Fiance visa refusal

The process is different for every country. Most people here are applying from the US and you mail everything to Sheffield yourself. You do not submit anything in person and biometrics are taken by US immigration. You also purchase shipping and priority service through VFS Global, not TLS and there’s no way to track your application progress. 

So the only notification US applicants get is an email from Sheffield and then they find out the decision when they receive their passport and documents in the mail.

If you did not submit your passport or any physical documents to TLS, then they may not have any reason to contact you further. Also it looks like it can take a few weeks for their system to update to say that it has been processed.


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Just received and email from TLS

Dear applicant,

 UK Visas & Immigration have made a decision on your application and you should have received an email from them about the outcome.

Your application case is now closed.

 Please ignore the automatic email about passport collection as you have kept your passport with you.

If you wish to have more information please go to: https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-outside-uk

We consulted immigration lawyer and unfortunately, the only way to challenge the decision would be to lodge an appeal. Even if the decision is irrational or fails to take material evidence into account, judicial review is a remedy to explore until the statutory appeal rights have been exhausted.

And in the very end, no one will be responsible and no one cares... Only we are punished...

We consulted immigration lawyer and unfortunately, the only way to challenge the decision would be to lodge an appeal. Even if the decision is irrational or fails to take material evidence into account, judicial review is a remedy to explore until the statutory appeal rights have been exhausted.

And in the very end, no one will be responsible and no one cares... Only we are punished...

I'm so sorry . I would still see if your MP can do anything though, just in case he can pull some strings and get them to agree to review it without appealing.

My fiance contacted MP yesterday. There was a different assistant in office (he talked to one on Friday). She said that they will write a letter to Home Office, but there is no deadline for a response from their size. He also scheduled an appointment for the end of February... Also, they said that MP's office is not the one to judge whether my IELTS certificate was correct or not

Currently, I don't think that anything can be done apart from the appeal.

I am wondering if I can still appeal both to placing a new application. I want this rejection to be removed from my file.

It is very sad and hurts what they are doing to people's lives due to their unprofessional training or other "targets"...

Just want to see someone responsible for that, but there won't be... Luckily we can afford another application as soon as it was in our budget, and we applied for a fiance visa before. Now we will just apply for spouse visa. But I am sure there are other people who wouldn't expect it.

My fiance contacted MP yesterday. There was a different assistant in office (he talked to one on Friday). She said that they will write a letter to Home Office, but there is no deadline for a response from their size. He also scheduled an appointment for the end of February... Also, they said that MP's office is not the one to judge whether my IELTS certificate was correct or not

Currently, I don't think that anything can be done apart from the appeal.

Probably not, but you won't get anything moving with the MP unless he calls him or goes to see him in person. It's an urgent matter and is something the MP *should* be able to sort out quickly - as in, in the next couple of days.

I am wondering if I can still appeal both to placing a new application. I want this rejection to be removed from my file.

I don't believe it's possible to get a rejection from your record - even if you appeal and the decision is overturned, the refusal will still be on your record, along with the fact that it was appealed. Once it's there, it's there and you will need to declare it on all future visa applications.

When you apply for the spousal visa, you will need to declare it, explain what happened and include the refusal letter, so that they can look into the reason for refusal.

Well, my fiance was told yesterday that they don't consider any matter as urgent unless I am dying   He will try to get MP today, but not sure...  The government lets him down from every side...

So, is it possible to appeal as well as placing the new application for the spouse visa? I would prefer to see the appeal in my records than just being rejected...

So, is it possible to appeal as well as placing the new application for the spouse visa?.

You can, but I'm not sure it would be worth it - as soon as the spousal visa is issued, the appeal will be cancelled anyway, so you would have just wasted £80 on the appeal fee and will have nothing to show for it.

20. APL1.20 Applicant makes fresh application while an appeal is outstanding
A person who has an appeal pending can make a fresh application for entry clearance in the same or any other category. There is no requirement for a person to withdraw an appeal. If an appellant is subsequently issued an entry clearance, post must inform the tribunals service at eco.contact@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. The ECO must ensure that a proforma of withdrawal of decision is also sent to the Tribunals Service and this appeal will stop.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appeal-procedures-apl01/archived-appeal-procedures-apl01)

Also from that page:
- You have to pay to lodge an appeal with the Tribunals service, and mail the application form and your documents to them.
- They then have 28 days to forward your application and documents to the ECO in Sheffield for review.
- The ECO will then decide whether to uphold or overturn the refusal - they have 12 weeks to do this.
- If they overturn it, the visa will be issued. If not, the appeal will go back to the tribunal and may go to a hearing

I would prefer to see the appeal in my records than just being rejected..

