Utter disaster- perfectly prepared FLR(M) sent in, got back linvalid letter

Apologies, I misunderstood and thought the gentleman you were speaking to today who was "spooked" was the attorney.  THAT concerned me.   . If he's not the one you've been paying, then no red flags there!

Talk to the Embassy.  I'd make an appointment for next week, if it was me.  You will NOT be the first person there who has had UKVI lose their passport.  They will know what will suffice.  I'm certain the same day issued passport, along with the electronic cancellation of your original passport, will suffice.

This can be resolved.  I promise.  Please don't panic all weekend and make yourselves ill over this.  Even if you do nothing else through your attorney, you can provide UKVI with each of the items they are requesting.  No panic necessary!  Stress, absolutely!   . You can do this!

Thanks KFDancer. I reckon it ill be one of the worst weekends of my life but will try not to totally fall apart!

Thanks KFDancer. I reckon it ill be one of the worst weekends of my life but will try not to totally fall apart!

We'll be here for you if you need to talk.

Hope you've got thing sorted out with your lawyers. OMG. Just...I can't even believe what's happening to you.

If you don't think these lawyers are what you can afford, give Medivisas a call. They are reasonable cost-wise, and they might (can't say for sure, but maybe) do a payment plan. They offered us to pay half upfront and half whenever we could do it. Since ours was a standard visa application, there were no extenuating circumstances. You have a ton of them, so maybe they will help you out.

PM me if you want more info about them.

Hope you've got thing sorted out with your lawyers. OMG. Just...I can't even believe what's happening to you.

If you don't think these lawyers are what you can afford, give Medivisas a call. They are reasonable cost-wise, and they might (can't say for sure, but maybe) do a payment plan. They offered us to pay half upfront and half whenever we could do it. Since our was a standard visa application, there was no extenuating circumstances. You have a ton of them, so maybe they will help you out.

PM me if you want more info about them.

Thank you very much for this response- I will call them first thing Tuesday.

Update- this morning partner and I woke up feeling like this should have been a bad dream.

Friends and family are not understanding the enormity of this and virtually none of them can believe that when we've done nothing wrong our lives could be turned upside down like this.

On Tuesday morning I am going to call:
Medivisas
Laura Divine
Pennington Lawyers (my partner spoke to his cousin's godmother who is married to a high court judge that says they are the best)
Our existing lawyer

After speaking to all of these four lawyers I am going to determine who is best option based on their schedule and experience. We really need someone that can clear time on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

In the meantime  I've got a USA embassy appointment booked at 1:30pm Tuesday for 'Passport Services. but I have no idea how that will work or who I will be able to. speak to?

I'm not  optimistic I can magically get a replacement passport in 8 working days. In fact I'm not even optimistic I can get a temporary one. I have no USA drivers liscense, no old passports, and no birth certificate. I don't have a birth certificate as I've had no need for one in 9ish years and frankly didn't' think I would again. I dont have old passports as the one I submitted was my first I'd ever had in my life (it was going to expire in 2019). I dont have any USA driver license for obvious reasons.

All I have to identify myself at all is a UK drivers license! And some old expired USA drivers license. And a paper copy of my passport but  I don't think I have all the pages- just the front.

There's not much more we can do without a lawyer. I'm just so convinced at this point that more will go wrong. The new docs could be lost in the post. They could be lost or mixed up AGAIN as has just happened. Or they could be recieved but not sufficient if for example I can only get a temp passport or not even that in time. It just seems more likely at this point that more mistakes will be made rather than it all suddenly being fine.

Can anyone explain to me who actually has the right to speak to real people about a particular case at the HO on the *phone*?

Does anyone know that if we were to re-apply completely and book an in-person appointment this time if that would be a viable option? Yes I'd be applying as an overstayer at that point. But at least it would be hope or an option rather than a total dead-end. We wouldn't be able to get some of the original co-habitation documents replaced though so wouldn't have sufficient original evidence there anymore. We'd only have copies.

