It pays dividends to resubmit your application to UKVI when they have previously refused your application for a minor reason. We were instructed by a student who was in a desperate state having had her extension application refused as UKVI were not happy with the letter from her bank.
She had completed the application herself and had it checked by the University immigration team. The application was rejected because UKVI stated the wording of the letter was not correct.
We reviewed it and advised that unfortunately UKVI were correct but as it was a minor error, we recommended resubmitting the application to UKVI in addition to lodging an appeal to protect here status in the UK.
Filing an appeal against the Decision to refuse her application for leave to remain has the effect of preserving her leave until such time as the appeal was determined.
Since the Home Office will not accept a fresh application whilst an applicant has an appeal pending, the existing appeal needed to be withdrawn prior to submission of the new application. When an appeal is withdrawn an applicant will have 28 days’ grace in which to submit another application for leave to remain without becoming an overstayer.
With the appeal withdrawn the Home Office was able to consider the new application and grant leave to remain enabling the student to continue with her studies. This process was considerably quicker and considerably cheaper than appealing the original decision which would have taken several months to be heard by the Tribunal.
There is also the added advantage of being allowed to introduce additional evidence that was not submitted with the original application.
We always recommend that applicants check and treble check that the documents they are submitting are 100% in accordance with the guidelines but thankfully common sense can win the day (sometimes!) when dealing with UKVI.
This proves as a useful example as to how a successful outcome can be obtained quickly and at a very affordable cost in the event of a refusal.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals