₦airaland Forum

Veacon:
I'm currently about to have mine in Abuja, so had to go make enquiries. The process is quite different from what I read about the ikoyi registry.

For the special marriage license, you need the Intl data page of your intended spouse who stays abroad, visa page ( if applicable), his / her passport photograph, his /her birth certificate or declaration of age cert, your passport photograph, your birth cert, your local govt ID, affidavit of being single from high court for you both ( they talk you into getting that done for you @N2000 each), marriage cost is N62050 (because you can have everything done same day without the 21 or 7 days notice), a sum if N100000 for security clearance (DSS) waiver.

Wedding days are Tue, Thur, and Sat.

Hope this helps!

Nice but here is my worry. All over the world, it is customary, mandatory and even maybe legal to have the 21 - 28 days notice of the intended marriage after which the ceremony can be carried out. This notice period is to allow for any objections from the public or couple's family and also for investigation of the intended couple to be carried out to prevent fraud or forced marriage etc.

So when you say you have been told to pay a certain amount to by-pass this stage, are you not worried or concerned. Do you then not think countries like the UK are then right not to recognize marriage certificates from these registries in Nigeria??

Why not just follow the full and proper process to ensure that you and your spouse a married the right/correct way to prevent unforeseen issues in the future. This is just my 2 cents.

Still, I wish you all the best.

Lexusgs430:
Count 120 days from successful appeal.....

lol..no chill!

Pacmandude:
Hello.I thought the same as you (justwise), Lexusgs430 and Oxygyne did, but after receiving that which i sent to you guys from International casework and quality assurance team i received a letter from Immigration and tribunal saying thus:

The respondent has copied the tribunal into a letter they have sent to the appellant.
The letter is ambiguous and does not meet requirements of the rule 17(2) of the 2014 Procedure Rules. The letter asks for the appeal to be withdrawn. Rule 17(2) requires the respondent to confirm that the decision subject to appeal has been withdrawn. As the letter does not withdraw the decision subject to the appeal, the hearing will remain as listed.
The appeal will proceed to be determined on the papers on the first available date after 19th September 2018. Should the respondent make a renewed application to withdraw, it should explicitly state that the decision subject to appeal has been withdrawn.
These directions are made by a Tribunal Caseworker Mr X in exercise of specified powers granted by the Senior President of Tribunals under rules 3(1) and (2) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014. Either party may within 14 days of issue apply in writing to the tribunal for the direction to be considered by a judge under rule 3(4). If you do not seek reconsideration by a judge then the Tribunals Caseworker's direction will stand.

Any clues to what again is being said here? This my case is taking another dimension again. Lexusgs430 500k? Cadilac vehicle price. Funny you! Oxygen i did apply again, priority this time. Awaiting response. In 3rd week of waiting. See as my tribunal case is going, no assurances from tribunal's end.

Awaiting you guys responses please. Thanks

First of all, I have to say sorry and appeal to you to calm down because I am sure you are just as confused as I am and possibly worried. These emails come worded in strange ways, they can be interpreted in various ways which make it hard to understand what the way forward is.

To be sincere, I do not know the best way to proceed but just like @justwise suggested the proper thing to do now is to email and call UKBA relaying the information in the 2 emails you have received and let them interpret and tell you what do to next.

From my understanding, I think the original refusal has been overturned but there is a conflict because of the 2 separate cases of an ongoing appeal and a new application. Best guess, it seems your new application must have provided new evidence to grant you the visa and an email was sent to the tribunal to withdraw your appeal on the old application but the tribunal is saying the appeal should have been withdrawn before the new application was made. However, we can't be sure until you make that call.

Just remain calm and make the call. It will end well, we are here for you.

Dremzz:
Hey guys!

I got my visa today!! Praise to God.

Timeline:
Application submitted: June 25th( priority)
Biometrics: June 29th
Documents Received at Sheffield: July 5th
Escalated via phone: August 13th
Hubby called again August 15th, was told decision was made on the 14th
Ready to pick up email: August 22nd
Passport picked up: August 23rd



Total of of 39 working days including the 2 days sallah break.

