2nd Refusal of Stepsons Visa Application

me too

For my legal advice I used Drummond Miller
Ask for Jacqueline Moore
Phone no 01413320086

For my legal advice I used Drummond Miller
Ask for Jacqueline Moore
Phone no 01413320086.

..

She is good but extremely busy

Just a little guide on documents submitted for sole responsibility which should sufficently cover all grounds.
N.B this list was tailored slightly to my situation when I used the immigration consultant.

Sole responsibility

Court order attesting sole responsibility/ custody this would differ if there was a marriage or depending on family law in the country where child resides.


Research on what the law says in your country regarding a parent that has directly or indirectly relinquished his or her parental responsibility...



 Statement from yourself confirming:
o Your responsibility of ....., i.e. your financial contributions to his
upbringing, how often you speak with him, with his grandparent and any other official
bodies in his life will contact in the event of an emergency etc.
o You support that he travel to the United Kingdom under your care
o Reasons why ......,,did not apply with you for Entry Clearance
-
 Evidence of the trips you have made to ...... since your arrival in the United Kingdom, by way of travel itinerary, boarding passes, visa stamps and photographs (if applicable)
 Evidence of your involvement in the upbringing of ........life i.e.
o Letter from school confirming you as main point of contact and any tuition fees paid
o Letter from doctor confirming you as main point of contact for any emergencies etc.
o Letter from any private or public intuitions involved in ........,.: upbringing
confirming you as main point of contact i.e. social services, church groups etc.
 Evidence of monies sent to ...,,or his grandparent to be used for ........upbringing i.e. tuition fee payment, clothes, rent etc.
 Letter from ...... maternal grandparent confirming: if applicable or whoever the child stays with. The child must be living with sponsor’s family
o Why they are no longer able to care for him
o You are consulted on all major decision with regards to ........upbringing o fYou have remained...,,,, primary carer despite your current absence
o Confirming any monies received from you that has been used for .........
upbringing
 Evidence of the contact between yourself and your child i.e. telephone call logs, email,
Skype, Facebook and other social media sites
 Evidence of the contact between yourself and .... grand parent confirming
conversations surrounding ....... upbringing i.e. telephone call logs, email,
Skype, Facebook and other social media sites

Just been reading this:

“The rule of sole responsibility is observed strictly and any involvement of the other parent in the upbringing of the child may lead to the conclusion that the sponsoring parent does not have sole responsibility for the child, or have responsibility for the major decisions in the child’s life. It is possible that even having regular contact with the other parent can serve as an indication that the sponsoring parent does not have sole responsibility and this may lead to an adverse decision on child dependant visa application. Entry Clearance Officers often seem to wrongly employ an ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to the issue of sole responsibility and we strongly recommend that you approach accredited immigration advisers such as Imperial Visas in relation to problematic applications.”

http://www.imperialvisas.com/family-visas/child-dependant-visa.html

It is not a plug for an Immigration Advisor, but simply highlighting the point about sole responsibility which fits in with what Maharg and Chicfire have said.

Also from a similar source:

“The Home Office complies with strict adherence to the sole responsibility principle. When making an application based on having been solely responsible for the child, any form of interference by the other partner would break the sole responsibility; based on the conclusion that the there is some form of shared responsibility in the child’s upbringing.

We have seen a couple of situations where Entry clearance officers follows the all-or-nothing rule in determining sole responsibility. This is where a decent immigration law firm such as Reiss Edwards can be of a massive help in your application.”

https://immigrationlawyers-london.com/dependant-visas/child-dependant-uk-visas.php

thanks for that

i'm convinced we need the services of a specialist immigration lawyer. our circumstances are way beyond the scope of helpful suggestions on forums.

I believe an absence of 7 years in the Fils could lead to a judgement of "Presumtive Death" or perhaps 4

https://www.google.com/search?q=pre...ine+law&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-ab

I feel for you all,all you want to be is a family.

On the above point a little word of caution, although I believe there is no set amount of days that you can be outside the UK whilst on a spouse visa if you spend to long away then the ECO in future a 2nd FLR may refuse the application as "too much time spent outside the UK" or may look to make you extend the 1st period.
On the 2sd application you are asked periods of time spent away from the UK and reasons why!

The very best of luck in the route you decide to take.

Could I ask you what price she charged you,
I've been quoted £1500 for them to appeal my case.

I had an initial consultation to look into my options and discuss my case for 200. I asked my questions. They looked through my documents in the first consultation.
Offered me options.
Yes appeal is 1500+

Have you had the initial consultation?
It's very expensive process

I had a telephone conversation with them who asked me to send the 2 refusal letters which I did.
They read them and called me back and told me that they recommend an appeal...
I see the consultation is included in the £1500 and happens after I've paid.

See below their email.....
____________________________________________________________________



It’s been a pleasure speaking to you in regards to your Immigration Matter. This email is to outline the proposal of our services, the fees involved and the procedure moving forward.



Application Type and Fees Involved


Dependant Visa appeal.

