Help and Advice needed

As some of you might remember, I am British and resident in Spain. My wife is Filipino. We married in the Philippines in December 2014.

After three applications and two appeals have been refused when applying for a visa, for various spurious reasons, i realise that I will need to go to law in order to force the Spanish to acknowledge the legality of the marriage, and comply with the law in which my wife should be (almost) guaranteed an Entry Visa.

Has anyone else needed to go down this route, and if so, how did it turn out? How long did it take before the Spaniards accepted the marriage certificate? Did it go to court, or was a letter from an immigration lawyer sufficient?

I can't keep wasting 500 euros a time on applications that will never be processed correctly.

Why are they questioning the legality of the marriage? What reasons?

Have you got the DFA authentication if thats what it is with red ribbon?


P.M. sent

Yes. We have renewed the certificate, re-authenticated it, legalised it again and have translations available. But without the British-issued Certificate of Recognition of a Foreign Marriage (which can only be obtained in Spain) they refuse to acknowledge that we are married.

As I read it, they MUST accept a certificate of marriage from a validly contracted marriage carried out anywhere in the world as long as it was carried out in accordance with the laws of the country in which it was celebrated. But they won't

On our last application, I went so far as to liaise with the Spanish consulate, making them completely aware of our plan, and to comply with their recommendations and requirements - and then they still refused us. And then quoted a law which says that we must have lived together in the Philippines for one year - which doesn't even apply to us - it's for 'other family members' and not 'core family members' such as a wife/husband. Incompetent? Or deliberately obstructive?

Complying with exactly what they want is not necessarily in your best intetests. Especially if they are looking to Spanish law, or have I-want-my-paella-I-need-to-reject-this-quickly-itis.

You are exercising your right to free movement and your wife is entitled to join you in accordance withe the 2006 European thingy act. I'm sure you know of it.

From what I know: They can attack the validity of your marriage to a certain point or the validity of your residence in Spain to a certain point. They now are looking at technical reasons that really doesn't apply possibly to obfuscate. Their motive is irrelevant at present.

I'd refute the reasons and actually talk of how they are breaking the european law now that you have made them directly aware of their mistakes, should they continually decline your application, and you will vigorously pursue your rights. Spanish law does not apply to you.

I feel for both of you. Not long ago this could have happened to me and my wife. Keith's yer man.

Does the Ram have anything to do with Derby County?

I am going to approach immigration lawyers. I need them to write a letter insisting that the consulate accept the legality of a wedding certificate, and therefore grant us our rights. You're right - they have tried again and again to muddy the waters. Either that or they are completely incompetent.

I figured that if they processed 100 applications a week, and rejected 50 of them and sat on the paperwork for a month, those that didn't appeal could be shredded, and the money pocketed. Sit on the rest for another month, and if a contentious administrative appeal notification is not received, shred them and pocket the rest of the money. It's all cash! And it would be worth about 3 grand a week. And the other 50 get processed as normal.

Just a thought.

DCFC. Yep.

I don't see why you can't write it yourself! You surely have their refusal letters?

Your reasoning as to their modus operandi is possible but irrelevant.

At the moment the Spanish should be governed by EU 2004/38 granted they are behaving unlawfully

After the British Referendum result each European Country "may" change this to National Rules for non EU applicants and National Rules may be changed as we Brits well know

Currently Spain does not discriminate (overtly) against its own Citizens who,s spouses are non EU they have (in theory) harmonised National with European Rules this could change after the Brits decide

"
Spain

Spain avoid reverse discrimination, and clarified this with their latest amendment to their National Law which transposed EU directive 2004/38/EC.

Spanish Laws 240/2007 amended by 1161/2009.

GIVEN BY THE ROYAL DECREE 1161/2009, of 10 July (BOE

No.. 177 of 23 July) which adds “Additional provision twentieth. which says

“Additional provision twentieth. Rules applicable to members of the family of Spanish citizens who are not nationals of a Member State of the European Union or a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

1. The Royal Decree 240/2007 of 16 February, on entry, free movement and residence in Spain of nationals of the Member States of the European Union and other States party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, shall apply whatever their nationality, and on terms provided for therein, to the families of Spanish citizen, when they accompany or join them."

https://irelandsreversediscriminati...tates-avoid-or-create-reverse-discrimination/

I wrote to the head of MEAC - the Spanish foreign ministry;

For the attention of José Manuel García-Margallo

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you to request your intervention in a matter which is denying me my rights as a European Citizen and resident of Spain.
My name is Christopher Alan Whewell. I am a British national, resident in Spain. In December 2014, I married a Filipino national in the Philippines.
We have a marriage certificate, registered in the Philippines, authenticated by the Philippine DFA, legalised by the Manila Spanish consulate, and translated by a traductor jurado.

