Can I just RANT about my Visa application??

 Okay...I am just having a bad day in general. Been searching for this page for the whole time I have been back in the US and only just now finding it (have been back here since Sept 29th  )
 Here I sit, twiddling my thumbs, bored out of my mind and missing my daughter and hubby...who are both back in Scotland. I had overstayed my visit in the UK, tho thru not really my fault. We went over there at the end of Nov 07, we we're already married by this point, planning on staying for a few months, then coming back over and head for Alaska so I could have our daughter there. Come to find out they don't like preggo ppl to travel any later than about 32 weeks or so. I hadn't known this since I have only ever flown in the US and over here they vary between 36-37 weeks.
 So...I was supposed to leave the UK by May 29, 2008. I had our daughter on the 25th. Four days later there was no way I was leaving my daughter over there and flying back, plus I was nursing. We had filed for an extension so I could stay longer based on the fact that "at that time I was not fit for travel...and it would not be beneficial for my daughter to be separated from me at this important bonding time" (that was in the letter from my Dr. Mid July I finally heard back from Immigration and they had asked for another letter from my Dr, which I sent them quickly. I hear back from them again almost 4 weeks later and they are saying I have been denied an extension based on the fact that the new letter from my Dr. says I am now fit for travel. Well...of course it is, Masters of the Obvious!...anyway...I am rambling.
 We looked into getting a lawyer, contacted many. Also got ahold of someone at the Immigration Advisory Service(I think that is the name)...everyone says I should leave and file for the FLR(M)...so I do this. I even left over a week before the new rules got into effect on Oct 1.
 I do my Biometrics appt on Oct 3 in NYC, overnight my Visa application with FedEx Oct 4 while still in NYC, and receive an email from them on Oct 7th saying it will take 10 working days to process. Then the next day, Oct 8th, I get another email saying it will take 25 working days. They also said I would get an email when a decision has been made on my application. Now here I sit...30 days later. Missing my husband and daughter and depressed. He can't come over since his passport went away with all of our paperwork and application stuff, and she doesn't have a passport for either country yet.
 I have tried calling, and calling, and calling....still nothing. I have sent 4 emails in the last week and nothing also. In the emails I was sent they say they cannot be contacted unless they have gone over the processing time limit....but how is it anyone can ever contact them?
 Okay...that is all for my ranting...I just needed to get all of that out. My husband is stressing about all of this too so I don't want to get him down with all of this. Just needed to get it off my chest and hopefully someone out there may know something, or at least tell me I am not the only person going thru this 
 Ahh..also, because my hubby is annoyed with this stuff, he is planning on contacting a lawyer over in Scotland to see if they can speed up the process. I told him I didn't think it would do anything and would be a waste of money, but he has an appt. on Thursday. I am right in thinking this, aren't I? If they couldn't do anything while I was there, can they actually do something now that I am gone? okay..that really is all for now...thanks for reading, if you got this far.
~Ange

Of critical importance is if you vacated the UK within 28 days of your refusal.  It's because you overstayed, filed for an extension, and were refused the extension.  From their view, you had a child in order to frustrate the immigration rules and contrived to stay in the UK via compassion.

I write this because we now have on-the-ground cases of family-based refusals on Paragraph 320(11) that look EXACTLY like yours, and on these grounds they have the power to separate families.

But all the cases we have seen so far (from Tunisia, Brazil, India, Manilla, Turkey, and another country I forgot) have in common that there was a breach of the 28 day limit following an in-country refusal of FLR.  Hence why I say it's critical when you ultimately left. 

The current plan is to gather up all the profiles of these cases and take them to UKBA on the 9th of December with a view towards how Paragraph 320 (11) should be used in family cases.  There's a very capable high street law firm leading on it.  I am not going to attend because UK-Yankee has other irons in the fire with UKBA in a different stream.

So don't bug the consulate because they may be awaiting new guidance.  Of course if you DID leave during the 28 day window, then they can only use Paragraph 320 (7B), and family is exempt from this provision leaving you in the clear.

Also for your husband's strategy of instructing a lawyer whilst the application is in the pipeline, they have been playing Data Protection shenanagans, EVEN WITH WRITTEN INSTRUCTION.  It is very difficult for a lawyer to be effective once the application has been booked.

I'm sure Vicky will have more to say about both of these issues from a practitioner's viewpoint.

oulvme, to boil down what Garry is saying...

1. The immigration code gary mentioned 320(11) is being abused (in our opinion) by UKBA (UK Immigration).  There have been cases like your where they claim that the person came over on one pretext and accuse them of purposfully getting pregnent to stay in the country (I know silly) and then claim that it was the persons intention to frustrate immigration control.  Basically 320(11) is overbroad and there is some guidence on how it should be applied that is soon to be issued.

2. Garry points out that if you left within the 28 days of your refusal to extend your visa, there is nothing to worry about, but there isn't a lot you can do personally to move it along.  30 days for a complicated visa, such as yours is not uncommon.

