Feeling very anxious and frustrated - reassurance needed!

Hello everyone,

First off, let me say how grateful I am that this forum exists - it's an unbelievable source of information, and everyone is so nice!

So, our situation/timeline is as follows:

Visa type: Spouse settlement (priority)
Biometrics: 21st November 2017
Docs confirmed rec'd in Sheffield: 23rd November 2017
Email received: "not straight forward application" 2nd January 2018
Decision received: not yet!!!!

So my wife is a US citizen and so is her 6 year old daughter (I am not the biological father). I easily meet the financial criteria. The only things I can think of that make this non-straightforward is the sole responsibility proof and the fact my wife has some very old (2008/9) misdemeanors.

In terms of sole responsibility, there is no father named on the birth certificate and there has never been any contact or support asked for or given from birth. I believe we submitted a letter from the school and from the childminder supporting my wife as sole care giver and from reading the criteria of proof I think we're ok - the only thing we don't have is a letter from the bio father giving permission...although it seems this isn't required as the birth cert doesn't name him?

Anyway, we're both very anxious about the length of time taken to date (over 35 BDs) and the fact that the auto generated not straight forward email seems to buy unlimited extra time and we're both allowing feelings of paranoia to creep in about the application being refused....which would be devastating.

Is there any advice or reassurance anyone can offer about the likelihood of a refusal and also the probable timeline (it's 16 BDs since the email now...). The very worst thing about all this is spending every minute of every day waiting/praying for the decision email to come through....we're both in bits.

Any words of wisdom would be very gratefully received, thanks in advance.
Alex

While not what you want to hear, I suspect it’s around the paperwork for the child.  I’ll find a recent refusal where they weren’t satisfied with the paperwork.  Back in a few.

Here it is.  Might be worth messaging Rosie and she where she got to in the end.

What's awful is they approved her visa and refused her child's!!!

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=91877.0

While not what you want to hear, I suspect it’s around the paperwork for the child.  I’ll find a recent refusal where they weren’t satisfied with the paperwork.  Back in a few.

Thank you, any insight would be helpful. I did do some digging on here and found a couple of cases where permission from the father was required and app refused, however in our case he is not named on the BC (just says unknown).

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Thank you, any insight would be helpful. I did do some digging on here and found a couple of cases where permission from the father was required and app refused, however in our case he is not named on the BC (just says unknown).

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Unfortunately we had that same circumstance with someone this autumn.  I posted her refusal.

What stinks is that we've had members in the past be able to have letters from the school and doctor and that was 100% acceptable.  Seems they are getting stricter but haven't updated the rules officially?!

Here it is.  Might be worth messaging Rosie and she where she got to in the end.

What's awful is they approved her visa and refused her child's!!!

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=91877.0 [nofollow]

Thank you - I did stumble across this one actually, poor lady, my heart goes out to her. The father was named on the BC though so I am dearly hoping we won't have to go through the same thing.

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Thank you - I did stumble across this one actually, poor lady, my heart goes out to her. The father was named on the BC though so I am dearly hoping we won't have to go through the same thing.

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I'm not sure it'll make much difference.  They seem to want express permission from the other parent for the child to be allowed legal stay in the UK.

What is the circumstance?  Is the dad known?  Would you be able to contact him for a DNA test (proof) and permission to move? 

You don't have to answer those questions to me (I'm not prying)!  Just may be what has to happen to get the visa granted.  I don't want you to do anything that would put the child in a vulnerable position.  But I suspect they will want something further for documentation to prove she can leave the USA with the child.   

I'm not sure it'll make much difference.  They seem to want express permission from the other parent for the child to be allowed legal stay in the UK.

What is the circumstance?  Is the dad known?  Would you be able to contact him for a DNA test (proof) and permission to move? 

You don't have to answer those questions to me (I'm not prying)!  Just may be what has to happen to get the visa granted.  I don't want you to do anything that would put the child in a vulnerable position.  But I suspect they will want something further for documentation to prove she can leave the USA with the child.   

This is a nightmare.

Yes the father is known and could probably be contacted if absolutely necessary. What if the father wasn't known? They just refuse a visa forever? Makes no sense.