According to 2004/38/EC, RD240/2007, 562/2006 and 539/2001, my wife is classed as a core family member, and on presentation of a marriage certificate, her passport and a letter from me explaining that she will join me in Spain, she should be granted an entry visa with minimal delay, and every assistance possible.

We have applied on three separate occasions to the Spanish consulate in Manila, and have been refused each time, and twice on appeal. The consular staff have demanded that we apply for residency at this point in time. This is unlawful and represents an abuse of our rights. There is no requirement under European or Spanish law for her to apply for residencia immediately.

I therefore require that MAEC intervene in this matter and ensure that my rights as a European citizen are upheld, and also those of my family member. I would ask that, on presentation of the marriage certificate, and her passport, and the Carta de Invitacion issued by the Policia Nacional, she be granted a 90-day entry visa without further delay.

Should I not hear from your office by 28th February 2016 confirming that my rights as a citizen of the European Union will be correctly observed, I will have no option but to take all necessary steps in order for them to be recognised.

Yours Sincerely

Chris Whewell

The letter (above) has now been passed to the relevant department. To encourage them, I will continue to write them another letter....frequently. Here is the second letter.

If they don't comply with my request to have them recognise my rights under European Law, it's newspaper time...

THE SECOND LETTER:

15. February 2016

Dear Sir

Re: Marriage Certificate

This might help you to understand what we have faced in our attempts to get our rights recognised as detailed in 2004/38/EC and RD240/2007

In an email dated 4th September 2015, the Spanish consulate in Madrid said;

“Because of your marriage is not recognized by the British Government, in case that we grant the visa to your wife, it will be just a short term visa and she will have to apply for her residence directly in Spain to the corresponding Spanish immigration authorities.”

As all we originally requested was a short-term visa in accordance with 2004/38/EC, (our second visa application, made in August 2015) I felt that this was the solution to our problem, and so I asked them how we should go about it.

Over the course of several more emails throughout December, I asked for clarification on a number of points in order to make the application succeed, as this would be our third application.

The Spanish consulate replied and gave clarification to the points raised, which we complied with.

We applied on January 22nd. The consulate, as the text of the email above shows, were aware that we intended my wife to use the visa period to apply for residencia.

But they refused us a visa.

One of the reasons for refusal was that;
“Your intention to leave the Member State before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained”

If this is a genuine reason for refusal, then it seems fraudulent that they suggested this type of visa for us, and suggested that my wife apply for residencia once here.

Another reason given was;
“Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided.”

We provided a Carta de Invitacion issued by the Policia Nacional, stating where Melody would be staying during the visa period. We also provided an email confirming an appointment at the British Consulate in Alicante in order to obtain a Certificate of Recognition of Foreign Marriage. This is something which the Spanish consulate had demanded that we provide. This certificate is only available in Spain, and only when both parties are present. It is supposed to be provided prior to an application for residencia, and should not have been demanded by your Manila consulate for a visa application.

However, they have continually insisted that we apply for residencia in the Manila consulate, and changed our entry visa application to one of Reunificacion Familiar without our permission or knowledge. (This was the second application)

Both insisting that our application would need to be for a residencial visa and subsequently changing the application to one for Reunificacion Familiar are unlawful actions on the part of your consular personnel. Changing a visa application might well be considered by a court as a fraudulent act.

I received another email, responding to my email of the 26th February questioning their decision to reject an application which they themselves suggested we apply for, and which they themselves detailed which documentation we should provide.

In this email, dated 29th January 2016, they explained that a new law, RD987/2015 came into force which requires that I have lived in the Philippines with my wife for a period of one year prior to our application.

Upon checking, I realised that this law does not apply to Core Family Members, but instead only to other family members such as cousins, nephews, nieces and such. I informed the Spanish consulate of their error, but have heard nothing since. We appealed against their refusal, and were refused yet again, with exactly the same reasons as before.

