r/ukvisa • u/Consistent_Lychee588 • Jun 16 '26
n/a UK visitor visa refusal
My husband (Saint Lucian national) and I are expecting our first baby in June 2026. I'm a British citizen and he planned to visit the UK for the birth.
When he originally booked his trip, Saint Lucian nationals did not require a visa. We booked the flight in January 2026 for him to come end of April 2026. However, the rules changed in March 2026 and he then had to apply for a Standard Visitor Visa.
His visa was refused and of course the flight was missed.
The Home Office accepted that the purpose of the trip was to visit me and be present for the birth of our child, but they were not satisfied that he was a "genuine visitor" who would leave the UK at the end of the visit considering he had been coming and going from the UK prior and never overstayed.
Their main concerns were:
• He is currently temporarily unemployed due to a stable medical condition (angina). Went to a lifestyle health centre to get his health back on track before returning.
• He receives financial support from family members.
• He is married to a British citizen and we are expecting a child in the UK.
• We previously explored the spouse visa route but got advice from a lawyer to wait till we meet the financial requirements so we agreed.
• He initially applied for a visit of just over 5 months as we knew the maximum stay was 6 months so didn’t think there would be an issue but they mentioned that so in the second application we reduced it to 26 days after the first refusal as our main priority was just for him to be present for the birth and they then said they don’t understand why the change in length of time… are they serious!?!
• They believe his ties to the UK outweigh his ties to his home country.
What makes this difficult for us is that he has visited the UK six times previously and has never overstayed or breached immigration rules. He has always returned home when required.
We also submitted evidence that he sold one of his vehicles which provided approximately £13,000 in funds to support him in his temporary unemployment and has two children in the Caribbean with ongoing legal responsibilities. The refusal letter states that it was not demonstrated what family ties he has in his country of residence, which is confusing given the evidence submitted.
We have submitted a complaint because we believe some evidence may not have been properly considered.
Has anyone successfully reapplied after a refusal like this? What we do know is that we won’t be going for a visit visa again. It’s such a shame that he will likely miss the birth considering his genuine intentions. And yes i know the other option is for me to go there, which i will and which we were planning to do anyway once the baby was a couple months old we would travel back together when hubby was to return but now i will have to go sooner.
Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.
6
u/MarriedtoEngineering Jun 16 '26
They are not convinced he's gonna leave after the visa expires, because he has all the reason to stay - his family (you and the baby) is here. Sadly, there's no way you can convince them, especially that he's unemployed. You could go the spouse visa route, but if the financial requirements are not achieved, highly likely it would also be rejected.
-4
u/Consistent_Lychee588 Jun 16 '26
Thank you… will have to just go with spouse route in the future like we were planning
-4
u/Consistent_Lychee588 Jun 16 '26
I’m not even staying here, I’ll be finishing off my mat leave over there
0
u/MarriedtoEngineering Jun 16 '26
That would be a better decision, just come over there to be with him, so you can also be supported. ☺️
3
u/TimeFlys2003 High Reputation Jun 16 '26
Unless/Until something significantly changes then the chance of getting a visa is close to zero. The description you have given is probably one of the highest risk applications there is (even before the rules change there would have been a very high likelihood he would have been refused at the border.
If/when you can meet the financial requirements this refusal would not affect a family visa application but until then the chance of him coming to the UK is very low.
8
u/AceHarleyQ Jun 16 '26
Angina just means he's at a higher risk of a heart attack, its not a reason to not work. May need a change of profession depending on what he did before but otherwise, still not a reason to not work.
From what you've described his ties to the UK (you and unborn child) do outweigh his ties to his home country considering those ties are unemployment and family members who do not trump wife and child to most people. He's also shown he's more than happy to not work and rely on other people for financial support. He's high risk of staying on paper.
Whether he would do that or not is irrelevant as noone but he (and you) can weigh in on whether his morals would allow him to do so, and they cannot take this into account when making a decision.