OA063812013

The appellant is a national of Pakistan, born on 24 th January, 1992. She is the wife of Mr Shahid Ali, the sponsor. She made application to the Entry Clearance Officer Islamabad for entry clearance as a partner under Appendix FM of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 396 as amended.

At paragraph 18 of her determination the judge made findings of fact. She said this:

When the matter came for hearing before me, it became apparent that it had previously been adjourned by me on 25 th July in order that the Home Office Presenting Officer could make enquiries of the Entry Clearance Officer. Enquiries reveal that the missing bank statement may have been before the Entry Clearance Officer, but if it was it was only a copy.

Counsel explained that the sponsor had sent his wife his bank statement on 16 th November, 2012, on the day that he received it. That bank statement could not, therefore, have been submitted with the application, but it was submitted she said after the date of the application by the appellant. Unfortunately there was no evidence before Judge Ransley to show that the appellant did actually receive the bank statement from the sponsor, or that she had subsequently sent it to the Entry Clearance Officer.

Counsel pointed out that after the date of the Entry Clearance Officer�s decision, a whole year�s worth of bank statements and a whole year�s worth of payslips had been sent by those representing the appellant to the Entry Clearance Officer, so that the Entry Clearance Officer could have been satisfied that the appellant met the requirements of the Rules. The difficulty with that submission is that the Rules, in the form of Appendix FM-SE, require that the documents be submitted with the application itself .