Sir, I have spent approximately €500 preparing and submitting this application, and it appears that yet again, it has been processed with a disappointing level of incompetence. If it isn’t incompetence, then something very wrong is happening in Manila which you may well wish to investigate.

We have tried to accommodate their requests for us to apply for residencia in Manila, and they refused our application. We applied instead for the visa which they suggested, and they refused us again.

Now, as per my letter yesterday, I am reverting to my original statement. My wife and I are irrefutably and legally married. We have a registered, authenticated, legalised and translated wedding certificate, and my rights of free movement among Member States is now also shared by my wife. We have the right to her entry into the Schengen area.

I have tried to find a resolution via Solvit, and even they could not make your consular staff see sense. Therefore I have no option other than to contact you directly and request that you intervene as I feel that they will never treat our application fairly, or even legally.

My rights as a European citizen must be recognised. As per my letter yesterday (14.02.16) I request that you provide me with a workable and acceptable solution by the 28th February. At the moment, due to the actions of your consular staff, my wife and I have only managed to be together for 16 days of the 423 days that we have been married.

Respectfully yours


Chris Whewell

Its an excellent letter and you are 100% right Chris however given that the rules could change in the next few months to where they really can make it up my take on your situation is that getting your wife to Spain by any schengan from any country would give your family current protection I have been in your position and accepted that its often better not to win the battle whilst loosing the war

If the status quo were going to continue indefinatly I would be with you on the barricades in support of the outrageous denial of rights you have suffered

Yes, I'm watching the Brexit campaign and the Schengen fiasco on TV through the gaps in my fingers. There will be a huge amount of ex-pats with non-Eu partners who all of a sudden don't have the right to reside.

Perhaps we can go back to the UK and claim asylum. Maybe we will get a nice flat and a new telly!

I very much doubt that. Let's say Britain does vote for Brexit, there's currently nothing on the Statute Books in the UK that requires the government to act on the result. Also there's a good chance that EU mandarins will simply refuse to acknowledge the result and require that the electorate vote again and return the "correct" result - this happened when the Danish electorate were asked to agree to the Maastricht Treaty. If Brexit passes those tests, there's still Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which provides the mechanisms for member states to leave the Union. Clauses 2 and 3 explain the mechanism:

This won't be a quick process and could take two years or more.

I think that all concerned will agree to those Britons living in the EC and EC nationals living in Britain at the time of Brexit will be allowed to continue with their residence but not new arrivals.

I would hope that they would, but I couldn't see an exit from the EU making my current situation any easier. It's a lose-lose scenario either way, and I don't think I'm going to get that new telly anytime soon.

My personal opinion is that some pretty big dicks are being waved around in order for Britain to negotiate a little more sovereign control, and to possibly come back with a bit of discount on contributions to the Great Big Pot Of Money.

I read recently that an estimated figure was being appropriated for the income generated by 'ladies of the night' and added to Britain's GDP. I could agree with this a little more, if 90% of that portion of GDP didn't immediately leave the country via Western Union!

The UK has plenty of "form" in failure to implement into the regulations

1) The Directive 2004/38 on free movement for family members

2) Case law after there interpretations are found to be flawed

and thats just the headlines after a desision to leave or stay they wont be slow to implement there take either way nor concerned with the damage caused to British Families or worried about prosecutions for breaches

I recently wrote to the Spanish in Manila:

Dear Sir

Ref: RD240/2007

According to this law, as a British citizen resident in Spain, my family members share my right to enter Spanish sovereign territory.

I am married to a Filipino national, Melody Quillosa Whewell. Our wedding certificate is registered in the Philippines, authenticated by the Philippine DFA, legalised by the Spanish consulate in Manila and translated into Spanish by a traductor jurado.

It is undeniably a genuine legal document, and must be accepted as proof of my wife being my family member.

Therefore, according to RD240/2007, she has the right to join me in Spain on production of her passport, a letter of invitation and her valid passport.

Unless she presents a provable threat to national security or health, the Royal Decree states that she must be given a visa.

The visa granted should be for a short-term (up to 90 days) period, and if she wishes to remain in Spain longer than the period of the visa, she must apply for residencia with the immigration authorities before the expiry of the visa.

My rights as a citizen of the European Union must be recognised by you, and the rights of my family members must not be denied.

You are required by law to provide all assistance necessary in order to encourage the reunification of my family member.

