sunnychic: Hello everyone,

After the frustration meted on my husband and I in regards to the settlement visa, we thought of an alternative route. We have a baby now so it's enough to be proactive. We decided to get an Irish visa and go to the surrinder singh route. I got the Irish visa for both our daughter and I, so we will be applying for an EEA family permit when we get in.
I wanted to share this just in case anyone would consider it. The visa was very easy to get and although it's supposed to be free of charge, we only paid service charge to vfs.
I'm finally ready to go and start life with my family which is the most important. And by the grace of God in about six months max we get our family permit.
Anybody who is interested can so their research on Google. Google has been good to me.
Just wanted to update y'all.
Cheers Bleep

@ Sunnychic, how easy was it to get the Irish visiting visa? What amount of money will they require to be in the sponsor's account before they grant the visa?

shelair1: I will like to thank everyone in this forum who contributed one way or the other to my success, Girlflo, ikato, Dunique, Hoperallone etc. I pray that God Almight will grant all of us our visas @ Hopeforallone it take up to a month, but you can call the tribunal to find out what is going on.
I have finally collected my passport on the 29th and travelled the same day. I am sooo thankful to God. You can imagine that all the while sheffield didnt email until yesterday. @ Dammylizzy I was not asked to present any tb certificate.

@ Shelair1, I am happy for you, my court case is first week of November, I pray God favour me too this time.

Hopeforallone: This is going to be the longest wait of my life.

How was the court experience @ Hopeforallone, you know in my case my wife is the one attending, please share your experience & about the waiting time, I heard it is two weeks before you receive your decision, and after which you wait a month for the Homeoffice to ask for your passport.

@ Hopeforallone, I wanted to ask how far about your court case, I knew it is sometimes in September but don't know exact day, can you please share with me your experience over there?

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - why did they go to court in the first place? Are you sticking with your lawyer?

They had to show their relationship is genuine and they had plenty evidence for that, Yes I am sticking to the lawyer since I can't get a better one, or one that is cheaper.

girlfio:

If you check Shelair's post on Sept 18, looks like they were told in court after they'd put forward their case that they'd won but I don't think this is the same for everyone. I've checked online and it looks like the general guidelines are that you'll be notified in writing approx 2 weeks after the court date.

@ Hopeforallone, there is also a friend of mine that checks this forum often, he went to court on the 18th of September and he was so lucky, his wife and representative told him that the judge was from Uganda and that the home office representative that came was very gentle, kind and also a lady. With the way their case went in court, the wife knew straight away that they had won the case, however, they will still be waiting on the judge to send them his decision.

Ikato3540:

@ will win, I was refused for owing the NHS almost £7,000. And my deadline is tomorrow. 19th September. The lady told us they had a backlog to clear but they have now cleared it

So yes, they overturned it basically in the 19th week.

I would advise anyone doing the appeal to just submit EVERYTHING they asked for and more.

We knew that paying the nhs be alone MAY not have gotten me the overturn so we included my husbands finances again to show that he paid it because he could afford to pay it with no problem.

Lucky guys & we thank God for it all

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Cem07: I wish everyone with a court date soon gdluck

Thank you!

shelair1: it is d presenting unit officer in manchester that where d determinatin spends most of the time. we had to call them continuously before they moved it to ukba sheffield

Is it all court cases that go to the presenting unit in Manchester? Or is it just the cases that were heard in Manchester? I want to know this just Incase I need to follow up after my court hearing, but ours is in London.

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - Give me your number and I will ring you

Hello @ Hopeforallone, how are you doing? I was hoping you could drop your email for me on here or maybe you can just message me on mine then I will reply with my number. blackmoney2naira@yahoo.co.uk

Hopeforallone: @ Your wife will need to travel.

How far does she need to travel? she lives around Dagenham Essex and yes we both going to pay for the expenses

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - Paragraph 320 11 and credibility. £700

I don't know what paragraph 320 11 is, all the same, can I ask if I can hire the lawyer you are using for my case, since he is representing you for that amount, and is it ok to brief him that we relied on employment and also self employment, and the things they claim not to have seen have been provided in the appeal but they still want to go court. The things are employment letters, 2 missing payslips and SA300/SA302 which is the self employment statement of account with HMRC that shows the paid and unpaid calculated taxes.

Proudlygemini: Hello guys, just wanted to inform y'all that after waiting 4 and half months my settlement visa is finally out, thanks for all the useful information i got on here. Goodluck to others

You are lucky no refusal at all. Your game is tight!

@ Hopeforallone, sorry I missed something. Can you please tell me what are the things left for you to proof, what are they holding against you? Is it the relationship credibility or financial requirements? Plus I will also like to know how much the lawyer who is representing you charged you for your case which he/she said is familiar.

shelair1: @Dunique and Girlflo
we didnt use a lawyer andd we didnt regret it . like Girlflo said it is not as criminal court it calm. just u d judge and a rep from ukba. all u need to do is to verbally explain the documents which most of the time they dnt ve time to look thru and its in a room not a hall.they ask u for ur documents u provide, if there is any confusin part they ask u to explain. All u need right now is God

Already they have given up on one of their reasons for refusal, but they are still holding one against us, which is the financial requirement, we meet the requirement and we added all the necessary document in the appeal because they claim it was missing in the initial application. Two of my partners payslips and her employment letters, then also there is something called SA300/SA302, which is the statement of account with the HMRC for someone relying on self employment. My partner is the shy type and she doesn't want to do it alone, if it was a situation whereby I can be there, then I will do it.

