The client, a Chinese national entered the UK on a student visa. Prior to instructing OTS Solicitors, and following her graduation, she attempted to establish a business in the UK and remain in the country as a Tier 1 (entrepreneur) migrant. However, this application failed due to insufficient evidence of being a genuine entrepreneur.

Refusal on the Basis of TOEIC Centre

After the failure of Tier 1 entrepreneur application, she secured a job offer and was offered a sponsorship for that position. As at that time she was still on her Tier 4 visa, with the assistant of an oisc Immigration agent she applied in country to switch to Tier 2. The application was initially refused due to a claimed deception, as the client had omitted to disclose the Tier 1 refusal. After a new application in the same category, where the client provided explanation in regards to the omitted information, another refusal was issued, on the basis that when she was applying to extend her student visa, she had used a TOEIC centre that was later on found to have participated in fraudulent scheme that allowed some applicants to use deception to pass the test. On this basis, the Home Office found that our client had obtained her previous leave using deception and therefore her application was refused.

In-country right of Appeal against TOEIC Decision

The client, of course, vehemently denied any wrongdoing. She instructed a solicitor before coming to OTS to challenge this refusal. As the application had been submitted in 2015, prior to the changes to the right of appeal, the decision carried an in country right of appeal. An appeal was lodged and the client approached OTS solicitors after receiving a hearing date, as she wished to desist instructing her previous solicitors.

Instructing OTS Solicitors & Amendment of Grounds of Appeal

Our firm's Appeals and Litigation team appraised the case and the available material and advised the client on the merits of her appeal. They further made a decision that the grounds of appeal needed to be amended to strengthen the case. Having carefully analysed the client’s case, it was decided by our specialist lawyers that the best venue for a successful appeal was to challenge the Home Office refusal decision on two grounds. On the one had the fact that the Home Office had not discharged from the duty to prove that the client had committed a fraud and had sat a TOEIC examination through a proxy or otherwise implemented illegal tactics to pass the examination. The Home Office was relying on a general expert report without any direct evidence implicating our client into such a fraudulent activity. This ground was fully argued to clear our client’s name who had been unfairly accused of dishonesty and deception.

The second ground that was put forward, was in relation to the client’s private and family life. The client was in a relationship with a British Citizen for over two years. This line of argument had been completely left out from the appeal and therefore necessitated the grounds to be amended.

Based on the advice given by our appeals and litigation team, the client decided to instruct on submitting amended grounds of appeal. Properly argued grounds of appeal were drafted by a barrister and submitted.

Preparation for the Appeal Hearing

Following these initial stages, our team started working on the preparation for the hearing, in conjunction with the counsel. Detailed statement was taken from the appellant and several other attendees of the same examination. This was aimed at showing that the client was familiar with the set-up of the examination centre and the process was of the assessment itself, aiding to the argument that the Client had, in fact, taken part in the assessment. Further to this, evidence of the knowledge of English prior to the assessment was provided, showing that e client had no probable cause for cheating.

Apart from the aspects dealing with the allegations of deception, our appeals team worked hard to produce evidence of the client's private and family life and to evidence why returning back to her country of origin to continue their family life there was not an option.

TOEIC Refusal Decision Challenged & Appeal Allowed

This appeal was allowed on both grounds, under the Immigration rules and the Human Rights. 

Solicitor – Teni Shahiean

Background

Teni was instructed by a wholesale company which supplied subscription drugs to doctors and pharmacies who wanted to hire a non-EEA national and therefore required a UK Sponsor Licence.

How we helped

Teni took the time to meet with the client and discuss their Immigration requirements.  She quickly established that there were no ‘red flags’ that may cause the Home Office to refuse to grant the Sponsor Licence.  Practices that may result in an application for a Sponsor Licences being rejected include:

• failure to file company accounts
• failure to keep adequate employee records
• prior or ongoing investigations by the regulator responsible for their sector

Our solicitors ensure that as part of this due diligence process, any potential problems with obtaining a Sponsor Licence are identified and dealt with swiftly.

Follow-up Support

Our client’s application is still pending.  Once it is approved, we will assist them with obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship and ensuring they remain compliant with their sponsor obligations.

Solicitor – Teni Shahiean – Partner and co-founder of OTS Solicitors

Background

Our client operated in the financial sector and was based in London. They required a Sponsor Licence to employ a staff member already working for the organisation whose existing visa was about to expire.  The employee needed to apply for a Tier 2 (General) Visa to remain in the UK and to do this our client had to sponsor him.

How we helped

Teni and her team partnered closely with the businesses HR team, advising both them and the employee on the best steps to take to ensure a successful outcome would be achieved.

An application for the Sponsor Licence was made and quickly approved. 

Teni then organised a Certificate of Sponsorship for the employee who would be applying for the Tier 2 (General) Visa. 

Follow up support

For organisations planning to recruit talent from outside the EU, it is imperative that they have all the supporting documentation required to make business visa applications easily accessible.  At OTS Solicitors, we work with organisations over the long term, making a point of understanding their business and their commercial ambitions.  This allows us to advise them of the documentation they will need to collate if they wish to grow in the future and need to make a fresh hire or seek an intra-company transfer to fill the position they have available.

Our client, KK, a national of Lebanon arrived to the UK in 2007 with his wife and two young children. He came as a work permit holder. During his stay in the UK, the employer became insolvent and the business was continued under different company. Our client was not correctly advised at the time of his obligations to inform the Home Office of his change of employer and carried on with his activities.

After reaching the required five year period for settlement, our client applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain. At this point he and his family had fully adapted to the British way of life and from an employee he had become a successful businessman, employing considerable amount of workers.

After a lengthy delay, our client's Indefinite Leave to Remain application was refused due to lack of compliance with his duties to inform the Home Office of change of employers.

Our client approached OTS Solicitors seeking advice and assistance on challenging the decision. As the decision was made under the old rules, it carried right of appeal and our Immigration litigation lawyers advised the client on his options and grounds for challenging the refusal. Our client was advised that due to his lengthy presence in the UK, his family ties in the country, he had a strong family and private life grounds for challenging the refusal of his Indefinite Leave to Remain application. He was further advised that due to the length of his children's stay in the UK and their full integration into British society, the rule regarding the child's stay in the UK for more than 7 years was considerably adding weight to the strength of his family's case.

Our team of Immigration lawyers specializing in appeals and Immigration litigation took over the case and prepared the grounds of the appeal challenging the decision. After the hearing date was notified to our offices by the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal, we worked closely with the client advising and assisting him in compiling the evidence to put before the Tribunal. Our team of lawyers also constantly liaised with the Counsel instructed by our firm on behalf of the client, to make sure that the client's and his witnesses' statements and evidence were covering all the issues to be raised during the hearing.

Our client's appeal was allowed on the grounds of family and private life as advised by our Immigration litigation team, with considerable weight being given to the fact that he had extended family in the UK, who would be affected by their removal and with acknowledgement that our client's children would have succeeded in their claim to remain in the UK in any event, irrespective of the extended family presence, due to the length of their stay and degree of integration into this country.

This work was carried out by Principal Solicitor Teni Shahiean and Immigration Lawyer Dr. Lusine Navasardyan.

To find out how we can help you with your immigration appeal, please phone our London office on 0207 936 9960, to talk to one of our experienced immigration Solicitors.