UK Visa refusal? “No problem” says the Home Office, “you still have Skype.”

What one sees as a tragedy, another sees as ‘part of the job’. Such is the irony of the condition of thousands of families who have been denied permission to stay in the UK with their loved ones, as Home Office officials suggest using ‘modern channels’ like Skype to keep in touch with your family in case you face a UK Visa refusal.

When Daniel Goldman (all names in the article have been changed to protect privacy) married his longstanding partner Steve in London in 2016, he did not expect any problems with securing his new husband’s right to remain in the UK.

Instead, the couple have spent much of the past year and a half in a bottomless pit of frustration and agony. Without information from the Home Office, they have been kept in complete darkness. Earlier this month, the department not only rejected the application but suggested Steve should return to his home country and that the couple could maintain their UK marriage visa through “modern means of communication”, such as Skype.

The Home Office is currently reconsidering the decision after the Goldman’s solicitor threatened to bring a judicial review for the UK Visa refusal. According to Goldman and Steve, the Home Office is refusing thousands of people the right to remain in the UK each year and telling families that while they will be separated, “the existence of phones, messaging apps, Facebook, and other internet modes of communication makes the distance immaterial.”

The SmartMove2UK is a niche immigration law firm with expertise in immigration law of the UK. We are dedicated to empowering and assisting people of any country with issues they might have with respect to UK visas and other migratory processes and cases. If you, or someone you know, is facing a UK Visa refusal of some kind, or are keen to NOT face a refusal for your UK visa applications, be sure to consult us before going ahead with your visa applications.

From the UK Marriage Visa to UK Work Visas; if you think UK Visas, think The SmartMove2UK.