle ahead.

ineedhimbadly:
@justwise - do not get offended my brother, yes I do know the difference between those two paragraphs and my opinion is that paragraph 320 7a this is what people get banned for, providing fake documents and representatives. This is just my opinion I thought we could bounce of each other with different opinions.

@ineedhimbadly,

I read of a Thai case where the applicant had adverse immigration offences.. The application failed on the grounds of 320(11) attempting to frustrate intentions of the immgration rules, aggravating circumstances and the lot.
The further appeal also failed as the judge blantantly refused to rule in favour of the applicant and his spouse.

The final option was for the spouse to return to Thailand and love with his partner.

It all depends on individual circumstances of each case.

P.S the judge in this case ruled that the applicant did not write a statement explaining the reason for her adverse behaviour in the past... Hence why I think this would be a good idea for anybody who is refused under 320(11)

justwise:
Do you know the difference between 320(11) and 320 (7A)?

Since I knew nothing about 320(11) does it also mean that your immigration lawyer know nothing about 320 (11)?

Anyway good luck with which ever decision you decided to take. My apologies for getting involved in your case. Was only trying to help because my ID was mentioned.

All the best.
Done.

@ineedhimbadly, sorry to be intrusive in your case o, I'm just curious. I thought you and Lasmab had the issue of section 320(11)

What you have quoted is section 320(7) which is different as Justwise has said. The latter deals with forgery or misrepresentation used in an application... While the former deals with immigration offenders ie those who breach immigration laws like overstayers, those who enter clandestinely, those who breach conditions of previous visas issued to them, etc, etc...

Girlfio is right that we are not immigration experts, some of us learn from the experience of others who have passed through more difficult and complex applications than others.

Maybe we have got the facts of your case wrong... But however, from my personal experience, with my visa application and on NL, I realised we all learn everyday.

For example with my own application, I was refused initially because Of a NHS debt which I wasn't aware I owed.

When I asked here for info, I realised only one other forum mate had such experience.... Others were of the opinion that my appeal would fail. After considering the perosnL merits of my case, I decided that the refusal was totally unfair and I appealed. And I was successful before it went to court.

It doesn't mean that those who were a little sceptical didn't not know what they were saying, it only meant that was the consensus. Even I was skeptical.

You see, UKBA can be very unpredictable. Someone who overstayed a visa by over 8 years and who worked illegally for over 7 yearsapplied for a settlement visa. This person used email correspondence from the (illegal) employment as proof of relationship with the spouse.

All these were submitted in the visa application. And guess what? UKBA did not refuse for 320(11
So it really boils down to exactly what happened in your case and what the exact circumstance is.

Good luck with your journey and keep reading and posting. I'm certain you would encounter othe forum mates who have been in a similar situation as you...

Afterall this is not the first time I've read of successful outcomes where the poster says they've appealed to two courts etc...

All the best.




Sorry

bassy10113:
014535191
Hi...this is the number...the lady told me to go to Etiebet house..

Thanks...

bassy10113:
Thanks....i didn't receive anything....i called teleperfomance customer care line...to make enquiry if my passport is back...and the lady asked for my GWF num and my name...and she said if it's back that she wud call back in 5mins time and if not she will call me later in the day to tell me where my passport is....and luckily she called me after 5min telling me that my visa has been back since last month....but they were having issues since I applied with VFS..and they were unable to contact me cux they don't have my phone number......I saw so many applications there....yet to be collected.....so it's better to call that line to track ur application cux they ain't updating that ukvac-ng website again.

@Bassey, can you please send me the number you called to enquire about your passport please?

Also did u have to go to abuja to collect or was this in Lagos?

MrsAdebiyi:
@ikato3540 : pls can u share ur application timeline I.e when did u apply , what were the supporting documents returned to ur husband , when was the visa issued . Also will be interested in where u r collecting the passport thanks

@Mrs Adebiyi

Settlement visa applied for on Christmas Eve 2013.

Date of refusal:28th February 2014

Passport collected on March 11th 2014 from VFS Ikeja

Appeal submitted 26th March 2014

19 week deadline date given: 19th September 2014.

Refusal overturn: 16th September 2014

shelair1:
@ Toni4
VFS global doesnt handle uk visas anymore, it has been taken over by teleperformance and at abuja they are located at central area in abuja opp war college beside Metro plaza. Your passport will most likely be there, if not as of Anna, will be of great help in locating it. if you do not get it, lets know. I will give you a number sheffield gave me to call.