Does anyone know that if we were to re-apply completely and book an in-person appointment this time if that would be a viable option? Yes I'd be applying as an overstayer at that point. But at least it would be hope or an option rather than a total dead-end.

In my limited knowledge,
you are not an overstayer until your application is rejected as invalid, which yours isn't yet as they are just asking more information/documents.
For an invalid application, if the applicant wins an appeal, then none of this time is classed as being an overstayer as they are protected under 3C of the Immigration Rules 1971 - they put an in-time application in and it was granted.
You would need to check this with your lawyer. These are the Home Office guidelines for their staff.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596771/3C-3D-Leave-v8_0.pdf

As to whether you can put another application in at this stage, I don't know. I do know that an in-person application can't be decided on the day if there are complications.

Update- this morning partner and I woke up feeling like this should have been a bad dream.

Friends and family are not understanding the enormity of this and virtually none of them can believe that when we've done nothing wrong our lives could be turned upside down like this.

On Tuesday morning I am going to call:
Medivisas
Laura Divine
Pennington Lawyers (my partner spoke to his cousin's godmother who is married to a high court judge that says they are the best)
Our existing lawyer

After speaking to all of these four lawyers I am going to determine who is best option based on their schedule and experience. We really need someone that can clear time on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

In the meantime  I've got a USA embassy appointment booked at 1:30pm Tuesday for 'Passport Services. but I have no idea how that will work or who I will be able to. speak to?

I'm not  optimistic I can magically get a replacement passport in 8 working days. In fact I'm not even optimistic I can get a temporary one. I have no USA drivers liscense, no old passports, and no birth certificate. I don't have a birth certificate as I've had no need for one in 9ish years and frankly didn't' think I would again. I dont have old passports as the one I submitted was my first I'd ever had in my life (it was going to expire in 2019). I dont have any USA driver license for obvious reasons.

All I have to identify myself at all is a UK drivers license! And some old expired USA drivers license. And a paper copy of my passport but  I don't think I have all the pages- just the front.

There's not much more we can do without a lawyer. I'm just so convinced at this point that more will go wrong. The new docs could be lost in the post. They could be lost or mixed up AGAIN as has just happened. Or they could be recieved but not sufficient if for example I can only get a temp passport or not even that in time. It just seems more likely at this point that more mistakes will be made rather than it all suddenly being fine.

Can anyone explain to me who actually has the right to speak to real people about a particular case at the HO on the *phone*?

Does anyone know that if we were to re-apply completely and book an in-person appointment this time if that would be a viable option? Yes I'd be applying as an overstayer at that point. But at least it would be hope or an option rather than a total dead-end. We wouldn't be able to get some of the original co-habitation documents replaced though so wouldn't have sufficient original evidence there anymore. We'd only have copies.

I know that right now things seem terrible and it's absolute pants that UKVI has screwed up. And boy, have they screwed up.

But have you tried contacting them at all? Or are you waiting to speak with a lawyer?

Katoo got a refusal letter that wasn't meant for her, could that be the issue that has happened here? That maybe you had missed some other piece of information they wanted (or they cant find it) and they didn't clear out their template and sent the wrong letter to you?

I thought I had sent everything in February for my postal FLR. I then got a letter in the mail asking for 6 months bank statements. I made a huge deal with my husband and on here about how ridiculous it was that they asked as I had provided them!

We sent them new ones. I got my visa. A few days later we found the bank statements in a stack of papers on the kitchen table. I was so embarrassed. 😶

For your appointment at the US Embassy, take a US size passport photo with you and have the replacement forms filled out.

I just received my new passport from the US Consulate in Edinburgh in just 4 days. That wasn't an emergency one, it was for a name change.

My son was here for my wedding 2 weeks ago and he lost his passport on the train. The US Consulate in Edinburgh was going to be able to get him an emergency travel passport the same day but his passport was found on the train we didn't need to go through with the service.