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This is a nightmare.

Yes the father is known and could probably be contacted if absolutely necessary. What if the father wasn't known? They just refuse a visa forever? Makes no sense.

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No, they would give the reason why it was refused and why the documents you provided didn't meet the requirement. Then you would be able to re-apply, fixing that reason... i.e. they might need you to provide more evidence to the mother is the sole carer of the child.

For example, they might need evidence of:
- where the child has lived since they were born
- who pays for the child's food and clothing
- who cares for the child on a daily basis
- who makes the important decisions regarding the child's upbringing
- who has decided which school/church/doctor the child is enrolled at

From the old, archived UKVI guidance on how to prove sole responsibility (not sure why, but the document was withdrawn from the site in June 2017):

SET7.8 What is sole responsibility?

A sponsoring parent (see SET7.2) must be able to show that he/she has been solely responsible for exercising parental care over the child for a substantial period. If the sponsoring parent and child are separated, the child will normally be expected to have been in the care of the sponsoring parent’s relatives rather than the relatives of the other parent. An application should normally be refused if the child has been in the care of the other parent’s relatives and the other parent lives nearby and takes an active interest in the child’s welfare.

The following factors should be considered in assessing sole responsibility:

-    Are the parents married / in a civil partnership?
-    If the parents’ marriage / civil partnership is dissolved, which parent was awarded legal custody, which includes assumption of responsibility for the child?
-    Where there is a custody order the ECO should take care to ensure that the issue of a settlement entry clearance to the child will not contravene the terms of the custody order. See list for countries whose custody orders can be recognised as valid in UK (copy is available on this guidance page).
-    Does the marriage / civil partnership subsist, but the parents do not live together?
-    If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, how long has the sponsoring parent been separated from the child?
-    If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what were the arrangements for the care of the child before and after the sponsoring parent migrated?
-    If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what has been / what is the sponsoring parent’s relationship with the child?
-    Has the sponsoring parent consistently supported the child, either by:direct personal care; or by regular and substantial financial remittances?
-    By whom, and in what proportions, is the cost of the child’s maintenance borne?
-    Who takes the important decisions about the child’s upbringing, for example where the child lives, the choice of school, religious practice etc?

(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-set07/children-set07#set78-what-is-sole-responsibility)

This is a nightmare.

Yes the father is known and could probably be contacted if absolutely necessary. What if the father wasn't known? They just refuse a visa forever? Makes no sense.

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It's to prevent child kidnapping.  I know that's not what you guys are doing, but one story ruins it for everyone, you know?

A different story but relatable:

A friend of mine was adopting a child out of the foster system in the USA.  Mother was a known drug user.  The father was unidentified on the birth certificate (and could have been a few different people).

While the child was in my friend's care, the birth mother died of a drug overdose.  My friend's adoption went full steam ahead at this point.

In the 11th hour, the biological grandmother put forth another possibility for the biological father.  My friend was SOOO scared as they awaited DNA testing.  But it was the biggest blessing ever.  The man WAS the biological father.  He met with my friend and her husband and thought they were fantastic.  He happily signed over his rights and the adoption went through without a hitch.

Had they not identified the father, it would have ALWAYS been looming.  There would have always been the fear that the father could come into the picture and be awarded some rights.  Identifying him and having his expressed permission really was the best thing that could happen.

So not the same, but a bit related I think. 

No, they would give the reason why it was refused and why the documents you provided didn't meet the requirement. Then you would be able to re-apply, fixing that reason... i.e. they might need you to provide more evidence to the mother is the sole carer of the child.

For example, they might need evidence of:
- where the child has lived since they were born
- who pays for the child's food and clothing
- who cares for the child on a daily basis
- who makes the important decisions regarding the child's upbringing
- who has decided which school/church/doctor the child is enrolled at

From the old, archived UKVI guidance on how to prove sole responsibility (not sure why, but the document was withdrawn from the site in June 2017):
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-set07/children-set07#set78-what-is-sole-responsibility [nofollow] )

Thanks for digging that up, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.

We used visa lawyers and I believe we provided everything according to the criteria (other than the letter from the father). So we can only hope.

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