@Shelair & everybody in the house,

I still haven't received my passport back. Different officials at Sheffiled told three different things.

The first told us the passport has been dispatched since 3rd October, the second told us the passport was dispatched on the 14th October; while the third apologised and said they just dispatched the passport yesterday. well, my husband and I have decided to go with the last information.

I want to know if We would be contacted to come and collect the passport.

Also Sheffield informed us in one of their emails to us that the passport has been sent to Abuja, despite our request for it to be sent to the same place of application which was in Lagos

For anyone who has recently collected thier passports from Sheffield, did u have to go to Abuja to pick it up?

girlfio:
@Toni4. If its not in Abuja, I would definately try the Lekki VAC. If they sent u confirmation of the issued passport via email, ask your wife to take a copy of that with her. Unfortunately Sheffield are notoriously difficult to contact once the visa has been issued. If u have proof that it has been sent on an email, it should force the VAC to investigate.

@Girlfio and Damioyepitan,

I may be mistaken but I think someone here on NL once posted that Lekki VAC is now closed to those collecting their passports..

Anyway, there's only one way to find out.... I would go there.

@ Toni I wouldn't suggest abuja VAC I have been misinformed severally by some of those who work there... And I'm not sure they are in sync with some of the processes and procedures especially for settlement cases.

Someone there told me to submit my passport to them for visa issue and that the visa is issued in Lagos not Sheffield..... And that ukba is only trying to trick us that all visas including settlement can be issued in Nigeria.

Truckload of BS

Toni4:
Hi,
I am a British citizen marriage to a Nigerian, we applied for a settlement visa for her to join me in the UK. the application was previously refused, but the refusal was overturned on the 7th of August 2014 and she was asked to send her passport to Sheffield.I got a response from Sheffield stating that her visa has been issued and her passport dispatched to VAC in Nigeria where she made the initial application since the 8/9/2014. however, she is been to VAC in Abuja severally but was told they don't have her passport. I have written several emails to Sheffield asking for specific details on which VAC the passport was sent to. Please, is there an alternative or direct means to contact Sheffield in other to get a prompt response. it is really getting frustrating, its been over 16 months now, since we first made the application.

@ everybody in the house, I'm in a similar situation as Toni. Passport received by Sheffield almost 3 weeks ago, sent via DHL. I went to VAC ikeja ( eitebets place) yesterday, and the passport wasn't there. My husband and I have emailed Sheffield about the whereabouts of the passport, but we've not heard from them yet.

Do you think it's worth trying lekki VAC? I applied in ikeja VAC and that's why I went there for collection.

Please what do you suggest I do?

[quote author=ineedhimbadly post=27007677]@ Justwise - Using someone else passport to gain entry into the country, however this all comes under paragraph 320. Please give us some advice.

Is there anyone out there whose been to the upper tribunal and won and if not where does it go after the upper tribunal?[/quote


P.S, unless there has been a crime along similar lines of terrorism, money landing, fraud, etc.... Believe me, there's nothing in the immigration offences you or your partner may have committed that UKBA have never heard of.

So it's no biggy. Just spit it out as it happened.

Wether you choose to proceed with the upper tribunal or decide to re-apply, please I advise that a written (handwritten) statement from the applicant to UKBA giving details of entire circumstances which led to the immigration history, and how in that journey, you met your partner and how you fell in love.... Talk about how much you deserve to be given a second chance because you are certain that you have paid the price.., etc....

But please be certain you have fully disclosed everything that has gone wrong.

dammylizzy:
With refusal under paragraph 320(11), I would advise you not to waste your time and resources on upper tribunal. All you need to do is re-apply and address each reasons for refusal one after the other by telling the whole truth no matter how bad it is. Believe me when I say you don't need a solicitor to do this for you as no one can tell your story better than you, so please save your money!

I was refused 3 times under the same paragraph and they kept saying I didn't address the reasons for refusal and just kept refusing. I made use of 3 different solicitors who didn't have the time to write my history but on the 4th attempt, myself and my spouse decided to address the reasons one after the other without the use of a solicitor and the visa was approved straight from application and not through an appeal. It took us over 6 years to take this approach and God made it happen. So if there's anything I can say more is that, address the issues, tell the whole truth without holding back, pray and trust God for His mercy and favour!

During the time preceding my spouse visa application, i read a lot on paragraph 320(11); the application of which is very vast and unpredictable.