I did my court wedding the saturday before I submitted my application online, and hubby applied for his british passport and got the approval after my biometrics and I had indicated he was on ILR in my application. Was worried that it will be an issue.
But I got it!!

Praise be to God! And you guys for answering all the silly questions I asked. I came across this forum end of May, and got all the information I needed. ���

Time to fly away!!

Pacmandude:
Hi justwise and other people in the house. I recieved this (below). Please i would like explanation on what they are saying to me:

I am writing to inform you that I have reviewed the decision made on 23/04/2018 to refuse your application. Pursuant to Tribunal Procedure Rule 17(2) I respectfully request that this appeal is treated as withdrawn.
This request for withdrawal is in order for a recommendation to be sent to the Decision Making Centre where your original application was decided to overturn the refusal decision and grant Entry Clearance.
Fresh evidence has been submitted.
If the withdrawal of the appeal is granted, we will advise the Decision Making Centre where your original application was decided. They will contact you in due course with further information about any next steps you need to take.
This letter is being copied to the Tribunal.
Yours sincerely,
BW
International Casework and Quality Assurance Team (ICQAT).

Awaiting responses. Thank you

If I recall correctly, you were looking at reapplying for the visa while you wait for the appeal process.

The question now is "did you reapply?". I hope you haven't, if you have, hopefully, you can get a refund.

Fingers crossed.

Pacmandude:
Hi justwise and other people in the house. I recieved this (below). Please i would like explanation on what they are saying to me:

I am writing to inform you that I have reviewed the decision made on 23/04/2018 to refuse your application. Pursuant to Tribunal Procedure Rule 17(2) I respectfully request that this appeal is treated as withdrawn.
This request for withdrawal is in order for a recommendation to be sent to the Decision Making Centre where your original application was decided to overturn the refusal decision and grant Entry Clearance.
Fresh evidence has been submitted.
If the withdrawal of the appeal is granted, we will advise the Decision Making Centre where your original application was decided. They will contact you in due course with further information about any next steps you need to take.
This letter is being copied to the Tribunal.
Yours sincerely,
BW
International Casework and Quality Assurance Team (ICQAT).

Awaiting responses. Thank you

This is pretty straightforward now, the refusal decision has been overturned and you will be granted entry.

What else do you want us to explain here...lol

Jump for joy and do the needful.

MreSBee:
You are such an intelligent human being. You said it all. Thanks for this wonderful piece

So are you, thank you.

Queenantia:
I am slient follower obviously but I would like to post my timeline.
Biometrics :May 9
Application received : May 9
Emai :June 4
Contacted home office : 2 Aug and was told decision was already made
Courier delivery to port Harcourt :15 August
vignette : 14 Aug - 13 September
To God be done glory.it ended in praise

Cheers to the good news..you have a few weeks to pack up and fly away.

Lexusgs430:
Hence we say, no wuru wuru, no cutting corners...... Providing the right documentations and ensure they are in date........ If you want to ask for extra sheets afterwards, no wahala...... Just submit right and you can topup with extra........

At the end of the day, we are saying the same thing..lol

Do not expect the ECO to do for you what you can do yourself. shikena!

Lexusgs430:
Why would they bother when the sole aim of this expensive process is revenue driven?

They reject your application, because you could not be bothered to put in the leg work. They know you are only presented with 2 choices.......

1 - Waiting on appeal (almost forever)
2 - Pay for another application


Majority would choose the latter (inturn generating more £ for the coffers)..........

I agree with you!

Ibkbosson:
With the amount of money paid, you would think that they can just make a call to your university to confirm you did a Masters degree there in the Uk? how hard will that have been - very officious and cruel - Hostile!

Exactly what my husband said. He was fuming but they are always looking for an excuse to refuse someone and they chose that technicality for us.

