UK Family Visa refused/preiroty after 40 days – £2,803 shortfall

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Hi everyone,

I’m writing this because I honestly don’t know what else to do, and I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has been through something similar.

I applied for a UK Unmarried Partner Visa, together with applications for our two children, so that we could finally join their mother in the UK.

My partner is a British citizen, Our children are very young — one is 5 years old and the other is only 2½ — and they are currently living with me , separated from their mother.

This has been an incredibly difficult situation for all of us.

We waited around 8 months before applying. We deliberately waited until their mother had moved to the UK, settled there, started working and was in a position to meet the financial requirements. We wanted to do everything properly and give the application the best possible chance.

We prepared the application carefully and provided extensive evidence of our relationship, our children, our family circumstances and the financial situation.

We also paid for Priority Service, because after waiting so long, we hoped that the process would at least be dealt with more quickly.

Instead, we waited.

And waited.

We counted the working days almost every day, hoping that the decision would finally come and that our family could start planning our life together.

The decision eventually came after around 40 working days.

The application was refused because of the financial requirement.

UKVI calculated the annualised income at approximately £26,196.98, while the requirement was £29,000.

So the difference was approximately £2,803.

That is the entire reason we are now facing another separation and potentially another application, another fee, another wait and another period where two very young children remain separated from their mother.

What makes this even more frustrating is that during the processing of the application, UKVI requested additional documents/clarification. We provided two additional invoices that were relevant to the financial circumstances.

However, UKVI did not take those two invoices into consideration because they had been issued/submitted after the original application date.

I understand that immigration rules have to be followed, and I am not asking for special treatment. But as a father, I am struggling to understand the fairness of the outcome in our particular circumstances.

We are not talking about a huge financial shortfall. We were approximately £2,803 short of £29,000 under their calculation.

Meanwhile, there are two very young children — 5 years old and 2½ years old — living with their father and being separated from their mother.

They need their mother. They ask about her. They miss her. And we have already spent around 8 months waiting for her to establish herself in the UK before we even applied.

What hurts most is that I feel the impact of this decision on our children and the importance of keeping such young children with both parents has not been given enough weight.

I completely understand that the financial requirement exists for a reason. But is it really reasonable for a family with two very young children to remain separated because of a relatively small £2,803 shortfall, particularly when additional financial evidence existed but could not be considered because it was submitted after the original application date?

Now we are trying to understand what our options are.

We are considering whether to appeal or submit a new application with updated financial evidence.

Interestingly, if we take the two additional payslips that were not considered in the original application and apply the exact same calculation method UKVI used, the annualised income appears to come to approximately £30,109, which would be above the £29,000 requirement.

But we don't want to make another mistake.

So I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced something similar:

Would a new application using the additional payslips and updated evidence be the better option?

Would the additional income now be considered in a fresh application?

Would an appeal have any realistic chance in circumstances like this?

Has anyone had a similar refusal where the financial shortfall was relatively small?

Is there anything else we should be doing before submitting another application?

This has been an incredibly emotional and exhausting experience.

We have spent months waiting, counting the days, paying for Priority, preparing documents and hoping that our children would finally be reunited with their mother.

We had also made concrete plans for the children to grow up in the UK with their mother and begin their education there. Their school arrangements had already been made, applications had been submitted, and everything was organised and ready for their arrival. We genuinely believed that, after waiting so many months and doing everything we could to meet the requirements, our children would finally be reunited with their mother and able to start their new life and schooling in the UK.

Instead, we are back to asking ourselves how much longer our children will have to wait.

I would genuinely appreciate any advice, experience or guidance from people who understand UK Family Visa applications.

Thank you for reading.