You should be able to get a new passport in the alloted time with walk in service.

Update- this morning partner and I woke up feeling like this should have been a bad dream.

Friends and family are not understanding the enormity of this and virtually none of them can believe that when we've done nothing wrong our lives could be turned upside down like this.

On Tuesday morning I am going to call:
Medivisas
Laura Divine
Pennington Lawyers (my partner spoke to his cousin's godmother who is married to a high court judge that says they are the best)
Our existing lawyer

After speaking to all of these four lawyers I am going to determine who is best option based on their schedule and experience. We really need someone that can clear time on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

In the meantime  I've got a USA embassy appointment booked at 1:30pm Tuesday for 'Passport Services. but I have no idea how that will work or who I will be able to. speak to?

I'm not  optimistic I can magically get a replacement passport in 8 working days. In fact I'm not even optimistic I can get a temporary one. I have no USA drivers liscense, no old passports, and no birth certificate. I don't have a birth certificate as I've had no need for one in 9ish years and frankly didn't' think I would again. I dont have old passports as the one I submitted was my first I'd ever had in my life (it was going to expire in 2019). I dont have any USA driver license for obvious reasons.

All I have to identify myself at all is a UK drivers license! And some old expired USA drivers license. And a paper copy of my passport but  I don't think I have all the pages- just the front.

There's not much more we can do without a lawyer. I'm just so convinced at this point that more will go wrong. The new docs could be lost in the post. They could be lost or mixed up AGAIN as has just happened. Or they could be recieved but not sufficient if for example I can only get a temp passport or not even that in time. It just seems more likely at this point that more mistakes will be made rather than it all suddenly being fine.

Can anyone explain to me who actually has the right to speak to real people about a particular case at the HO on the *phone*?

Does anyone know that if we were to re-apply completely and book an in-person appointment this time if that would be a viable option? Yes I'd be applying as an overstayer at that point. But at least it would be hope or an option rather than a total dead-end. We wouldn't be able to get some of the original co-habitation documents replaced though so wouldn't have sufficient original evidence there anymore. We'd only have copies.

If cost and quickness are issues for you, don't bother with Laura Devine. Took us almost two weeks to get a response to our initial call, and their quotes were outrageous.

In the meantime  I've got a USA embassy appointment booked at 1:30pm Tuesday for 'Passport Services. but I have no idea how that will work or who I will be able to. speak to?

I'm not  optimistic I can magically get a replacement passport in 8 working days. In fact I'm not even optimistic I can get a temporary one. I have no USA drivers liscense, no old passports, and no birth certificate. I don't have a birth certificate as I've had no need for one in 9ish years and frankly didn't' think I would again. I dont have old passports as the one I submitted was my first I'd ever had in my life (it was going to expire in 2019). I dont have any USA driver license for obvious reasons.

Again, noting total official moron here; from talking to friends in Japan and Australia who have had to deal with crazy government paperwork snafus in the past, speaking with someone at the embassy and getting them on board should put the brakes on any  deadlines long enough to provide a decent window for this to be looked at without you having to do anything that will just create bigger problems. The US embassy in Japan got a ten day hold on any action for my friend's mistaken identity case, and apparently just having them call attention to there being a discrepancy was enough to solve part of the problem. If they're aware that you're having an issue and trying to resolve it, that speaks to the fact that you're not trying to do any funny business or just can't be bothered to follow instructions. (throws good luck at you)

Again, noting total official moron here; from talking to friends in Japan and Australia who have had to deal with crazy government paperwork snafus in the past, speaking with someone at the embassy and getting them on board should put the brakes on any  deadlines long enough to provide a decent window for this to be looked at without you having to do anything that will just create bigger problems. The US embassy in Japan got a ten day hold on any action for my friend's mistaken identity case, and apparently just having them call attention to there being a discrepancy was enough to solve part of the problem. If they're aware that you're having an issue and trying to resolve it, that speaks to the fact that you're not trying to do any funny business or just can't be bothered to follow instructions. (throws good luck at you)

I don't want to dash any hopes here, but the US don't have any authority on  laws in another country, in this case, the UK immigration laws: just as other countries don't have a say in US laws. Those in the UK under UK immigration are under the Immigration Act 1971 and the amendments to that via the Immigration Act 2014 (in this case, changes to the 1971 law for invalid applications) and the Immigration Act 2016. Acts are UK statutory laws (made by the UK governments, parlaiment and the Lords).