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - It's just one person doing the paperwork and another representing in court.

ok

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - My lawyer is going to represent us. My mother and I will be present in court. He said he has won cases like ours before.

So he is not hiring another professional?

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - With our case the lawyer wanted all documents two months before just to go over a few things and witness statements which I handed in late. It would be good to get this handed in this month if you are going to court early November, so that if you miss anything you still got time get something else.

@ Hopeforallone, is it your lawyer that is going to represent you or he/she hired an immigration lawyer for you, if she hired someone, how much did you get that professional?

girlfio: .

If your not getting much joy from your lawyer id advise that you start looking in to having your spouse represent you in court. I've heard that its not as scary as it sounds. It's not the same set up as a criminal court. It's basically about presenting the documented evidence to the judge. As long as you are confident with the validity of your documents and that they all clearly show that the financial threshold was reached during that period then it should all be straight forward. I could be wrong but I thought it was the Leicester Tribubal office that sends the appeal documentations to the judge. It might be worth calling them to find out what your options are if u are not able to confirm lawyer representation in time.

Yes I also think that they are the ones who will send the appeal documents to the judge, what I don't know is if we need to send our own evidences also to the judge if there will be anything new anyway which I doubt so. The home office may claim not to have seen the full documents submitted for the appeal, the things they claim was missing initially, so I think we will need to still go to the court with copies of those things in case they deny seeing them. But do I need to inform the court that my partner will be representing us and not an immigration lawyer? the problem with my case is that my wife is the quiet type and she said she wants a professional to go with her cause she won't want to take any chances.

Hopeforallone: @ All these solicitors are out for money. Is there a deadline for the money and have they sent any documents to court for your case?

They haven't sent any document to the court, yes she has told me I am wasting time with the payment cause the person she is hiring is suppose to have enough time to study my case, I am kind of confused now because I don't even know if there is a dead line for them to send my document in for the judge to study also before the hearing date.

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - How much does the lawyer want?

The solicitor have been paid before, although she claims to still have some balance to collect from us, but right now she is hiring a barrister/immigration lawyer for 1600, that is what I have been looking for now, Nigeria is tough and I need proper help seriously cause it is my last chance now.

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - Thanks whats going on with your case have you paid and found a lawyer yet?

I am yet to pay oh, and that is putting me under a lot of pressure, trust me money does almost everything in this world.

Hopeforallone: @ Dunique - Hey long time. How's the preparations going with you. All is okay just still preparing to get all the documents together. Taking some time out to pray and seek God's mercy for our court date.

It will favour you & I by the grace of God almighty, we will rejoice and have good testimonies after our individual court date. Take care & God bless.

Hello, has anyone heard from Hopeforallone since? if you can read this, let me know how things are going with you, just thought we are in this together and I will like to know how things are going on your side too.

@ Hopeforallone, I haven't heard from you in a while, how is preparation? Hope all is set, God will make it your day and you will rejoice there after.

martinssheun:

Thanks for your response. But won't this mean that all documents will be sent to her old address?

You can inform them about the change of address, no need to tell them about change in other circumstances, but if there are any changes in contact information then you should let them know. Still keep on checking at the old address cause they may still make mistakes sending your paperwork there. Wish you all the best!

willwin2:

@ will win, Doesn't sound like anything major which is good.

Yes, I just hope they overturn their decision.

Yes, most probably they will overturn it in your case.

Ikato3540:

@Hopeforall, I do sincerely hope you are overreacting and that things would be a lot easier than you think they would be. My deadline too is in September so it's a decisive month for us both.

@Dunique, how much did you eventually get an IL for? What is the price range just Incase I go down this lane too..

Mine is asking for 1500 pounds, I don't know if any other person got a cheaper one. This particular one is from my solicitor.

@ Hopeforallone, it is almost September & I know what you will be feeling right now. God is in control and you will come out victorious in this, I wish the same for myself, at the moment I am looking for funds to hire an IL for my case.

@ VO, thanks for your time once again, I will pass the message on and he should be fine with the advice you have given.

VisaOfficer:

Well, did he use a false identity in any dealings with the United States? If not, it may not constitute material misrepresentation. It would constitute material misrepresentation if he tried to hide it from a U.S. Consular officer, though.

The fact is that he has used a false identity in the past and is now hoping not to suffer any consequences. Honesty and candor are the only way to minimize those consequences from here on out.

I understand that he has to disclose to the consular officer or interviewer the past false identity used to travel to the UK, but if he now gets a change of name and declare that, will the consular not say he is only doing that to claim the almost approved immigrant visa, he has never tried a us visa in the past so I am thinking if he just do the name change and get a new passport, he may just present the new passport to the US and get on with his life, please tell me if that isn't complicated too. And another question is that, isn't there any case in the past like that, wherby the immigrant changes his/her name to the name filed for him with the US, without problems arising.

VisaOfficer:

I don't know if he can get a change of name done... that's a question of Nigerian law. If he has changed his name, he'll need to be very candid with the interviewing officer, then. If he tries to hide his various identities, he'll have a bigger problem than if he just tells us what happened.

Yes he can do a change of name in Nigeria as most country allow it too, the question is if the US Interviewing officer was told that he changed his name recently to the one that was filed for him and he brings the documents to confirm that, will they not use it against him? Moreover I think they should only doubt if he is truly a son of the woman who filed for him and that can be proved with getting DNA done. Please tell me if I am making any sense.