Immigration Expert
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I am a little fuzzy on the details as he only told me this today but on a letter sent to him (which i saw) by the home office it says any attempt to go abroad will invalidate his application, they are also holding his passport.
I cant imagine this is normal procedure and am of the opinion that there has been a serious cockup down the line, but as him and his family have little money they are powerless to do anything it seems, so i would like to offer my assistance by putting him in touch with someone who will devote some time to his case, if such a person exists.
I cant imagine this is normal procedure and am of the opinion that there has been a serious cockup down the line, but as him and his family have little money they are powerless to do anything it seems, so i would like to offer my assistance by putting him in touch with someone who will devote some time to his case, if such a person exists.
If he is waiting for a decision from UKBA then there is no point in paying for advice from an immigration expert. You can check www.oisc.gov.uk for a list of regulated immigration advisers.
If your friend's case is not an asylum case he should be able to ask his MP to look into it, otherwise he may need to wait until 2012 as it is a legacy (pre-2007) case.
If your friend's case is not an asylum case he should be able to ask his MP to look into it, otherwise he may need to wait until 2012 as it is a legacy (pre-2007) case.
His MP has written to them and they have returned to him in August 2009 to let him know that they are aiming to have it done by Summer 2011.
He has an issue which requires him to go back to his home country soonish which is why i am attempting to get him help.
I am mindful that perhaps the right expert could get his case looked into a bit quicker, i also want to see whether he has any grounds to file a complaint due to the way his case has apparently been handled.
He has an issue which requires him to go back to his home country soonish which is why i am attempting to get him help.
I am mindful that perhaps the right expert could get his case looked into a bit quicker, i also want to see whether he has any grounds to file a complaint due to the way his case has apparently been handled.
Good job I am not vetting any application.
The cost will be taken care of by me now that i know about this situation, i only learnt of it today.
as I said, there is no point in paying for an immigration lawyer as his claim is being "processed" and he has to wait. There is no legal obligation for UKBA (Home Office body responsible for immigration) to process applications within a specified time frame.
Perhaps not, but it might not hurt to have a solicitor who is 'friendly' with someone over there to give them a nudge.
I cant imagine the timeframe here is indicative of a case which has gone smoothly.
Not specified, but surely at least remotely reasonable? 5 years is waaaaaay too much without some sort of explanation. I expect months, but not years.
Edit - from their website -
The service standards
We will:
* decide 95% of postal applications within six months; and
* decide 90% of applications made in person at a public enquiry office within 24 hours.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/settlement/waitingtimes/
returning to the country he is applying for asylum from would pretty much invalidate his claim.
travelling to other countries is something which is not looked on favourably as there are issues with where the funding came from (vast majority do not have permission to work) and could almost be seek as an attempt to stop people cherry picking which country they claim asylum in.
'travel documents' (passports for people with some limited status such as refugee status or indefinate leave to remain) are only issued to people who are legally allowed to reside in the country therefore asylum seekers can't apply. even once you get a travel document you cant return to your original country without risking having your status reconsidered.
most asylum seekers who have been here for years (if not decades) now have had their claims passed to the legacy teams at the home office who are working through a pretty hefty backlog of claims deciding who gets status and who doesnt. there is a target to get these completed by 2011 but who knows...
using a legal rep to make some form of submissions to the home office to make a claim be looked at sooner is possible. however if no new information or evidence is available (since there are a decent percentage of failed asylum seekers who have made fresh claims) then there may be no new decision made.
immigration advisory service offer a few different services which may be of use. http://www.iasuk.org/home.aspx or try a local cab or law centre if any are nearby.
just be weary of smaller immigration solicitors, some are fantastic, some are dire...just dont go with the first one you find, as with anything just shop around.
travelling to other countries is something which is not looked on favourably as there are issues with where the funding came from (vast majority do not have permission to work) and could almost be seek as an attempt to stop people cherry picking which country they claim asylum in.
'travel documents' (passports for people with some limited status such as refugee status or indefinate leave to remain) are only issued to people who are legally allowed to reside in the country therefore asylum seekers can't apply. even once you get a travel document you cant return to your original country without risking having your status reconsidered.
most asylum seekers who have been here for years (if not decades) now have had their claims passed to the legacy teams at the home office who are working through a pretty hefty backlog of claims deciding who gets status and who doesnt. there is a target to get these completed by 2011 but who knows...
using a legal rep to make some form of submissions to the home office to make a claim be looked at sooner is possible. however if no new information or evidence is available (since there are a decent percentage of failed asylum seekers who have made fresh claims) then there may be no new decision made.
immigration advisory service offer a few different services which may be of use. http://www.iasuk.org/home.aspx or try a local cab or law centre if any are nearby.
just be weary of smaller immigration solicitors, some are fantastic, some are dire...just dont go with the first one you find, as with anything just shop around.
Thanks for that. He does have some letters from the IAS from a few years ago, it seems they have passed his case between many different agents.
I just want some city hotshot who can look at the case and give us his or her opinion as to whether anything can be done to speed it up or not, and whether he has any grounds to complain that proper procedures have not been followed.
To add to that, he does have permission to work and has been doing for at least 5 years. His father has a british passport, has been here for longer than 10 years and has written letters to the UKBA to say that he is allowing his son to live in his house and has the financial means to support him (even though that is not necessary).
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Victoria Sharky here: http://www.medivisas.com/partners.asp is probably the person you need. She has an excellent reputation at a well known UK immigration forum.
I have not met her or used her expertise so I'm only reporting my impression. You should do your own research on her before going ahead with anything but she seems competent.