When it goes wrong, it can really go wrong

Sorry to hear that .

What did you actually send to show your relationship?

You have to show evidence of your entire relationship, so that essentially means 20 years' worth of evidence of living together.

You needed to send things like annual tax returns, tenancy agreements, house deeds/mortgage statements, utility bills etc.

Also, if you have been apart at any time (I.e. If he is already back in the U.K.) you should show evidence of communication since he returned to the UK


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very sorry Katoo. I had hoped you had been refused in error.

Are you able to post the refusal wording here?

That way we can work out exactly why you were refused... because sometimes it appears to have been refused for one reason but you have to read between the lines to work out the actual reason.

Having said that though, you MUST include:
- 1 or 2 photos of you together
- evidence of regular communication and/or living together for the entire duration of your relationship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you able to post the refusal wording here?

That way we can work out exactly why you were refused... because sometimes it appears to have been refused for one reason but you have to read between the lines to work out the actual reason.

Having said that though, you MUST include:
- 1 or 2 photos of you together
- evidence of regular communication and/or living together for the entire duration of your relationship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

• I note that you have been married for a substantial period of time however you have not provided any documents to demonstrate your relationship. You have not provided any evidence which would show that you have had any contact in person with your sponsor on any occasion other than your wedding. You have not provided any photographs of yourself and your sponsor or any records of communication such as letters, emails, greetings cards or phone records. I therefore am not satisfied your relationship with your sponsor is genuine and subsisting or that you intend to live together permanently in the UK.  I therefore refuse your application under paragraph EC-P.1.1(d) of Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules. (E-ECP.2.6 & 2.10)

It showed we qualified under all the other categories.

Oh Katoo, I am so so sorry.

Okay, sounds like you missed a few things off.  And you are NOT the first person in a long term marriage to do this.  Things you need to send:

Marriage certificate
Photo of the two of you together (maybe two, one from your wedding and one recent)
Annual tax returns (first page or two showing a joint filing from the same address)

Just those three items will turn this from a refusal to an approval.

As ksand mentioned, there are many different types of items you can include, but tax returns are easy and solid.

Big hugs.  They are still complete and utter morons for getting your refusal letter so wrong though!

John is sending me the tax forms, filed jointly from the same address, we only have twelve years worth, hope that is enough.  He is sending three mortgage statements in both our names that cover three houses that match the addresses on our tax returns and span about 18 years.  Before that we rented, but we no longer have proof.  I will include a wedding photo, a photo of the two of us with my daughter at her wedding, and a photo of us at a Christmas party.  That spans about 10 years.  I ought to send the Halloween photo of us dressed as Sharon and Ozzie Osborne, just cause it's funny, but it doesn't look like us, it looks like Sharon and Ozzie, no lie, we won a prize.

I'm keeping my chin up.

John is sending me the tax forms, filed jointly from the same address, we only have twelve years worth, hope that is enough.  He is sending three mortgage statements in both our names that cover three houses that match the addresses on our tax returns and span about 18 years.  Before that we rented, but we no longer have proof.  I will include a wedding photo, a photo of the two of us with my daughter at her wedding, and a photo of us at a Christmas party.  That spans about 10 years.  I ought to send the Halloween photo of us dressed as Sharon and Ozzie Osborne, just cause it's funny, but it doesn't look like us, it looks like Sharon and Ozzie, no lie, we won a prize.

That'll cover it.  Again, so sorry that this happened to you.  Make sure you include all your other documents (and updated within 28 days of the new application date).  Glad you've got your chin up.  I'd probably be an emotional wreck.

That'll cover it.  Again, so sorry that this happened to you.  Make sure you include all your other documents (and updated within 28 days of the new application date).  Glad you've got your chin up.  I'd probably be an emotional wreck.

My chin up because everything else was ticked as qualifies.  I do wish they would have asked us for additional docs like some people were, it would have been easy to provide.

The worst of it for me at the moment is that I have absolutely nothing to occupy my time.  I'm staying at my daughter's house, reading and binge watching television.  I don't even have a car.  It's a strange limbo.

My chin up because everything else was ticked as qualifies.  I do wish they would have asked us for additional docs like some people were, it would have been easy to provide.

Yeah, it's very frustrating that they ask some people for some stuff and don't ask others for stuff.  Especially when people don't include the Appendix 2 - which is essentially the application! 

The harshest refusal I've seen though was this past fall.  We had a member refused for having not included their divorce decree from a prior marriage.  That was a single document.  Without which, they wouldn't have been able to enter into their current marriage.  But they took it on the chin too and have long since received their visa now.

Now that you know it'll be a bit longer, is there anything you can do to occupy your time a bit?  Buy a cheap car that you can resell when the visa comes through?  Anything you've wanted to do but have never had the time?  For me, I want to learn to play the piano and how to knit. 

I also figure if I ever find myself unemployed, I may want to be an in-home pet sitter.  Go around to people's houses while they are out of town and pet their cats.  #catladyforlife

No not really.  My vision has gotten to weak to drive in areas in which I am unfamiliar.  I'll survive, it's just going to be very slow.

I'm so sorry to hear that Katoo. It can be really frustrating when this sort of thing happens.

I am very glad they were able to get right back to you so you didn't have to wait and wonder if/when they were.

I hope it goes smoothly for you! And the wait isn't too arduous.

Although we have joint everything which was well documented, we didn't have any pictures together, correspondence, emails etc.  They weren't satisfied that we have a valid marriage.  We don't have letters or emails, we lived together for heaven's sake.

Katoo, I feel really terrible for you.

Just from the material on the gov.uk site, I don't see how you could know in advance what evidence would have satisfied them that you are in a "genuine" relationship with your husband. And now you have to pay another £1200+ to reapply and wait maybe 30+ days for a decision? Not fair at all.

I will be in a similar situation as you when I apply for a spouse visa later this year - married a long time to a UK citizen. Like you did, I see "letters, emails" and think "That couldn't apply to us. We've been together over 22 years."

I doubt it is any consolation, but I appreciate you detailing what happened in your refusal, so that my wife and I can make sure to send in the evidence that appears to be required but is not really spelled out.  I guess I'll be digging out old tax returns and mortgage statements too.

Thank you and the good folks on this forum who share their experience! I hope you keep us all updated. 

Katoo, I feel really terrible for you.

Just from the material on the gov.uk site, I don't see how you could know in advance what evidence would have satisfied them that you are in a "genuine" relationship with your husband. And now you have to pay another £1200+ to reapply and wait maybe 30+ days for a decision? Not fair at all.

I will be in a similar situation as you when I apply for a spouse visa later this year - married a long time to a UK citizen. Like you did, I see "letters, emails" and think "That couldn't apply to us. We've been together over 22 years."

I doubt it is any consolation, but I appreciate you detailing what happened in your refusal, so that my wife and I can make sure to send in the evidence that appears to be required but is not really spelled out.  I guess I'll be digging out old tax returns and mortgage statements too.

Thank you and the good folks on this forum who share their experience! I hope you keep us all updated.

Unfortunately we see this a couple of times a year (a long married couple have a refusal due to UKVI not being convinced it's a genuine relationship  ).  But a UK visa is literally a tick box visa.  And they have to be able to tick the box showing that you've lived together during the duration of your marriage. 

Katoo found us after she had submitted her application.  One thing we are happy to do is review a list of the documents you are submitting to ensure you have everything you need for a successful application.