Can you please confirm your agreement for the following points;
1) The marriage certificate is proof of the family link
2) Royal Decree 240/2007 guarantees her the right to a 90-day visa
3) She does not need to apply for residencia at this time
4) You will provide all assistance necessary in order for her to obtain an entry visa

If you disagree with any of the above points, please include in your reply all relevant legislation which you believe substantiates your refusal to acknowledge our rights. Your response will be used in subsequent legal action against you, should my rights, and those of my family member not be recognised.

I require that you provide your reply by 29th February 2016

Chris Whewell

They replied, yet again insisting that RD987/2015 applies (It doesn't)
They have also insisted that I should conform to the Spanish Civil Registry reguations, which apply only to Spanish citizens, but which they say by way of my residence in Spain, applies to me too. They say therefore that even though I am British, I should have obtained a CNI or something from the Spanish Government before I got married.

Clearly they are barking mad. I can imagine the look on some Spanish funcionario's face when I rocked up with my British passport and asked them for a CNI or whatever it was that they think I should have applied for.

I replied;

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your reply, which clarifies in my mind many of the legal points that you have used in your judgment of this case.

You have quoted RD987/2015, which does not apply to wives or husbands, but instead, supplements RD240/2007 and covers only extended family. It specifically states that it only refers to family members other than those in Article 2 of the present law. If you look at RD240/2007 Article 2, you will find 'conyuge' as the first entry. Therefore, your opposition using this law is irrelevant.

Please confirm this.

Your use of the artículo 252 del Reglamento de la Ley del Registro Civil Español does not apply to me, as firstly, I am British, and secondly, at the time of the marriage I was not resident in Spain. My residency in Spain began 13th of April 2015, four months after I was married.

I have attached a copy of my residency certificate, on which the date of commencement is clearly marked. Please confirm your receipt of this, and that you understand that prior to this date, I was, and remain a British citizen, and not Spanish. My marriage cannot be entered onto a Spanish Civil Registry.

I submitted my divorce certificate to the British Embassy in Manila and swore an afadavit to them. This afadavit was used in order to obtain a Filipino marriage licence, and the marriage thus followed. Without the afadavit, the marriage would not be possible, would not be legal, and would not appear on the Filipino registry.

My government does not register foreign marriages. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a standard letter, in Spanish, to confirm that they will consider as valid, any marriage which has been carried out in accordance with the laws of the country in which the marriage was celebrated. You have a copy of this letter on file.

Please confirm that you have this letter already, or if you like, I can submit a copy to you.

Only for applications for residency, the British Government also issue a Certificate of Recognition of Foreign Marriage. Because only Spain requires this certificate, it is only available from British consuates and embassies within Spain. Both husband and wife must attend an interview at the British consulate in order to obtain the Certificate.

Please confirm that you understand that the Certificate Recognition of Foreign Marriage can only be obtained in Spain.

I await your reply

Chris Whewell
c.a.w@mail.com

But I'm keeping one ace up my sleeve.

If you knew all of this, and knew that our application for a visa would fail, why did you encourage us to apply? Surely, to do so, knowing that because of these laws, (in your opinion) the application would fail, such encouragement amounts to little more than the deliberate defrauding of a European citizen.

Hi everyone, hello mga kababayan! Good day! Magandang araw! Maayong Adlaw!

I am a newbie here and I have a lot of questions regarding visa and employment. I am currently staying now in Singapore with my wife who is a Pass holder. I used to work here in SG for 3 years but when my Pass expired, I need to look for another company to sponsor my pass. Right now, I am actively seeking for employment as as Accountant and from all my applications online, one company from UK replied to me. I went to the whole process which took me about a month, and just today I got Job Offer Letter indicating that I have been successfully selected for the position. Other information in the letter are below:

Position: PROJECT ACCOUNTANT
Salary: £39,576.00 PER ANNUM (NET SALARY)
Working hours: FULL-TIME, 40 HOURS PER WEEK, MONDAY TO FRIDAY
Contract Duration: 3 YEARS (RENEWABLE)
Job Location: WARWICKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM
Start Date: 7TH APRIL, 2016. Please report to the Human Resources Manager at 9.00 AM on this date for
documentation and orientation. If this date is not acceptable, please contact the Human Resources
Department immediately.
As a full-time employee, you are entitled to the following benefits:
- Group Medical Insurance
- Annual paid vacation
- Sick pay
- Free accommodation and feeding
- Flight ticket and traveling allowance

You are also entitled to all WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED employees’ benefit packages as outlined
in the Handbook you will receive during the induction process.