Honestly, appealing doesn't help or solve anything in regards to how your application look.

- The ONLY affect that your refusal will have on future applications is that you will need to declare the refusal and include the paperwork, it will take a bit longer for them to be processed due to looking into the refusal reason. It means you likely won't be able to apply in person for future applications as they may not be able to make a same-day decision.

- And the ONLY reason to appeal is if you want to get justice for the incorrect decision and you're happy to wait several months for it. That's a personal decision won't effect future applications... because you would still need to declare both the refusal and the appeal on the application form.

If you don't want to wait for an appeal, then the quickest and easiest way to for you to move to the UK is to just reapply and just let the refusal go and not bother appealing.

- And the ONLY reason to appeal is if you want to get justice for the incorrect decision and you're happy to wait several months for it.

If you don't want to wait for an appeal, then the quickest and easiest way to for you to move to the UK is to just reapply and just let the refusal go and not bother appealing.

Thank you so much @ksand24 ...

We really want justice for their unlawful decision... But time together is more important, because we will not be able to build our life, continuing living separately in different countries...

Thank you so much @ksand24 ...

We really want justice for their unlawful decision... But time together is more important, because we will not be able to build our life, continuing living separately in different countries...

That’s the same for most people and so hardly anyone appeals - we’ve only seen a handful of appeals on the forum in the last decade... and those that did appeal only did so because UKVI made a mistake and they wanted justice for it on principle. I remember one was just for a visitor visa and one was for a settlement visa... they both took several months.

In most cases, the refusal is correct, and is due to lack of documents or meeting the requirements, so there’s not really any point in appealing anyway - it’s pretty rare for them to make a mistake like they did with yours.


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The last appeal we had was for someone who met the financial requirements and they waited about 10 months for their trial.  Turns out the employer had written that the sponsor was salaried instead of non-salaried - meaning UKVI had correctly refused the application.  All that time and it was truly one word that prevented them from getting the visa.  And at the end of the appeal, they had to reapply anyway correcting the wording in the employment letter.

What I'm saying is that while we think they made an error based on what we know, there's a chance that with the full application in front of us, they did correctly refuse the application.  I only say that as I haven't heard of UKVI incorrectly refusing a visa before.  But that's only my experience.

The last appeal we had was for someone who met the financial requirements and they waited about 10 months for their trial.  Turns out the employer had written that the sponsor was salaried instead of non-salaried - meaning UKVI had correctly refused the application.

And that one missing word meant that Sheffield calculated their income as the lowest payslip multiplied by 12, instead of taking the average of all the payslips added together, dividing by 6 and multiplying by 12. The lowest payslip was less than £1,550 so the application was refused.


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First of all, my heart break for you too! I really know how you feel, as our first application was refused just because of a silly mistake of a lawyer which we regret to this day!

I read on some other forums that appeal doesnt always take 1 year . One couple's application was had been refused because of adding wrong bank statements ( missing docusments rather than ineligible application ) and they get refused. Husband goes to appeal and in 8 weeks time they get their visa this time.

I myself didnt want to do this way as u can never know how long it might take of course. And we made a fresh application.

Just wanted to share this with you all.

Do not lose hope, focus on your marriage, social life and be positive. Don't let a stupid civil servant ruin your whole psychology. And i am sure you will both be happy and together soon!

@applicant-uk yes, it is always difficult to get a rejection.

Still, I can't find what could be wrong with my IELTS for UK General Training Test.

We decided to re-apply just to move one. Even if to consider that we appeal and win the appeal on the fiance visa, it will be 12 weeks minimum, which will put us into the middle of May. Taking into account that I applied from France, and the "special relationship" with France nowadays,  I think it will take even longer. Than after mid-May we will have to arrange the wedding, will be another 4-5 months, so September-October to change my status to a spouse visa, and the start of me integrating somehow into the English society.

The main risk with re-application is that they may not like something different. For the new application, I will provide both old IELTS test and newly-ordered NARIC assessment... But it is always surprise in the very end as far as I understand...