In as much as we sympathize with all candidates who get refused (and of cause I will admit that it is easier to say when you yourself don't get a refusal) but considering the number of applications submitted to UKBA on a daily basis from candidates all over the world, it would be very hard to expect the ECO to call schools or jobs to confirm these things.

Yes, the humane thing to do is make that call to the school but what is the limit, at what point do they decide which calls to make and the ones not to make. I do not think UKBA will have the resources or time to call for every error or omissions, that's a big burden, however, someday they might consider expanding their scope to be able to do this.

I do believe some ECOs will feel bad because they are not allowed to make these decisions to call or confirm such omissions, they are only working within the restrictions of the business or office. I hope you understand.

I will advise that we keep supporting each other by providing relevant information to members who need them. A post like the one from @ibkbosson goes a long way to prevent someone else from making the same or similar mistake.

Thank you all, all the best.

Ibkbosson:
I'm not a slient follower obviously but I would like to post my timeline.
It's a YES!! For me
This is my second application
First application (standard application)- Abuja
Biometrics- May 31st 2017
NSF Email - August 17th 2017
I escalated 4 times. My husband's MP wasn't very helpful
November 22nd 2017 - Refusal for English requirement.

Second application ( priority)
Biometrics- June 1st
Escalated once on - July 13th
Contacted MP on August 8 he said decision was made August 7th
Decision made email - August 13th
Courier delivery - August 15th
vignette- August 14 - September 15

My first refusal was a stupid mistake of submitting an original reference letter from school with a general training ielts test instead of the original certificate of my Uk master's degree certificate. In those few months I waited I went through all the immigration rules I could find.

Happy for you and yours, good to hear the good news after the previous refusal.
Such a simple but costly error the first time around but now you can move on and think of something else.

All the best.

swtjane:
Thanks for your response. My husband earns over £18600 because of this expenses and Overtime. After our calculations. Please are you saying because his salaries will increased we have to wait for another six months all over again. And I saw this online https://immigrationbarrister.co.uk/appendix-fm-financial-requirement-basic-pay-and-overtime-payments/

I thought you meant he wasn't earning up to 18,600 at the moment. But from your response, he already earns more than 18,600 so you are free to proceed.

Please just make sure you have your calculations well documented with evidence to show it adds up to an amount greater than 18,600.

All the best.

swtjane:
Good morning MreSBee I really need your assistance, was your wife on a salaried paid job and picked the category A on the unsalaried paid job because my husband is on a salaried job and he earns £18000 but his pay varies due to expenses and overtime. Please what category can we go for. His employer has also agreed to increase this pay to £18600.

While you wait for the response from MreSBee, please note that if the employer has just agreed to increase his pay then you are advised to apply after at least 6 months counting from the month when he starts to officially receive the £18600 pay.

I hope you understand, all the best!

Velourcity31:
Hi guys... Yesterday I went to pick up my BRP but the post office said they didn't have it. I raised a query on the gov.uk site sha since I don't want to get in trouble 4 not picking it up within 10 days. They said they will reply me in 5 days time.

I'm not panicking cuz I know visa has been granted but I just want to hear if this has happened to anyone else?

Wao strange but like you said no need to panic, it would be sent to you shortly.

Be sure you went to the correct post office though....lol

chrisj2:
Can one pay for the fees using a UK bank's debit or credit card (straightforwardly in Pounds (£) sterling); that is, on behalf of the applicant who is filling the form online in Nigeria? Anyone done it this way recently? Thanks in advance

Anyone can pay even from Mars, all UKBA wants is payment confirmation.

Extremebeau:
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Ive done a little research on their website and what i saw was for only those on tier 1, 2 and 5 visas...no mention of spousal settlement visas..pls any other person with more information can shed more light...thanks

From the information provided in the link below, I guess you are right
https://www.gov.uk/change-circumstances-visa-brp

All the best!!

chrisj2:
I think it is getting ridiculous having to log 18 months of social media communications. There has to be better ways of proving that the relationship is genuine. I cannot see how i can log 18 months communication when I touch base everyday. Flight records, photos and important calls over a period of time should be sufficient. If one is sending money every month (for 18 months), that evidence should be more than enough.