NB: Flight ticket and traveling allowance; WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED will pay the flight ticket
and traveling allowance to all confirmed employees prior to departure. Confirmed employees are those
employees that have successfully acquired and forwarded his/her UK Work Permit to the employers’
management duly certified by the UK Home office.

All employees successfully screened and offered employment in WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED but not presently possessing a valid UK Work Permit/ Entry Clearance shall be expected to personally incur all expenses as shall be related to the processing, procurement and acquisition of their UK Work Permit and necessary entry clearance with the Immigration Consultant mandated by WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED and shall be duly reimbursed. WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED will reimburse the employee not later than Five (5) working days after submission of employee’s expense report and receipts.

You are required to submit the scanned copy of your valid UK work permit to the Human Resources department of WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED on or before the 9TH MARCH, 2016 as a proof of readiness to join us on the due time as stipulated above for your job resumption in United Kingdom and also to enable you receive you flight ticket and traveling allowance prior to your departure.
For employees who do not presently possess their valid UK work permit/entry clearance they are to make contact with WARWICKSHIRE XXX LIMITED mandated UK immigration consultant address given below for assistance on the acquisition and procurement of their UK work permit/entry clearance;

Sure XXXXXX Consultants
18 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BP United Kingdom
Tel: +44 2XXXXX8
Email: info.XXXXX@gmail.com

Now my questions are:

1 How is the hiring process there in UK for overseas applicant?
2 How would I know that the company is legit and not a scam?
3 Are there any instances that the applicant should be the one to process the working visa or entry clearance?

Please advise regarding my case. Any input in English, Tagalog and Bisaya is greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much. Maraming Salamat. Daghang Salamat.

Dudung CS

The Defensor del Pueblo (ombudsman) have replied to my letter to the Spanish Foreign Minister. After two weeks, they asked me for my home address

And so, they asked me to resubmit a letter to them, making my complaint afresh, but with my home address on it. FFS.

Here it is:

26th February 2016

Ref: S16014246

FAO: Fernando Alvarez Jimeno

Dear Sir

Thank you for your letter dated 26th February 2016.

My complaint is as follows:

My wife and I are seeking to exercise our rights under 2004/38/EC and RD240/2007 so that she may be granted an entry visa to join me in Spain.

We have provided the consular staff in Manila, Philippines with a registered, authenticated, legalised and translated wedding certificate.
The consular officials, on three occasions, have rejected our application for a visa, and have twice rejected an appeal.

In our latest application, we applied for a tourist visa at their suggestion. In an email dated 4th September 2015, they wrote;

“Because of your marriage is not recognized by the British Government, in case that we grant the visa to your wife, it will be just a short term visa and she will have to apply for her residence directly in Spain to the corresponding Spanish immigration authorities.”​

During several emails prior to our application, I established the requirements for the application and provided them with;

1. Our registered, authenticated, legalised and translated wedding certificate
2. A Carta de Invitacion issued by the Policia Nacional in Alicante
3. A bank statement showing 29000 pesos
4. A reserved flight ticket
5. Health Insurance covering the period of the visit
6. A letter from the British Consulate in Alicante confirming an appointment in order to obtain the Recognition of a Foreign Marriage Certificate (which is ONLY available in Spain with both parties present)

Our application was submitted on the 22nd of January, and in total, cost me over 500 euros to prepare. As previously mentioned, this was our third application.

It was rejected on the grounds that;

We had not shown just cause for my wife to make the trip

We have continually faced demands from the Spanish Consulate for the marriage to be recognised and registered by the British Government.

The British Government does not register foreign marriages. It never has. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have issued a letter stating the same, a copy of which was sent to the Manila consulate by the FCO in October 2014. We also provided them with a translated copy in September 2015

In the FCO letter, in both Spanish and English, it states that the British Government will consider as valid any marriage carried out in accordance with the laws of the country in which it was celebrated – which our marriage, being registered and authenticated by the Philippine Government clearly was valid.

The marriage can only be recognised by the British Government following an interview at the British consulate or embassy in Spain with both parties to the marriage in attendance. This facility is only available in Spain because only Spain demands it. It is not available in the Philippines or we would have already done it.

