Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal rejected an application by 12 financial institutions to file submissions supporting a British lesbian’s legal bid to obtain a visa from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, according to Hong Kong Free Press.

The financial institutions made the applications to be heard in the case as interveners on Wednesday and planned to speak about how the result of the case could affect Hong Kong’s competitiveness and ability to hire global talent.

The plaintiff QT and her partner SS, have been locked in a battle with the Immigration Department over QT’s applications for a dependent visa based on their British marriage certificate. The Court of First Instance ruled against them on March 11 last year.

QT entered into a civil partnership with another woman, SS, in the UK in 2011. But when SS came to Hong Kong to work, the Immigration Department only allowed QT to enter the city on a tourist visa.

The institutions that made the bid include: ABN AMRO Bank, AIG Insurance Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the Bank of New York Mellon, Blackrock Management North Asia, Credit Suisse (Hong Kong), Goldman Sachs Services (Hong Kong), Morgan Stanley Asia, Nomura International Hong Kong, the Royal Bank of Canada, Societe Generale and State Street Bank & Trust.