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Many thanks for your response.

She has a research job in the UK (she's a fully funded PhD researcher), and will not be able to leave that for a job in Italy. We are really married. Our appeal was refused because I overstayed in July the UK- but we are currently waiting for the outcome of our appeal. In the meantime, we want to go to any Schengen country (Italy seems to be the easiest to acquire a visa from what I've heard) for about 3 weeks, after which I will be coming back to Nigeria. I've heard of the Surinder route but I don't think it will work, given that she has work commitments in the UK.

I've gone through the tourist visa application for Italy and looks a bit tricky. Not sure what to put in the employment bit, as I'm currently unemployed. I do have sufficient funds in my bank account though. I'm also not sure of what to put in the part where they ask for passport details of my host in Italy. Don't know how this will work if me and my wife will stay at a hotel.

Okay thank you. I've gone through the requirements. It looks straightforward. But I don't really know about the international travelling insurance. Can i buy one in Lagos? I'll probably be in Italy for 3 weeks

Hello,

I got married this year to a British citizen. I then applied for a uk spouse visa, which was refused because I overstayed (I met every other requirement). I appealed the refusal, and now I have to wait for over a year (in the worst case scenario). In the meantime, I'll like to travel to Italy for a short period to maintain a relationship with my wife. My wife will come to join me in Italy, but she's currently working in UK and can take only 3 weeks off. Which visa do I need to travel to Italy? Tourist or spouse of EU citizen.

Please note that my wife can't live permanently in Italy.

Your response will be most appreciated

Wow, congrats Alexlady! Your story is so inspiring. I've also been refused under 320 (11). Please read a summary of my case below. I sent my appeal about a month ago. I'll be really grateful if you can advice me on what to expect.


I applied for an entry clearance as a partner of a British citizen. My application was refused on 320 (11). The two main points made by the ECO are: overstaying the 6months stay limit on my multiple entry visit visa and breaching the conditions attached to my leave by undertaking studies (University degrees). Both of these conditions result in 'contriving in a significant way to frustrate immigration laws', BUT there was no mention of 'aggravating circumstances' in my refusal letter.

I moved to britain as a child, with my family, and stayed there for 12 years (I was granted a 10 year visit visa). The decision to settle down in the country was taken by my parent. I met my wife in 2014, a year before the 10 year visit visa expired. The the 10 year visa expired the year after (2015), and I moved out of UK in February 2017, at my own expense, without the home office having any knowledge of me overstaying, detaining me or forcefully sending me out. I married my wife in Nigeria, then we filed the app in April. My wife has lived in Britain all her life.

During the 10 year period, I undertook studies and gained two university degrees at a time when my visa didn't allow me to do so. However, I paid for the degrees with my money, and never used student loan or any sort of benefit. I was able to enrol with utility cards and bank card, as I didn't have any other form of ID (driver's licence, residence card etc). Although I've met all the other requirements for the spouse visa, my application has been refused for 'contriving in a significant way to frustrate the immigration rules', without any mention of the aggravating circumstances attached to 320 (11), and I've been told that studying is not an aggravating circumstance. Also, the phrase 'aggravating circumstances' was not used in the refusal letter, although 320 (11) was used.


It may be important to state here that I have neither been involved in any criminal activity, nor benefitted from public benefits, during my stay in Britain. I also did not sought or partake in any form of employment during my stay in Britain.

I sent an appeal about a month ago, with the help of a lawyer, and also got my MP involved, who has sent a letter to UKVI. What are my chances in this case? Can the decision be overturned before hearing? I'll really like to hear from you.

Congrats again.

Alexlady:
Dear all,

I wanted to give you all an update regarding my husband’s situation (for reference, my story is detailed below). Going forward, I would also like to advise and support people who go through the Visa/Appeal ordeal as I have learnt so much.

When I first came across this site, I was pleased to read people’s experiences and the support and advice people gave each other, so I decided to share my story and seek advice.

Unfortunately after posting my story, I have to say that I was very disappointed with the support I received. In fact only two people responded to me and in some respects negatively. This put me off the site, I felt embarrassed and for a period of time I stop coming on Nairaland which is a shame as I believe the site is invaluable and a lot of people have been successful due to the advice and support received.

@Lexusgs430- I appreciated the fact that you took time to respond, however I felt you jumped into conclusions and was critical of our situation, stating we were economical with the truth, not open and sincere etc. The fact remains we told the truth and the decision should be based on facts and not assumptions. You even made reference to the fact that the ECO may have thought the marriage was to circumvent. However at no point did the ECO suspect that the marriage was fake. The refusal was due to the fact that he overstayed. You did however advise that it was not the end of the road. You also said that an illegal entrant was also known as an overstayer. I am afraid that was incorrect as they are two different types of people. You also stated that an aggravating circumstance could be being economical with the truth. Again that is incorrect because the aggravating circumstances is related to his time and actions prior to the application. Overall though, you were still encouraging and advised that in the end the visa would be granted.