I observed two trends:

First the ukba sometimes tend to use this against overstayers but more often than not against people who entered the UK clandestinely

Secondly, in most cases I've read, where the process is escalated to upper tribunal, the facts of the case boils down to two things. First the subsisting relationship which MUST be established and maintained throughout the process, and importantly the human rights of the spouse (UK citizen)

The latter is often misinterpreted wrongly to mean that as a Brisitsh citizen you have the right to enjoy family life in the UK.

Nope! Unfortunately, where a case reaches the upper level tribunal, the applicant and spouse are faced with the task of proving to the court why the British spouse cannot enjoy family life in the applicants country. Because this may be what the HO may suggest.

If you have strong grounds of inability to relocate to country of applicant, then maybe the upper tribunal might be the way to go.

If not, then maybe a reapplication might be the next best thing to do. Reapply stating the grounds of previous refusals.... Etc...

In my own case I wrote a personal handwritten statement which I submitted with the initial application. Telling of the circumstances of my entire journey to the UK, etc etc... Just basically telling the truth.

I think this is important.

I think this can be a way out.

I'm sorry, there isn't anything else I can personally think about as a way out of this situation.

Please don't ever give up- where there's a will, there's a way.

Get advise from immigration lawyers who have experience with cases like this.

Hopeforallone:
@ Damyo- Was it 10 exact working days including weekends or just days?

@hopeforall. How's it been?

Any news from the court yet?

Hopeforallone:
@ IKATO - you still around brother?

Yeap@ hopeforall,
I'm just waiting for my passport and visa back from Sheffield. They received it a week ago and hopefully in the next week or so I would get it back so I can travel.

shelair1: sorry IKATO i sent it mysef thru dhl ps dnt let them cheap u at dhl. they exaggerate prices these days she b ABT 6k somthing plus 2k insurance

@Shelair, have you now received your passport back from Sheffiled?

girlfio: The process changed over the last couple of years. You now post your passport yourself to the Sheffield office using a tracked postal service like DHL. Once you get confirmation that it has arrived, you'll also get the name of the person that signed receipt. You don't have to, but we then sent them an email notifying that the passport has been received, giving date of receipt, tracking ref and name of the person that signed for it. Then we asked for confirmation of when and where the passport would be sent back to. The whole process from receipt to posting back took just over a week. Obviously it all depends on how busy they are as well.

@Girlfio, thanks. Would do just that.

[quote author=Ikato3540][/quote]@ Shelair, how did u send your passport to Sheffield for the visa?! I read you sent it via VFS... If I'm not mistaken. Or did u have to post it back to Sheffield yourself?

Thanks.

[quote author=girlfio]Hello house, I sent my passport via VFS abuja office to Sheffield. I got a call today asking me to post my passport to Sheffield myself.

Is this the normal process? I thought the passport was sent back through VFS?!

[quote author=willwin2]See me jumping, 4am have only had 1 hr sleep, so mine is coming soon.

@ willwin, don't worry I didn't even sleep at all sometimes.

I'm sure you would be fine. I hope you would.

Goodluck.

willwin2: So happy for you, am also praying the decision to be overturned, pls why were you refused and did they overturn the decision before or after the 19 weeks.


The road has been rough and very bumpy and the journey has indeed been steep and at the DYING moment, when I TRULY believed that ALL hope was LOST.....

HE came through for me.


Today 18th September 2014, I received a second email from Sheffield informing me that the decision to refuse my visa has been OVERTURNED.

House, I thank you all ever so much for EVERYTHING!!!!

I cannot write a list of people who have helped and advised me on NL.... To you all I am grateful..

@ will win, I was refused for owing the NHS almost £7,000. And my deadline is tomorrow. 19th September. The lady told us they had a backlog to clear but they have now cleared it

So yes, they overturned it basically in the 19th week.

I would advise anyone doing the appeal to just submit EVERYTHING they asked for and more.

We knew that paying the nhs be alone MAY not have gotten me the overturn so we included my husbands finances again to show that he paid it because he could afford to pay it with no problem.

Ikato3540: PRAISE THE LORD GOD MOST HIGH!!!!!

I have searched through all eternity Lord and find there is none like you!!!!!

The road has been rough and very bumpy and the journey has indeed been steep and at the DYING moment, when I TRULY believed that ALL hope was LOST.....

HE came through for me.

Today 18th September 2014, I received a second email from Sheffield informing me that the decision to refuse my visa has been OVERTURNED.

