Hello everyone,
I am from the POS thread and never thought I'd be here - but here we go!
First off. Let me say that the only reason we are here is because our VO handling our file is completely incompetent. Not all VOs at this office are as stupid, from what we can gather.
We applied common-law with tons of proof and have been discriminated against for not being married from the get-go. We are not 100% sure we want to appeal, because our VO has all but used our application as toilet paper as she made up tons of lies and assumptions. BUT we want to know our options. We know we can re-apply as married with a new application because the officer even wrote in our interview notes that our relationship is genuine and on-going. So if we married, we would meet the criteria for visa. However, this isn't ALL about the visa. Our case was handled EXTREMELY poorly (and is still being handled poorly) and we don't want the damage this VO did to carry into our new application if we have to make one.
Some questions I have about the appeal process:
1) If we appeal and go do ADR hearing (I would go, as I am the sponsor), what decides where it is held (I am from Nova Scotia) and what is the wait time?
2) If we decided to appeal, the office sends our copy of our application to us - are you ever "locked into" an appeal? For example, we decide to appeal because of how poorly our case was handled, go to ADR, lose and don't want to wait for a full hearing.. can we pull out and just re-apply if it will be faster? Or are we locked into the full appeal process as soon as we decide to appeal?
3) If I represent myself for ADR, is there any cost (other than travelling and preparing my own documents) for appeal?
4) Even if we lose our appeal or withdraw, are the notes of our appeal added to our original file?
5) Is there any way to have a statement added to our original file without going to appeal? We have a cheaper/faster shot at being together by marrying and re-applying but we also don't want the lies written in our original application to go un-responded to by us - as we are afraid it will look like an admission of guilt if we don't appeal or respond to them in some way.
Quick summary of issues/mistakes from our application (not trying to whine, but just want to put it all out there in one message to make sure I have everything covered). THESE are what we want to address (we don't necessarily have to win an appeal, we just want these facts to be known when we re-apply so that the VO processing our next application will not just have the lies from the previous VO to go on - we want them to hear from us too). They don't take note of our CSE's so sending one of them with these issues isn't promising.
1) Our file has been crapped on by our VO since she got it. It was reviewed (very well) by someone junior who took detailed notes of our TONS of proof we sent for CL and then, in January 2013, sent for final review by officer. We ordered regular notes. No one touched our file for 8 months. When we sent a CSE, they responded saying the officer had the file on her desk (for 8 months!?) but nothing. Only by contacting our MP did something happen - days after our MP asked them why no one had touched our application for 8 months (while other applications were being processed in record time), we found out we were scheduled for interview. <WE REALIZE THIS IS NOT A HUGE WAIT TIME AS COMPARED TO OTHER OFFICES AND ARE NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT - JUST GOT SICK OF SEEING PEOPLE GET THROUGH IN A FEW MONTHS WHILE WE HAD WAITED 15)
2) We filed Common-law. Had lived together in the Caribbean for 15 months (more, but not provable). Never married before, no previous relationships, no kids, applicant had never tried to enter USA/Canada before, no criminal record, pretty simple. We had leases to prove our common-law status for the entire 15 months, rent receipts for each month, notarized letters from our landlords/neighbours/friends/parents, etc. Pictures of our relationship and being together at the apartment. Food delivery receipts to us at the apartment, bank letter in both our names coming to apartment, bank account together, life insurance policy, etc. Dating since Feb 2011. I attended interview with applicant.
3) We were discriminated against for applying CL vs married. The VO said (almost immediately) to my partner when he entered the interview that CL is way harder than marriage to apply and "if we had just gotten married we could just walk in with a marriage certificate and that is it. I believe your relationship is genuine."