@stillwaiting- I appreciated that you took the time to respond, however, I found your response was very negative, you focused on my husband’s past as a student, how he should have applied for the student visa earlier than the time he applied and how he should have left the country when they told him to and not overstayed etc. The purpose of this forum is to give advice and help people move forward not criticise what has been done in the past especially when you cannot change the past. I was very upset at these insinuations. You even tried to put me off going down the appeal route.

I am happy to advise that we proceeded with the appeal, we did it all by ourselves, with no lawyer, we argued that 320 (11) was not applicable as there were no aggravating circumstances and today we received confirmation that the decision was overturned and that they will issue the visa. The reason the decision was overturned was due to the fact that the refusal decision flawed and they were not satisfied that 320 (11) was applicable to our case. We give all the glory to God, we had to share this news because God has seen us through, it has been tough, but we have learnt so much and now we want to help people with their own situations.

Please as general advice to all, when you give advice to people, please focus on facts, there is so much information and guidelines on the home office website, so please use those to support your advice. Please don’t jump into conclusions and let us always remember everybody’s situation is unique. What works for one person may not work for another. Whilst one person’s appeal takes 4 Months, another may take 12 Months, it always all depends on who is handling the case and other matters come into play. We do recognise that in some circumstances, reapplying is more appropriate than appealing, but it is down to personal choice.

I will post the timeline once we have received the passport back.

Please feel free to ask me for advice as we believe we are very well versed with the process. Thanks for reading.

Anyone with 320 (11) experience?

Hi everyone,

I applied for an entry clearance as a partner of a British citizen. My application was refused on 320 (11). The two main points made by the ECO are: overstaying the 6months limit and breaching the conditions attached to my leave by undertaking University degrees. There was no mention of aggravating circumstances in my case.

I moved to britain as a child, with my family, and stayed there for 12 years (I was granted a 10 year visit visa). The decision to settle down in the country was taken by my parent. I met my wife in 2014, a year before the 10 year visit visa expired. The the 10 year visa expired the year after (2015), and I moved out of UK in February 2017, at my own expense, without the home office having any knowledge of me overstaying, detaining me or forcefully sending me out. I married my wife in Nigeria, then we filed the app in April. My wife has lived in Britain all her life.

During the 10 year period, I undertook studies and gained two university degrees at a time when my visa didn't allow me to do so. However, I paid for the degrees, and never used student loan or any sort of benefit. I was able to enrol with utility cards and bank card, as I didn't have any other form of ID (driver's licence, residence card etc). Although I've met all the other requirements for the spouse visa, my application has been refused for 'contriving in a significant way to frustrate the immigration rules', without any mention of the aggravating circumstances attached to 320 (11), and I've been told that studying is not an aggravating circumstance. Also, the phrase 'aggravating circumstances' was not used in the refusal letter, although 320 (11) was used.


It may be important to state here that I have neither been involved in any criminal activity, nor benefitted from public benefits, during my stay in Britain. I also did not sought or partake in any form of employment during my stay in Britain.

I sent an appeal 2 weeks ago, with the help of a lawyer, and also got my MP involved, who has sent a letter to UKVI. What are my chances in this case? Can the decision be overturned before hearing? I'll really like to hear from you.

I left UK in February to get married to my wife, as stated in the post. In April, I applied for entry clearance as the spouse of a British citizen.

Can someone with 320 (11) experience advice please.

Hi everyone,

I applied for an entry clearance as a partner of a British citizen. My application was refused on 320 (11). The two main points made by the ECO are: overstaying the 6months limit and breaching the conditions attached to my leave by undertaking University degrees. There was no mention of aggravating circumstances in my case.

I moved to britain as a child, with my family, and stayed there for 12 years (I was granted a 10 year visit visa). The decision to settle down in the country was taken by my parent. I met my wife in 2014, a year before the 10 year visit visa expired. The the 10 year visa expired the year after (2015), and I moved out of UK in February 2017, at my own expense, without the home office having any knowledge of me overstaying, detaining me or forcefully sending me out.

During the 10 year period, I undertook studies and gained two university degrees at a time when my visa didn't allow me to do so. However, I paid for the degrees, and never used student loan or any sort of benefit. I was able to enrol with utility cards and bank card, as I didn't have any other form of ID (driver's licence, residence card etc). Although I've met all the other requirements for the spouse visa, my application has been refused for 'contriving in a significant way to frustrate the immigration rules', without any mention of the aggravating circumstances attached to 320 (11), as I've been told that studying is not an aggravating circumstance. Also, the phrase 'aggravating circumstances' was not used in the refusal letter, although 320 (11) was used.


It may be important to state here that I have neither been involved in any criminal activity, nor benefitted from public benefits, during my stay in Britain. I also did not sought or partake in any form of employment during my stay in Britain.

I sent an appeal 2 weeks ago, with the help of a lawyer, and also got my MP involved. What are my chances in this case? Can the decision be overturned before hearing? I'll really like to hear from you.