However, each to their own but i think there is a lot of paper being wasted printing 67 pages of communications. I am sure the Home Office and ECOs will not say that people should cut down.

I think for people that rarely travel and met their spouses in funny circumstances, the burden of proof is heavy but you met, you communicated, you got married and have children (maybe) and continue to relate - what more can anyone ask for?

You are right, no one really knows what they actually look out for because it is subjective and depends on the brainwave of the ECO at the time. But so that we are clear, you are not expected to show the total log for all days in the 18 months or in my case 4 year period. Just have a few days within each month or like you said important chats within the period. I believe it can even be a few chats in one day for each month but no one knows what the ECO reviewing their application will feel like seeing.

For me, I think travel history to see each other or financial assistance between the couple is more important.

All the best.

themusketeer:
Hello Nairalanders,

Please how do I show proof of communication (FaceTime) for the past 18months?

We have Whatsapp messages & iMessages (over 160 pages extracted) , we also have email conversations, and e-cards. Our headache is just the retrieving over 18months voice&video call logs.

Going forward I intend to screenshot the call logs every other day but I’m afraid ordinary 6months call log won’t be sufficient.

Please Advise.

Thanks all..,..

You have to show what you have, emails, whatsapp, voice& video call logs should do. I'm guessing that includes prints of the facetime call log as well (I don't know if that's possible)

Extremebeau:
Quick question...
As a BRP holder After arriving the UK, when u change your location will you have to inform the home office that you have changed addresses??

YES.

Dunky2:
Good-day my fellow Nairalanders. I require assistance from anyone here who knows how I can retrieve a copy of a"Visa Refusal Letter", which was issued to me as far back as 16th, October 2006. I lost my original copy. Any authentic,clear path of thought is highly welcomed.
Regards.

Only clear option I can think of is to contact home office. Try both the call and email option.

Obviously, you would have had some email correspondences with UKBA during the application process so you should be able to retrieve your application number which would be required when you contact them. Try to get as much information about the application in 2006 which could be used to retrieve your letter.

chrisj2:
Are you absolutely sure about this? If so, then it is just too complicating because you cannot do online application for someone living in Nigeria. As for the supporting documents, it will also be hard for all the documents to be verified because the child and mother are in Nigeria; so how can one even prove that the child is your own by simply sending documents. What about the countersigning?

This is very confusing!

How much is it to Register a child as British in Nigeria and how does one go about it?

HOLD ON GUYS... let us calm down and understand the situation, so we can help one another.

I think taking a step back to read all that's been written and try to make sense of it, will be the best approach now. There's been too much conflicting information and it is a bit confusing majorly because you all do not understand the actual situation of the applicants and sponsor.

Let me try to summarize what I can gather thus far, please confirm if this is right?

1. The sponsor (husband) is in the UK as a naturalized citizen
2. The applicant (wife) is in Nigeria with a child whose father is the sponsor
3. The child was born in Nigeria (guessing)
4. The applicant and child are currently in Nigeria
5. The information required is:
a. Should settlement applications be submitted for both wife and child (with two application & Ihs fees)
b. Can the sponsor apply for a British passport for the child in Nigeria? If yes, what is the process?
c. If the child is able to get a British passport then the settlement applicant and fees would not be required, yes!
d. If the child gets a British passport, it also helps to boost the applicant's chances of getting a settlement visa, yes!

Let us try to answer QUESTION B, thanks.

Velourcity31:
Tracked my status via TLSContact website... It's now saying 'passport ready for collection'

I've not received an email yet sha. Should I risk going to the visa office tomorrow anyway

There is no risk involved, go pick up your visa!!

Queenantia:
u



Standard 58 working days still counting .

