Lovely people, I need some serious help PLEASE.
Let me start out by saying I just read all 31 pages of another topic regarding Gold Settlement Premium Service (detailing the torment of that process for FLgator and Dani)
Here's my situation.
I am an American citizen, my husband is a British citizen, we were married in New York City in 2011 and lived in USA until Aug 2017 when we left for London, UK.
Since 2011 we got my husband's visa -> greencard -> US citizenship with zero problems and did it all on our own. It was pretty straightforward and all went smoothly. When we left for London in Aug 2017 we also moved our two Siberian Huskies with us, which was a tedious process we navigated without problems also. So we're not complete idiots
NOW, I need to start my path to settlement, and holy crap I'm having a nervous breakdown. We are beyond frustrated and already have a major screw up and are now deep in the weeds and desperately need advice.
Backstory:
I will try to keep this short but sometimes details are important.
We left the USA in Aug 2017 and arrived at Heathrow (doggies as well). I did not have any issues at border control (I now realize that is surprising considering I told them I was moving there with my British citizen husband but I did not have a settlement visa). I kept my job with my employer in USA as I can work remotely from anywhere on the computer.
Anyhow, about two weeks after we arrived in London we:
1) went to Greece for 2 weeks (a little treat after the stress of moving). We went and came back into the UK no problem. My passport with stamped with 6 month visitor visa.
2) We then left again to USA in November to visit my family for Thanksgiving - again had no issues leaving or coming back into UK. My passport was again stamped with a 6 month visitor visa upon arrival into the UK.
3) Then we left again March 5th for Tenerife for a 4 day long weekend and when coming back into Stansted airport, the FIASCO began.
The border control agent did not want to grant me entry as a visitor because I have a British husband living in the UK, and therefore he did not want to grant me entry back into the UK based on the suspicion that I would not return to the US. I explained that I was due to return to the US on April 23, 2018 and showed him proof of emails and flight itinerary from my employer in the US. He separated me and my husband and retained me in a holding area while he went to consult with a supervisor. The decision was made that I would be allowed to enter the UK with 6 months leave to enter again, under the strict condition that I immediately go to the Home Office and apply for a visa as a married partner of a British citizen. I was told my passport was stamped with a stamp indicating this information, and if I did not comply by immediately going to the Home Office and acquiring the visa I would not be allowed back into the UK after my travels to the US for work. The border control agent hand-wrote “SRR 74 686” on my passport stamp. I was not told what this means. The stamp also includes “immigration officer 6459.” I was given a notice from the border control agent, signed by agent “BF08999” (or maybe it is BF08ggg, the writing is not clear) stating I was held.
Of course, I wanted to comply with the border control instructions, which I believed to be true and correct coming from a border control agent, a person of authority in a government entity. He had a very forceful and direct demeanor and I felt I absolutely needed to follow his orders. I booked the next available appointment at the Home Office and paid £1,583 for premium processing + £500 for health surcharge to ensure I was in compliance, and would have my visa before my travel to the US on April 23.
We booked the next available appointment on April 20 (phew! just 3 days before I had to travel) at the Croydon Home Office. We completed the FLR(M) application and collected all the supporting evidence. We fully expected the visa to be granted as we were following the strict orders of the border agent.
We had a 9am appointment at the Croydon Home Office/premium service center and waited until 4:30pm to be told our application was denied. The reason it was denied is because I am a visitor, per the stamp in my passport granting 6 months leave to enter. However, that border control agent specifically stated I am NOT considered a visitor as the spouse of a settled person and instructed me to do exactly what I did – visit the Home Office to submit visa application.
