He got to Tonga. He made the epic journey in 35hours. He was there 6weeks before he submitted the visa. We just wanted to get it right. A Family Settlement Visa and my Dad would be sponsoring him as his Spouse (me) didn't earn the £18,600 per year. There are lots of different rules to the different type of visas. It completely fucks with your head. Mainly they want money out of you. I wouldn't even say they were protecting our country. I have no idea in what the logic is behind our system. Personally I think its a load of bull shit!
His Visa was done and submitted online on the 21st March. £1,300 it cost. He then had to make an appointment for Fiji Uk Embassy as that was the closest one to Tonga. He did that, then I booked him a flight. He would stay with family for two nights. $600 for a return flight which took 2 hours to get there. Off he went. He had already filled in his paper visa and collected all evidence. Marriage certificate, birth certificates, cover letters, proof of address, employment contract, the list goes on. He had a file full and all the evidence and the evidence for my Dad to sponsor him. Utility bills, proof of earnings etc. He then had to do his Biometrics (photo and finger prints). He was in that appointment 10 minutes!! All this money and effort for a 10minute appointment! Ridiculous. The guy said right well I'll get all this sent off to the UK Australia Embassy in Sydney. He couldn't send his passport off as obviously he needed to get back to Tonga the following day. So he gave him a large envelope and said to send it all off once he was back home. He did exactly that. It cost him $140 to send it!!!! And it still took a week to get there. I was tracking it from here. Thankfully it had got there. So all we needed to do now was wait on a decision. Up to 60 working days. That took us to the 13th June. Cool, surely with our situation they'll make this quick.
It was May and we still hadn't heard anything. I called Immigration myself. £1.47 per minute it costs to speak to someone. They couldn't give or tell me any information on the status of Paul's visa. Smart. I'm only his Wife, raising his child without him, trying to get him back. I was getting emails as I'd emailed them previously. £5.48 it costs to send an email to Immigration then if its about the same case its no further cost. I got an email back to say his Visa was awaiting a decision. There was no rush here clearly. They knew everything about us. They literally had our lives in front of them. A cover letter to say how me and Milla would be cared for by my parents until Paul came back and started his job and we were able to get our own place. Paul saying how hurt and upset he feels about being pulled away from his Daughter and Wife and how these are the most important times to be a father. Watching your child grow and learn. The list goes on.
Now in May and still nothing. I sent an email to Theresa May. I got a reply from her admin worker. Asking for some more details, Visa Reference, full name etc and that he would pass the following information onto the correct Immigration department. I got an email back. I was getting that many emails off different people because I was frantic and wanted answers. I had emailed loads but it was very rare that you'd get a reply from the same person you were once emailing. So dysfunctional. We didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Then the week before we were supposed to have our decision Paul got an email off a woman from Sheffield Embassy to say they hadn't received my Dad's sponsor details. He assured her that they were all sent along with the visa application to Sydney and that he had proof of postage. She asked for that so Paul sent her it. He got an email back to confirm the documents had been found and faxed over to Sheffield and sorry for the delay. The day after that he received an email to say his application was in the hands of the decision maker. All this waiting, all these weeks, months finally felt like they were coming to an end.
In this time my Nannie was in a terrible state in hospital, really really ill. Luckily she made a miraculous recovery. She's doing great now. But my Grandma down in Cheshire passed away suddenly. My heart is broken. So many emotions, I couldn't control them. I was exhausted. Trying to hold everything together for Paul and Milla's sake. Surely we're due some good news. I needed to get away. I went and spent some time down at Grandma's with Milla and my Dad. Her house is my happy place. I lived there with her before I went to Australia. I walked in for the first time and she wasn't sat in her chair. I broke down. I was a mess. I didn't want my Dad to see me so upset as this was an awful time for him. His one Mum, her only Son. I put Milla down on the floor. She sat looking confused staring at my Grandma's chair, babbling away to herself. Jeeeeez, this was awful. We stayed for two nights then I went back to work for two weeks before her funeral. Her only Brother was in Canada visiting his son and he wouldn't be back until the 1st July. Her funeral was the 2nd.
I called immigration so many times. One time it cost me £20 and I spoke to a Jamaican man who couldn't understand what I was saying and I couldn't understand what he was saying. He wanted Paul's IHS number. I said I haven't got that. He would gibe out any more information as I didn't have it. I called the next day and spoke to an English man. I was thrilled. I explained I needed this IHS number and the previous guy wouldn't give me it and the guy said he would send it back out to Paul via email. He's still waiting for that email. Two weeks before my Grandma's funeral I called Immigration AGAIN and spoke to a girl who I'd actually spoken to the week before as it was passed the 13th June and we still hadn't heard anything and she said she would send like a reminder to hurry things a long. I told her we still hadn't heard and she remembered me. I told her in a nut shell the situation and she said "He hasn't seen his baby since the 2nd February!!!!! That is disgusting!" I got upset on the phone and said he needed to be home for a family bereavement. We spoke for a short while and she said she would cancel my last enquiry as it still hadn't been looked at put it through as urgent. The following day I was at work and I go a message off Paul to say he had got an email. He forwarded it onto me and it said-
A decision was made on your application on 18th June 2019 and you will be contacted shortly regarding the return of your documents.
I felt physically sick! Why haven't they told us if its a yes or a no! How long is this going to take to get to him? Does this mean its a yes? Are the documents the return of his documents? Does this mean the documents are saying its been refused and why?
I googled How long does it take to get your documents back after applying for a visa. Up to two weeks was the answer for most. Is he going to get his passport and the visa will be stamped in it? I was so so excited. We could literally be back together in a couple of weeks. Even though I had negative thoughts I tried to stay positive. The Law of Attraction and all that.
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