50 signatures reached
To: Home Secretary
Fiancee Settlement Visa Refusal (Bertha Amelia Thompson)
Approve my fiancee's application for a settlement visa. She is South African. They declined it on three points.
1. They maintained there was insufficient Financial Information despite the fact we submitted a statement of my annual income, and a bank statement showing my monthly pension income.
2. They said they were not convinced we had met and intended to marry when she joined me here, despite a signed letter from me stating that this was the case.
3. They said she needed an English language test as English is not the primary language of SA, despite the fact the application states this is the case if English is not the first language. In the application we stated English was her first language, and it is one of the official languages of SA.
Why is this important?
Even at 23 every lost day would be important, at 73 it is doubly so. I sent an e-mail to the Home secretary and only received an official reply directing to a website. The same is true if you e-mail. The websites are most unhelpful, and even when you telephone ( for which £1.37 a minute is charged ) you do not always receive any helpful information - sometimes, again, just a direction to a website. I found the rejection spurious on the grounds, as I indicted above, we had provided the appropriate supporting documents. We are appealing the decision, but in light of the above I am not confident of a successful outcome. Yet our application is open and honest. And although this is a personal matter with the problems associated with immigration at present others are clearly finding themselves in the same situation. There is a need to examine the working of the department, and to ensure a sponsor is contacted before a refusal, as this may prevent one. Also the system has become static, it is not people friendly. The more people to raise or support this issue the better chance of making the system more human and responsive to individuals, rather than blanket answers
Robin Cooper
