OA054452011

The appellant is a citizen of Bangladesh who was born on 4 June 1985. In April 2004 she married the sponsor, who is a British citizen, in Bangladesh. He had previously married another woman but it was claimed that they separated in June 2003 when he gave her an Islamic divorce which became effective 90 days later. Their divorce was not finalised by UK proceedings until November 2009. The appellant and the sponsor have four children three of whom were born before the date of the decision.

The appellant appealed. The grounds of appeal were that the sponsor had validly divorced his first wife before contracting his marriage with the appellant and so the appellant did meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Further, it was stated that the refusal decision infringed the appellant�s human rights.

On 30 November 2011 First-tier Tribunal (FTT) Judge Neyman heard the appellant's appeal. She was represented but the respondent was not. After the hearing, on 4 October 2011, the judge sent detailed narrative directions to the parties asking the appellant to address matters which, wholly or in part, had not been raised at the hearing. Specifically she was asked to submit DNA evidence and to produce the original of the sponsor�s tenancy agreement together with expert evidence as to why the tenant�s covenants were limited.

Having made adverse credibility findings on the sponsor�s credibility, the judge concluded as follows:

For all these reasons, I find that the sponsor is domiciled in the United Kingdom and that he has been so domiciled at all relevant times. Given that the sponsor did not divorce his first wife until 2009 and that he married the appellant in 2005, his marriage to the appellant is polygamous and so it is not a valid marriage at English law.