I can confirm that we will be happy to act for you in the matter of applying to appeal a child dependant visa application.


Preparation.

As this is a settlement visa which has been refused, it requires a significant amount of specified evidence and documentation in order to satisfy the UK immigration services to overcome the refusal. We will advise you of the documents you need to provide and will guide you step-by-step through the things you need to do. We will then prepare the appeal, including a covering legal statement and submit it to the Home Office with the intention of a quick and successful response.


Legal Fee.

For our assistance in this matter and professional legal service, the fixed fee to be paid is £1500.


Government Fees.

Application Fee – £80 for paper appeal, £140 for oral hearing



What to do next?


The information you provided to me has been relayed to our Solicitor and, after reviewing your case, the Solicitor has agreed to accept your instruction.


The procedure going forward would be broadly as follows;

• You confirm your instructions with me to proceed.
• We create your Initial client file and legal fees are paid.
• We email you confirmation of your accepted payment and confirmed consultation appointment with the Solicitor.
• The Solicitor reviews the circumstances further and agrees the main facts of the case.
• Explains how your case will be presented, advising you what you need to do and documents/evidence they require.
• They issue the Client Care Letter with written advice following your consultation.
• The required necessary documentation/evidence is provided to the Solicitor.
• Supporting documents/evidence/declarations is reviewed and verified.
• Mitigating your circumstances accordingly.
• Drafting legal representations to support your application.
• Your application and legal representation is submitted.
• Your application is processed and a result is obtained.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance or you are ready to move forward.


I look forward to hearing from you!

in our case--we emailed copies of the refusal papers to immigration solicitors found on the internet. after they had read through them--we were offered a telephone discussion and advice. the fee for this was £116 inc vat. the call was about 30 minutes--and the advice--i think--was useful. we were advised to submit a new application. otherwise go to appeal--their fee for that would be £2000 + vat--so £2400. so a new application would cost less--and be quicker.

however--after reading earlier replies here--particularly @Sanders--we have decided to use a solicitor to review our application and documents and act on their advice.

so it looks like--solicitors fee--say £1000. application £1500 ( + IHS maybe --?? )

and expect a refusal--again. almost inevitable.

take legal advice again about the refusal,--- then--appeal --if theres any point. so--another £2400 or so. plus travel to court.and accommodation costs


or--alternatively---when the boy is a bit older---hes 12 now---apply for a visit visa each year--multi entry--valid for 6 months. cost £90 odd.

Very disappointing but I don't think you did address all the issues - Between the lines they were looking for confirmation that the mother is not taking to the UK to live behind the father's back.

That's quite a big issue - Truth is the Filipina will always try to stay in contact with the biological father (for financial support) but not always disclose this (minor detail ) to the new "partner" in her life...

Not saying your wife falls into that category... but I'm sure you can understand where the ECO is coming from and why they are asking for a bit more detail about the biological father's role etc.

That's about the legal fees for my case.
If you do choose to go with the firm demand that Jacqueline Moore handles it.

A few people have used their MP to write to home office to ask for reconsideration. Mine seemed forthcoming and willing to help but I didn't want to leave it at the mercy of my MP.
If you have a good MP with a team who has experience in dealing with immigration issues that might also be effective and free. All avenues need to be explored.

Now with regards to sole responsibility I have not seen or read any sucessful case with MP alone but good results with spousal visa.

Some people have also gone ahead to appeal alone without a lawyer so it cost only 140. It is usually successful because you have the opportunity to explain your circumstance to a sympathetic judge. The down side is If you appeal yourself you stand a chance of not covering all legal grounds and using all the tools available to get the decision overturned quickly by the ECM before a hearing with a judge.
The hearing with a judge might take 18 months. There are mitigating circumstances that can make you have a very quick hearing as a minor is involved, but again this is where legal help comes in. You can research this yourself.

Please feel free to send me your email. I would signpost you to a handful of real life cases refused on sole responsibility that helped me make a decision on what steps to take.
Due to privacy I can't post them here.

The resources from personal experience are limited on internet with regards to refusal based on sole responsibility compared to any other visa.

@Chicfire --i cant send you a pm--can you send to me your list of real life cases please.

Hence my post regarding "Presumptive Death" We are lucky in that our Daughters Father is "Unknown" in that he never made it onto the Birth Certificate saving us from the same grief of trying to take her out of the country anything you can do to legally remove the father from the scenario works in your favour especially if he hasn't been on the scene for years

Funny you should mention that because a friend of my wife's has just taken her daughter to Australia - they were easily able to get her there because she didn't put the father on the Birth Certificate... (the father was married to another Filipina etc.)

it seems to me UKVI look more favourably at a child application if the father was merely a passing sperm donor.

to say a "remaining" father--who never sees his child--and doesnt support the child in any way...still has joint responsibility--is just ridiculous. so if the mother is given a settlement visa--and leaves the child behind---what is the kid supposed to do if the father doesnt want to know ?

That's fine pm me.
I didn't realise we could on this forum.

no--cant send you a pm--your settings dont allow access. you will need to change your settings