House, I thank you all ever so much for EVERYTHING!!!!

I cannot write a list of people who have helped and advised me on NL.... To you all I am grateful..

Hopeforallone: @ Cem7 - Thanks.

PRAISE THE LORD GOD MOST HIGH!!!!!

I have searched through all eternity Lord and find there is none like you!!!!!

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - First week of November my brother you are truly blessed that is really quick. I know you have been waiting a long time because you got caught up with all the Law. How long have you been in Nigeria for now?

@ hopeforall, good luck this week. I truly wish you all the very best, and I pray you would be favoured.

shelair1: @ Hopefoallone and Ikato3540 wish you the best in your upcoming appeal . May God guide you thru it andd it will be successful all the way .

I am still waiting to be called. th confusing part is that the presenting officer unit in manchester said they arre the one in charge and they will send d determination directly to abuja while the ECM in BHCabuja says ukba in sheffield is i charge tho they dont have the determination yet. like Girlflo adviced I called the tribunal they cudnt help wit their email neithercud they resent it. am at lost on wat to d 8 weeks gone.

@Shelair,

AMEN&THANK YOU.

I'm thinking, that If you applied from Naija, Sheffield office should be your target.

DUNIQUE1: Mine is asking for 1500 pounds, I don't know if any other person got a cheaper one. This particular one is from my solicitor.

O my! That's a lot. Prices when I also asked were around the over £1,000 mark.

willwin2: @will win, on what grounds were you refused for in your initial application? And when is your 19 week deadline due to run out?

I was refused on relationship and accommodation, they don't believe my relationship is genuine, and I don't have permission to live in the flat(we didn't include letter from council in our application),Sheffield have till October ending to reply.

@ will win, Doesn't sound like anything major which is good.

willwin2: Quest am the only one waiting for my appeal from Sheffield.

@will win, on what grounds were you refused for in your initial application? And when is your 19 week deadline due to run out?

DUNIQUE1: @ Hopeforallone, it is almost September & I know what you will be feeling right now. God is in control and you will come out victorious in this, I wish the same for myself, at the moment I am looking for funds to hire an IL for my case.

@Hopeforall, I do sincerely hope you are overreacting and that things would be a lot easier than you think they would be. My deadline too is in September so it's a decisive month for us both.

@Dunique, how much did you eventually get an IL for? What is the price range just Incase I go down this lane too..

willwin2: Quest am the only one waiting for my appeal from Sheffield.

Nope you are not alone. I'm in my 15th week

sunnychic: @Ikato3540 Visasheffield@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

Took them almost a month to reply us too. Pscheewww.

@Sunnychic,

Thanks a lot!!! Imagine, one month to reply.

Whao!!!! How far with your case? Any new update? Have they sent you the reason why they are sending it to tribunal? Or have they still not come back to you?

DUNIQUE1: First week, so I see it as two months time.

@Dunique, can u please tell me the email address for the Sheffield office which you used when u enquired abt your application?

We've sent them an email but they haven't come back to us- we just want to make sure we are sending to the right recipient.

Thanks

[quote author=Ikato3540][/quote]Sorry I rephrase:

We checked with the hospital and I was told there was no invoice in my name.

Even after paying almost £7k, I hope they overturn their initial decision, but the HO/UKBA can't be predicted. They got nothing to loose to send it to court.

Hopeforall, u are going to court in a few weeks time, and I know how anxious you might feel right now. Try to take things easy and be optimistic. Anything can happen in court.

Remember section 320(11) is a discretionary ground for refusal. The refusal was given becos the ECO&ECM in their discretion felt that it should apply.

There has to be a breach of immigration law, there has to be aggravating circumstances AND the applicant MUST have also contrived in a significant way to frustrate the intentions of the law- all three must occur. For some reason (dunno why) cases with illegal entry are treated worse than overstayers who voluntarily return home ( I might be wrong)

If u research extensively, both here on NL ( shame we lost so many pages) and elsewhere, there is in exhaustive information on this subject.

Above all, please pray to God and I hope it goes well for you.

[quote author=Hopeforallone]@ IKato - what did the ecm state on your refusal letter and why did he refuse it?[/quote


I haven't reached my 19 week yet. In the next few weeks.

My initial application was refused for an paid NHS medical bill. The invoice was sent after the application, and the application was refused before the payment due date stated on the invoice.

We paid the invoice in one instalment.

Unfortunately for us we checked with the hospital and I was told there would be no need to pay for it.