Here is the US embassy confirming this for their citizens, albeit for visitors, but the message is the same-

the decision on admission to the U.K. is made by British authorities (the UK Visas and Immigration – UKVI) in accordance with British law.

 and

the U.S. Embassy is prohibited from interfering in decisions by U.K. border officials, .

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/denied-entry-to-the-uk/

The only people who will always have an automatic right to be in the UK, are British Citizens and those with a valid ILR. The rest are under various laws and agreements.

But, this is not an invalid applicatiion, all they are asking for is more documents within the timeframe. It's stressful, especially as it is a long weekend, but it can be resolved.

if this makes you feel better at all I got a new passport in Ireland last year within 4 days of my application. Think someone not the forum said that they got theirs within a week in London this month so I wouldn't panic about that end. Every embassy experience I have had they have taken really great care of me!

im so sorry you are going through this, but you will get through it and everyone on here is happy to help.

But, this is not an invalid application, all they are asking for is more documents within the time-frame. It's stressful, especially as it is a long weekend, but it can be resolved.

I know its not an invalid application YET- but it will be in 10 business days from the letter if I do not provide the requested documents. The requested documents include a passport that they do not acknowledge they have- they have lost but may or may not agree with this. If they do not agree with this, I am screwed as I am an over-stayer and have no right to appeal.

I can't see how not to panic when this all comes down to them acknowledging their mistake and not having really lost my passport (why would i trust in that happening?!) OR me coming up with a new passport in a very short time period when I have limited proof of identity. And actually even if I pull off getting a new passport in time, who's to say that won't get lost in the post? Or lost on their end AGAIN? When such a major *bleep* up as happened and everything is on the line, I  now have no faith that another *bleep* up (by post office or HO) won't happen with submitting a replacement passport.

This would all be so different if I had leave left on my last visa. Or even if we had gotten this letter immediately after my visa expired so that we could take advantage of the 28 day over stayer rules. But instead, I am past the 28 day grace period and have no right of appeal. Their stupid mistake will literally make it retroactively have committed a crime by overstaying as an invalid application is the exact same as not having applied at all. I'm still speechless this is set up this way that this can happen. How can I have committed a crime when I did everything right and someone else screwed up? I'm not allowed to stay in the country long enough to call them out on their mistake! If I was on another visa still OR this was a refusal of a valid application I'd have cards left to play. But in this case I see no way that I am not out on my bum for good.

Sure, I hope that they acknowledge that they screwed up and have my passport. Or that I can get them a new one ASAP and they don't somehow screw that up to. But otherwise, my life as I know it is over and my partner and I are still in shock this is happening...

If cost and quickness are issues for you, don't bother with Laura Devine. Took us almost two weeks to get a response to our initial call, and their quotes were outrageous.

Thanks for this tip-off. I don't think calling can hurt but this is really good to know. My partner is considering taking out a loan so that we can pick the best lawyer rather than the cheapest. Such a massive amount of money but the alternative is way more expensive as I'm breadwinner, and would be homeless and jobless if had to go to the States.

if this makes you feel better at all I got a new passport in Ireland last year within 4 days of my application. Think someone not the forum said that they got theirs within a week in London this month so I wouldn't panic about that end. Every embassy experience I have had they have taken really great care of me!

im so sorry you are going through this, but you will get through it and everyone on here is happy to help.

Thank you for this information! Was it Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland? Are you USA? Can I ask what exact identity documents you had that you could provide them with?