4) During interview, my partner answered all relationship questions perfectly. We had brought about 500+ pages of additional proof of our relationship, which the VO refused to take because she already believed our relationship is genuine. The reason we were called for interview was to provide extra proof of common-law (original proof requested). We brought our original leases, rent receipts, etc (photocopies were sent with application) AND for new proof, included 2 notarized letters (one from each of our landlords) stating we did live together and the leases were genuine and issued by them (they own the apartment building). We also got a notarized letter from the neighbour that lived there beside us the entire time. The VO did take all this proof. The VO took the leases and said they looked made up for immigration purposes because the same color pen was used a year apart. My partner responded that the leases were original and we used the pen the landlord gave us to use - her section was filled out already by her. He also said to call the landlord (or any other people who verified our CL status) and verify if anything looked strange. She then said the receipts for rent could be fake because the receipt numbers at the top were only a couple numbers apart each time (which makes sense because there are only 2-3 apartments in the building so only 2-3 receipts for rent each month). She said she would have someone else look into the leases and receipts and said our relationship was genuine. She stated she would get back to us very soon (within 7 days).
4). We waited over a month and contacted our MP who found out we were refused. The VO claimed to have sent us our appeal rights only days after the interview (which still haven't been received over a month later) and she said she sent an email to inform the applicant of his denial days after the interview (which was received over a month later - only yesterday after 7 CSEs, 2 MP emails/phone calls, etc.). The refusal notice only stated she did not feel we met the CL criteria and therefore my partner was not a member of the family class. However, the notes that we ordered (GCMS) had MUCH more detail. Unfortunately, much of it was lies and mistakes.
- The VO gave her summary of the interview. For half of the summary she refers to the applicant as "She" and "Her" and "she said" and "I told her". My partner is a man (I'm female). So clearly, she's not very careful with her details. She suddenly switches half way through and begins referring to him as a man (copy and paste error, I assume).
- She wrote down SOME OF the questions she asked my partner and his responses BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.
- She completely fabricated some of his answers. For example. She asked him twice in a row if the leases were original. He said yes. She asked a 3rd time and SHE wrote that his answer was that they might have been done for immigration (100% NOT TRUE. HE DID NOT SAY THAT AND WOULD NOT SAY THAT - AS THE LEASES ARE REAL.) She made it up, I assume, so her refusal had grounds.
- She made several other mistakes. Like my partner said we would be going to the UK together for 4 months from Oct-January and she wrote that down. However, later she said 6 months.
- She said she did not believe our leases, receipts were real. She did admit to receiving a detailed letter from our landlord which would prove our CL status. But she said she thought it was not genuine because in the letter the landlord said that she "knew <applicant> from the community and knew him to be a responsible person when she allowed him to move in." She claimed that this meant she was friends with the applicant and the landlord was likely making fake leases and letters to aid us in our application.
- SHE MADE THE CLAIMS THAT OUR LEASES/RECEIPTS/LANDLORD LETTERS, LETTERS FROM OTHERS ABOUT OUR CL STATUS COULD BE FAKE - but did NOTHING TO VERYIFY THIS. She did not call one single person of the 10+ letters that were sent, did not send the leases/receipts to be examined, did not try to contact the landlord, etc. Her decision is based on her decision alone that the pen color on the leases was the same and therefore everything in support of our CL is false (there are only 2 pen colors used to sign a lease...)
- She wrote that she sent us mail and email when that was false.
Now I am 100% in favour of VOs doing their research to verify documents and relationships are real. But I am not in favor of making assumptions and claims that are absurd and unproveable and NOT INVESTIGATED AT ALL but yet able to keep a genuine couple apart for years.
So - if we DON'T appeal - we want to make sure we address these lies somehow so that our NEW application is not tarnished by this id*ots decision. Is there a way to do this?
If we DO appeal, I'm not sure we can win with all the lies she wrote (our word against hers) but will there at least be a record of our concerns on file so that our new application stands a chance?
Thanks for any advice. Sorry for the very long post but I know the details help when giving advice and this is the only area of this process I am NOT familiar with.
Much love. Miss D
**edited: we have still not received our appeal rights although she stated in the notes she sent them to us by email and mail (neither of which have been received in any of our mail addresses or email addresses - including junk mail - and its been over a month).