Is standard not a minimum of 60 working days?? Stay calm.

Ibkbosson:
Can't you apply for your child's passport

expatiate, please?

Velourcity31:
Hmmmmm... this wait during summer period is no joke.

My husband is in UK raking over the delay lol

Who else is sitting pretty waiting for their good news like me? ✋

40+ working days, Priority

Sorry guys, just keep the torch burning.

The heatwave got everyone working under-capacity, but its been raining for a few days so hopefully, the week would bring more effort.

It would all end with smiles on your faces.

Sholeola23:
Morning gurus in thr house. Please i need advice. Has any one won a section 320(11) case. If yes. Please tell me how?

Please anyone with relevant information or any link to provide the required information, kindly respond to Sholeola23.

Thank you.

Launna29:
Hi dear,
Wow. That’s serious oh. Now this is scary, I thought they would not ask for the TB certificate oh! I didn’t make a photocopy.
Plus was ethopian airline a direct flight? Still waiting in line for my good news

lol, do not worry about such things. This is a first and I'm sure she won't have been turned back even if she didn't have the photocopy.

TB certificate is not a border check requirement, but so you don't panic at the airport kindly travel with copies of all your documents. Your sponsor can send you pictures or scans of the documents for you to print when the application supporting documents package is returned ok.

Once you get the visa, the likelihood of been turned back at the airport is slim (but not impossible).

This is just my opinion.

Extremebeau:
Hello beautiful people.so i arrived the UK safely into the waiting arms of my hubby today using Ethiopian airways, my new favourite airline now..impeccable service and excellent customer service.
Got to the border and the lady just kept asking me series of questions about my immigration history asking about my schooling time in d UK and when i left the UK as though all the information wasnt on my passport.she detained me for a while to check the information i gave her and said if all checks out she ll update her system with my visa new status. Suprisingly she asked for my TB certificate.explained to her why it wasnt with me and she asked for the photocopy which i gave her.
Immediately i got to Birmingham i went straight to d postoffice and picked up my BRB before going home cos i have 2days left on my entry clearance. On getting home with the husband they had delivered our documents.they returned everything we sent including the photocopies

Serious check oh, wanted to be sure you are the real deal. Welcome!!

richdopeboi:
Hi guys would be happy if anyone can help me out here I got a letter from a friends employer detailing the details of his salary but the letter is not dated would that be a problem or he should request for another one thanks guys .

Always safer to get a dated financial document. 28 days rule apply to all financial documents.

Minnienellie24:
If I could recall well, NARIC requested for a letter from the school to process the NARIC Certificate. Things might have changed though because this was almost 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, I did not have to get a NARIC assessment so I do not know the process. So here are my suggestions:

1. If someone in the group can confirm that they submitted a degree certificate with a support letter from a Nigerian Institution as their English language requirement and they got the visa. Then that should be enough evidence to support your gamble.

If no one can support suggestion 1 above, then, by all means, refer to suggestion 2 below

2. Go on NARIC website and start the process as soon as possible, you have 10 days or so from the date your biometric was taken to submit supporting docs.

All the best!!

stargirl1628:
I came to know about this forum today as vfs Ikeja. I'm done wt biometric n probably will post d supporting documents 2moro. I have an issue wt my IHS; after completing d form online, I was exempted(kind of weird) and an email wt ref no sent to my mail. On getting to vfs today, I met a lady who's also submitting for spouse visa n she told me that she paid. I'm really worried and I need to know what to do before I post my supporting docs to Sheffield to avoid any negative issues. Pls advice me on what to do

Well since you have paid for the application and submitted, all you can do is wait.

Be sure you completed the correct form and you answered all questions truthfully and to the best of your knowledge, I am sure you were exempted based on one of your answers but if you need to pay you will be contacted through email with a link for payment.

Just like the lady you met at TLS, most of us here paid the IHS fee but we do not know your circumstance so we cannot compare apple for apple, just relax and wait for the next step or your vignette.

All the best.