As previously stated, we submitted an email sent to me by the notarial services department of the FCO confirming n appointment in Alicante in order to obtain the document. This, we believe, is sufficient reason for my wife to visit Spain.

We did not show sufficient funds
We provided a bank statement showing 29000 pesos, which at the time of submission was equivalent to 580 euros. I would obviously be buying my wife’s plane ticket once the visa was granted, and covering the costs of her accommodation, transportation and welfare in Spain as her husband.

That the documentation supplied was untrustworthy

All documents supplied were originals and not photocopies. This accusation did not appear in the final resolution after we appealed.

That it could not be established that my wife would leave the Schengen area at the expiry of the visa

As we had made no secret of the fact that we would be applying for a residence card once she arrived, and that we were applying for a visa that they themselves had suggested was appropriate, this is a ludicrous accusation to make.

Notwithstanding, there is nothing to suggest that my wife would wish to live in Spain illegally. We both wish to be able to travel, both to the United Kingdom and to the Philippines, both of which would mean leaving the Schengen area, and subsequently preventing her return to Spain, plus all the other problems inherent with being here illegally.

Nothing we have ever done would suggest that we would do such a thing.

I wrote a letter expressing my surprise and disappointment that they had encouraged us to apply for a visa, and knew exactly what our plans were, and yet still refused our application. I feel that we have been tricked and defrauded in making an application at great expense that they must have already known that they would refuse.

They wrote back to me, insisting once again that the marriage be registered by the British Government. This, as I have clearly explained to them, supported by the FCO letter, is not possible, however, the marriage is registered by the Philippine government.

They also explained that RD987/2015 required that I had lived with my wife in the Philippines for a period of one year prior to our application.

I am English. I speak Spanish better than many of my countrymen, but not as well as a Spanish national. But even I could clearly see that the new law is an addendum to the existing law, and does not refer to core family members, but instead, to extended family members.
When I pointed this out to the Spanish consulate, they repeated their claim once again.

I am being confronted by obtuseness and incompetence at every stage when dealing with the consular staff in Manila. They are using irrelevant laws and petty bureaucracy in order to prevent my wife travelling to Spain, and for me to exercise my rights. They are making impossible demands. They are ignoring clear proof in official and original documentation. They have demanded additional documentation which they knew we didn’t have to hand, and then not asked for the same documentation once I had gone to the expense of making it available to them.

I am being faced with discrimination, obstructiveness and fraudulent practices from this consulate.

I require that my rights as a European citizen are recognised and protected. According to European and Spanish law, my wife should be granted an entry visa, free of charge on production of her passport, our wedding certificate and a letter from me explaining that she will join me in Spain.

I trust that you will use all of your authority to ensure that the consulate comply with their legal obligations. I am tired of trying to second-guess these people who always have a new reason to refuse us, constantly ignore documentation provided, and yet refuse to admit that we are a legally-married couple and have rights bestowed upon us by 2004/38/EC and RD240/2007.

Our rights under these laws must be recognised and granted. The question of recognition of the marriage by the British Government can only be resolved once my wife arrives in Spain. There simply is no reason why she should not be granted a free-of-charge entry permit with immediate effect.

We have been married for 433 days today, and have been able to spend just 16 of those days together, mostly because of the intransigence, ineptitude and discriminatory practices employed by the Manila consular officials.

I would request that you reply to this letter, outlining your plans, together with an anticipated timescale for their completion on or before Wednesday March 2nd as I have an appointment with an immigration lawyer in Alicante on the 3rd to discuss this matter.

Atentamente

Chris Whewell

Quite naturally, a forest-worth of documents have been attached once again to this new letter.

If I get no response in time, I will instigate legal proceedings against them, inform the press of their actions, and chain myself to the railings of somewhere appropriate. Sick to death of their lying and cheating.

You need to be sponsored (ie have a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed sponsor) before you can apply to go to the UK for work.

The work you do in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organisation and generally not be able to be filled from with EU

You should get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks of date of application.

Take some time to review the UKVI webpage here:-
https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/eligibility

I'm not saying your job offer is a scam, but the information you've shared certainly indicates some 'red-flags' typical of a scam to get money from you.

Do note that you can NEVER secure a visa to work in UK unless your sponsor is registered and licensed with UKVI

Here's a current list of Tier 2 registered sponsors:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa.../2016-02-26_Tier_2_5_Register_of_Sponsors.pdf

Do NOT send any money.