3. If you left 28 days after your refusal, then the consulate maybe waiting to see the guidence that is being issued about how to use/not use 320(11) for a refusal.  If your visa gets issued, brilliant and everything will be ok.  If for some reason your visa gets refused, then it is back in the camp of the immigration solicitor/advisor to appeal your refusal.

4. Your immigration solicitor should be UK based and registered with the OISC, be certified with dealing with Level 3 issues, and be familiar with the terms quotes here.  If they are not, you should consider getting someone else to advise you.

Sorry, that you are going through this, but I am afraid you are collateral damage in the "War on Immigration" that the UK seems to have undertaken.

Vicky, I have been staying on the sidelines as an observer on the grounds that it doesn't affect Americans; or that they wouldn't use 320-11 against an American family applicant.  Your view?

It's very embarrassing to get told, "This doesn't affect you; stop being a busybody and get back in your box".   

My view is that while I may have not seen this happen to a US applicant YET, that is not the point.  If it can be done in South Africa, Pakistan etc it can happen anywhere.

Oh, just remembered...I haven't seen it happen to a US national, I have seen it happen in a US consulate.  I saw a refusal for a Trinidadian, refused by NY.

Vicky

He can't come over since his passport went away with all of our paperwork

Are you saying that your husband is in the UK but his British Passport is in the US? If that is what you are saying, you really should not have done that! As regards his passport, he should have got a certified copy of the name/pic page, and also of any other relevant page, such as those containing stamps in and out of the US. You should have included those certified copies, and not his actual passport, in your "evidence folder".

No one should ever carry someone else's passport across an international boundary, unless of course they are travelling with them!

John, this is nonsense!  There is nothing in UK law that prohibits the carrying of a passport overseas by someone other than the passport holder.  There is no problem at all with this...a little risky if there is a chance that the person needs to travel, but certainly not illegal or anything they could get in trouble for.

Vicky

Yeah, or we would all be in trouble for posting our passports around the world.  Does the pilot get in trouble if a passport is in the cargo hold?  I don't see the difference between that and posting it.

 No, I did not leave within 28 days of my refusal. Yes I did post his passport with my Visa application, tho I did make copies of his pic/name page and of his pages with stamps, and leave those with him. I didn't go to the UK to get pregnant, I was already pregnant when I went over there. My daughter ended up being almost "overdue". I sent my husband an email telling him all Vicky said about what experience the lawyer should have.
 So, from what I am getting...I basically need to wait around until this decision about new guidelines is made in December? Am beginning to feel as tho I am going to miss our daughter's first Christmas. Thanks for all the info! At least I have somewhat of an idea about what is now going on.
~Agne

Well...  That's falls dead centre into the category Vicky & I have been working on.  I assume you paid any charges due to the NHS?  That's the only way it could get worse short of a felony or bogus asylum claim or what-have-you.

I hope you'll keep us informed about this.  As written above, we haven't seen them use 320(11) on an American *YET*.  And we don't know if "yet" means "yet"; or "yet" means Americans are not affected.

Also, as mentioned above, there's a high street firm leading on it.

So, from what I am getting...I basically need to wait around until this decision about new guidelines is made in December? Am beginning to feel as tho I am going to miss our daughter's first Christmas. Thanks for all the info! At least I have somewhat of an idea about what is now going on.

To be clear, we don't know what is going on with your application, but based on what you said, Garry is making an educated decision.  For all we know you could get an e-mail tomorrow saying it is approved and in the post.  The problem is, there isn't a heck of a lot you can do.  If you used a courier to expidite your application, you might be able to hassle them for information, but non-straightforward cases, such as yours, it is typical for them to take a long (4-8 or more weeks) to process.  This is because a lot of the documentation and your refusal has to be shipped over to the consulate processing your application.

Also, just to clarify, I wasn't implying that you went there to get pregnent, but the problem is that the UKBA is using 320(11) to deny people from poorer (and darker skinned) parts of the world a right to live in the UK, accusing them of getting pregnent to try to subvert the process.  If they apply 320(11) in your case, then it will bring it to the forefront.

(As a side note, I don't mind you getting me confused with Vicky, it is a nice compliment, but I don't want to put words into her mouth)

I agree with all of this, Kitson.  But if she travelled to the UK whilst pregnant and stayed beyond the term of flying, HOPO could make the strongest case that it was intentional. 

And when the OP claimed that she didn't know the limit was 32 weels, it would severely damage her credibility because it would be construed that she didn't take the trouble to find out because she didn't care. 

I'm not saying it actually was intentional for the OP, but reading the refusals on 320(11), 5 so far that I have seen, it's an indictment.

Her best chance is to hope it doesn't affect Americans.

Also, dragging a lawyer into it when there's a charged environment and it's clear that a AECIP has quietly gone out, seems unfair unless the lawyer is fully up to scratch on stuff that we are just getting our heads around.

 Sry for messing up the name. Was trying to remember who all said what. My apologies.
~A

If you are unsure about what lawyer to get to help, you could always ask me to do it....



Vicky

 Does anyone know where I can see this thing that ya'll seem to know about (the paragraph 320 and such) Is it accessible online? Or do I need a hard copy?
~A