Spousal Visa Rejected in New Delhi,INDIA Sept'09

My Spousal Visa was rejected in Sept'09, my wife was with me at the time of interview and she was interviewed aswell. The councillor  was quiet rude to both me and my wife even after we providing her with so much evidence she rejected my application. We appealed in Oct'09 my wife went back to toronto in decmber and she recived a letter saying our appeal has been recived and it will take approx 120 days for them to get our file from the minister's council in new delhi. My wife made a few calls in Jan '10 to the local office in toronto and she was told that after they recieve the file it can take upto 3-4 months for them to give us a hearing date if its a an hour or half day hearing otherwise it could take upto 10 months to get a date for a full hearing . Please can anyone guide me on how to speed up the process .

Edited by anees - 02 Feb 2010 at 12:27pm

anees wrote: My Spousal Visa was rejected in Sept'09, my wife was with me at the time of interview and she was interviewed aswell. The councillor  was quiet rude to both me and my wife even after we providing her with so much evidence she rejected my application. We appealed in Oct'09 my wife went back to toronto in decmber and she recived a letter saying our appeal has been recived and it will take approx 120 days for them to get our file from the minister's council in new delhi. My wife made a few calls in Jan '10 to the local office in toronto and she was told that after they recieve the file it can take upto 3-4 months for them to give us a hearing date if its a an hour or half day hearing otherwise it could take upto 10 months to get a date for a full hearing . Please can anyone guide me on how to speed up the process .

Unfortunately there is no way to "speed up" the appeal process.  We just went through it, in Toronto, and it took almost a year to get to the Alternative Dispute Resolution hearing.  Our appeal was not allowed at the ADR, so we had to wait another 13 months for the full appeal hearing.  So it's important, if her case is chosen for ADR, to try to win it there. 

It will take 90-120 days for the visa office to get the "Appeal Record" to the Immigration Appeal Division in Toronto and to Minister's counsel.  Your wife (or her counsel) will also receive a copy - and shortly after that she should also receive a request from the IAD to submit evidence and documents in support of her appeal.  This is important because this is the information they use to determine whether the case might be settled at the ADR.  If they don't think it can be settled at ADR, they will schedule a full hearing - which will be at least a year away.  But it takes close to that long to get to ADR, too, and if you don't get settled there, you start the wait all over again.  To me, having been through it now, it seems like it's not such a good thing to go to ADR.  The appellant's attorney is not allowed to argue the case - Minister's counsel completely controls things.  There is a mediator who hears both sides and if the mediator thinks the case will likely be won at a full appeal hearing, s/he will advise Minister's counsel to "consent to allow" the appeal without it going to a full hearing.  But Minister's counsel does not have to take that advice - if they thinks they can stop the appeal from being allowed (won) at a full hearing, they won't consent and then you wait for another year.

I would suggest that your wife consults a good immigration attorney to get advice about whether or not it's worth it to go to an ADR hearing.  She should not hire any attorney who offers to represent her at the ADR for one fee, and then take an additional fee if she has to go to a full hearing, even if that seems the less expensive option.  She should hire someone who will do it all for one fee - even if it's a bit higher - because then there is incentive for them to get the thing done as soon as possible and move on.  I can recommend at least one good attorney in Toronto if you email me. 

Don't misunderstand what they mean when they say it will take 3-4 months to get a hearing date - that means it will take at least 3-4 months to get notification of the date . . . and only after the Appeal Record and all the evidences are submitted and reviewed by Minister's counsel and the IAD.  The actual date of hearing will be months after that.  For example, our appeal was filed in early February, we got the Appeal Record in May, and got notification in August that the appeal was scheduled for ADR in mid-December 2008.  The ADR failed and we didn't get notification of our full hearing date until July 2009 - scheduled for January 2010.  And then, if your appeal is allowed, your application goes back to the visa office for reprocessing.


Edited by RobsLuv - 02 Feb 2010 at 5:49pm