Editha

Fair enough, but one of the problems with getting advice from this forum is that there is no way of ascertaining the qualifications and expertise of the advice giver, and that includes the moderators.

All advice given really ought to carry the warning that it cannot be relied on, and if there is any doubt, it should be treated as guidance only to be backed up by advice from a qualified professional.

IMO

michali

The problem is that having been on three boards in recent years, I have seen a lot of rejections for visas when the applicants relied on advice for immigration advisors etc. they were given such bad advice and regretted not having joined these forums earlier. However, I am sure there are a lot who take professional advice and are successful and we just don't hear from them! Unless my case were very complicated I would not consider getting professional advice. Expat forums too have excellent advisors so between this one, expat forums and UK Yankee, we get all the advice we need, and for free.

Vadio

I've seen many posts on various forums that say something to the effect of "we contacted an immigration lawyer and s/he said x-y-z". Assuming that the poster conveyed an accurate representation of what was said, a lot of 'professional advice' is just plain wrong...some so much so that it beggars belief.

A few weeks back - just for fun - I looked at a couple of websites that were (in theory) that of professional immigration advisors, including solicitors. Some were still quoting pre-2012 rules.

I quite agree that there is no way of ascertaining the qualifications and expertise of anyone who gives advice on a forum, but here and on other sites, many provide links to specific UKVI rules and say 'read this'. Others say 'you need to provide more information' before attempting to point the poster in the right direction. Anyone looking to find a loophole to somehow get around the rules never seems to want to hear "that won't work", and can be sucked in by a 'professional' who says "don't worry about x-y-z, we can get around that."

formula

Exactly. Plus the sponsor needs to then get a job to be able to sponsor, so he could return home to apply for his spouse visa.


The daughter is a Brit, according to their local paper (being discussed on UK-yankee). They say the wife couldn't (and still can't) meet the financial requirement of 18,600.

Their local article said that they lived together in their own house in SA for 4 years. It seems when she was about 6 months pregnant they decided to move to the UK. Her SA citizen husband came with her as a visitor, and then he overstayed. They still have their house in SA as they seem to be talking about going back to live in it.

According to that article, they first lived in Yorkshire where the wife was born and then moved to Cornwall, where she collects driftwood to make things to try to sell. She doesn't sell enough driftwood to be able to make £18,600. It seems she has never got a job since she moved back to the UK about 2 years ago, to be able to sponsor her husband.

Their local article said they spent thousands on solicitors to try to win their case at very stages, but they keep losing. As SanDiegogirl pointed out, he arrived on a visitor visa and you can't switch (in country) from a visitor visa.

Tr1boy

So why didn't they sell their house and then meet the savings requirements? Oh yeah, silly me

formula

Or if he as skilled as he says he is, why didn't he get a Tier 2 (General) visa, applied for in his own country? Once in the UK on that visa, he could have switched (in country) to a spouse visa, using his salary to meet the financial requirements. Or stayed on that visa, as it leads to ILR and UK citizenship, if he can earn 35K.

I hope the solicitors they have been paying thousands to, have pointed that route out.

Dorothy

The moderators of this forum are here to moderate, not to give immigration advice. Anyone who takes advice from an online forum without doing any of their own research is foolish at best.

Giantaxe

They may have had little or no equity in their house.

Really, trying to discern what's going on in these kind of stories is difficult because important details get left out one way or another.

Editha

The reporting on the case has been all over the place. It is not clear to me how much she earned or why she wasn't earning enough. One paper states that she earned over £19,000 from her craft business, so she should have enough to bring in her husband. Some papers have said that she had to earn more to bring in her child, but also that she was born in Yorkshire, so her child should be a British citizen.

Given the inaccuracies in the reporting, I don't think we should judge the couple.

formula

Mother born a UK citizen in the UK. Mother returned back pregnant and had the child in the UK. Her child is a British citizen.

She has to earn £18,600 to be able to sponsor her husband and he has to return to SA to apply for that spouse visa because he entered the UK as a visitor. The rules are quite clear.

She chose the self employment route instead of PAYE and still doesn't meet the requirements to be able to sponsor.

They seem to think that Article 8, Right to a Family Life, meant that they could choose the country they want that family life in. Which it doesn't.

Pollyana

Exactly.
We aren't appointed for our immigration knowledge, that's why we are moderators and not immigration agents or lawyers. If we give information or express an opinion, thats all it is, and it is just as good or bad as the next poster.
Anyone posting on BE claiming to be a migration agent and/or lawyer is asked to display their credentials in their signature so that everyone else can tell who they are.

Editha

formula, you are picking and choosing from what you have read in order to find information to criticise the couple. I find your attitude distasteful.

formula

You seem to find everyones attitude distasteful, if they don't agree with what you think.
That's your problem.

rebeccajo

I don't think there is anyplace in this thread that the moderators were called out on bad advice.........how did that chestnut even get thrown into the discussion?

Editha

Michali post 43.