The Home Office said the border agent “ill-advised” me and that I need to make my application from outside the UK, despite what I was strictly told when entering the country. My visa denial letter says I qualified for the visa on ALL other points – evidence of financial support, accommodation, cohabitation, etc. Nevertheless, the Home Office said they were obliged to deny my visa because I was in the UK – even though I was told to make my application from within the UK by border control. Further, the Home Office said the border control agent should not have held me at the border as I did not breach any entry laws. Also, we were told the border control agent neglected to make notes and the Home Office therefore could not review the situation. The Home Office staff admitted “this happens all the time” and said the instructions for applying from within vs. outside of the UK on the gov.uk website are “very confusing.” Even the Home Office staff could not explain to me what course of action I needed to take next except "go to the Home Office in USA." (Is that British Consulate who will not speak to the public!?) The manager stated she “is not an expert” and was not willing to consider (nor do I think she truly understood) the circumstances of our situation. Everyone we have come into contact with at border control and Home Office has been inadequately knowledgeable.
Adding yet more insult to the situation, the Home Office refused to refund the £1,583 application fee we paid. We were told it’s just too bad. After 7 hours at the Home Office, we were absolutely appalled and left in tears and disbelief.
We had thought as long as I did not overstay 6 months visitor visa I could come and go as many times as I wanted without issue...and we would eventually do the settlement visa later in the year after our wedding (see below). Obviously not the case since the border control agent decided to spin us into this web of confusion.
So I had to leave the UK 3 days after this complete fail on my work trip and come back to USA for two weeks. Those two weeks have come and gone and I am now in NYC in an AirBnB for the past 5 days trying to figure out WHAT TO DO.
I have a return flight back to UK (courtesy of my boss from my work trip) on May 19. I want to make that flight but I think it's hopeless at this point.
I went to VSF Global here in NYC (which is in the same building as the British Consulate but you absolutely can not talk to anyone in the British Consulate). I just showed up in person at VSF Global. A very nice girl spoke with me and tried to sell me the $1700 Settlement Premium Gold Package. I am hesitant to listen to anyone at this point because even the girl I spoke with there did not seem sure of her answers when I asked whether I would be able to return to the UK while my visa was being decided, since one of the perks of this uber-expensive package is to keep your passport. I see FLgator had success with this, but I'm scared to attempt it. I left VSF Global having made no decision on what to do next. I cried on the sidewalk in front of the building like a huge loser. I went back into the building knowing the British Consulate was there also and convinced the nice security guard to call the British Consulate emergency line from the lobby. They answered and hung up on me as soon as I mentioned I have visa questions. The security guard called back, they hung up again. I left in tears again.
We have contacted a lawyer in UK who is the most knowledgeable person to date and responds very quickly and attempts to be very helfpul but even he seems perplexed by the VFS Global website & package shenanigans. We are going to pay him £600 to help us sort this out, submit application, and represent us should anything royally *bleep* up again. Original fee was £1100 but he was nice enough to reduce it considering the money we've already spent and lost.
Can someone please give me advice on my next best course of action??? I need to get back to UK as soon as possible, because...
Here is the kicker - my husband and I never had a wedding (we got married at NYC courthouse in 2011) so we decided it would be nice to have a wedding in UK with his family, and my family is flying over. THIS HAS ALL BEEN BOOKED ALREADY for Sept 10 and we've spent just about every penny we have on the wedding, not to mention my family who have bought flights also. AND I am having my wedding dress MADE by a dressmaker, for which I have paid a 50% deposit and NEED to get back to UK beginning of June because I need to have fittings so she can start to make the dress...otherwise I wont have the dress in time for the wedding. She is already pressed for time. First world problems, I know. But wedding plans + dress cost us £25K and I'm in a panic all will be ruined. Literally spent our savings on it, and now we are trying to figure out how to pay the visa application fee again + health surcharge + lawyer + possibly another flight + keeping me here in NYC...Ugh!
And even worse, last week my husbands stepfather who we are very close to had a stroke, he is in a coma, it has been decided not to resuscitate. If he does wake up he will not walk/talk/eat/anything on his own because his brain stem is badly damaged, and will need to be in a home with 24/7 care. It's so awful, there aren't words. I am worried he will pass away (could be any day, God only knows) and I won't be able to go back for his funeral.
I am stuck in USA for however long priority processing takes, correct???
Since Gold Settlement Premium Package seems to take LONGER, that seems like a dumb option to pursue.
Are there any options I'm not thinking of?
What do I do? Help
