Family Visit (Help Required)

[Parklane]

Hi All,

I need a help and your view before i speak to any solicitor - As I found this forum very useful when i was applying for my own ILR last year.

I am currently on ILR, living with my wife and our two kids in UK. However my parents live in Pakistan.

My mother (65 Yrs) has been to UK twice, back in 2011 & 2012, however my father (72 Yrs) hasnt been to UK yet. I have convinced my father to visit UK for a month or so in the next couple of months. So, i was planning to apply for his Visit Visa soon. My Mother wouldnt be applying this time due to some family related business.

I need help regarding below:
I financially sponsor my parents and send them £300-£400 each month (so effectively their current source of income is only my remittances), my father has cash savings on hi bank account of Rs 700,000 (Around £4500) and Mom has Saving of around Rs 400,000 (Around £2500) in her own bank account - sitting there for over a year.

A family house on My dad's name worths over Rs 16 Million in Islamabad and he has also got some property in the village on our grandparents name.

However i have a two bedroom house on rent and have around £3000 savings and will be sponsoring his whole visit, including air ticket etc.

Lots of people seems to have their parents visit visa applications being refused recently...I have gone through the refusal reasons for the parents visa on this forum and they all seems to have been given based on low financial bonds to their home country.

So if we tell in a visa form that the only source of income my father has is from myself then would it not weaken his case ? or does it not matter based on above other bonds in home country such as Property daughters (all married) and Wife in Pakistan?

However i really want my dad to visit UK, see us and our kids, We would rather not apply for visa if it has more chances of getting refused as i actually had to convince him for this visit.

I mean this would genuinely be a months trip.

so please share your thoughts if someone had same experience or know exactly how visa workers see the financial requirements and whether above suffices the requirements for a quick visit visa ??

Also, if anyone of you is a solicitor and has dealt with family visit cases then please let me know..

[immee]

I think it is a tricky one as case workers seems to look at full circumstances. I remember when my parents applied for a Visit visa to attend my graduation ceremony, they were both retired, had some pension coming in but even due to very low bank balances at that time, they were easily granted with visit visa..

[Parklane]

thank you @immee - The issue is that i have tried to google it and by reading at different outcomes what my understanding is that rather then using any hard and fast rules, caseworkers seems to be using their extreme discretion and judgements, which with no right of appeal and no reconsideration is resulting in some genuine applicant being refused for no reason...

A colleague of mine who is a chartered accountant and his wife is GP had their parents visited the UK severl times in the last 10 years... so when the applied for a visa this time, it was refused as the simple reason given was that the case worker is not convienced that they will go back ? WHAT ??? they went back dozen times previously and no other circumstances of their being changed.. I think he said he was going for a judicial review rather then re- applying as he was quite pssd off

[immee]

Well i think the new PBS have sort of diminsed the case workers powers to use their judgements alone, they might introduce this within this category as well.. Lets see what experts have to say in your case then.. Good Luck with your outcome anyways..

[Parklane]

Any gurus, experts, solicitors ??

[Parklane]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

[immee]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

Hi Parklane,

Have you checked it with solicitor ? Just update here as it could be useful for others as well

[Prabh1234]

what is validity of visa needed to sponsor someone for visit?

[ismail.desai]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

Hi
did your father managed to the visa?
My father got refused 4 months ago I reapplied and got it the 2nd time, if you still need help let me know

[AUHS]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

Hi
did your father managed to the visa?
My father got refused 4 months ago I reapplied and got it the 2nd time, if you still need help let me know

Hi Ismael

What was the reason of your dad's refusal and what you did 2nd time to meet the requirements.

My mother visa is refused as the Eco is not satisfied from the regular income .

Please share your experience.

[secret.simon]

To the OP:

what my understanding is that rather then using any hard and fast rules, caseworkers seems to be using their extreme discretion and judgements,

The rules for visitor visas are much more discretionary as compared to settlement visas. The crucialproof that you need to provide is that your father (or other visitor) has such strong links (not necessarily financial) to their country of residence that they will return back there before the expiry of the visa.

Proof of such links can be the land that is owned by your father, the families of your sisters, etc. It need not be financial. Crucially, it is something that can be independently verified. Saying that your father is reluctant to come is neither here nor there. The question is whether you can satisfy the caseworker that on the balance of probabilities, your father will return back to his country of residence before the end of the visa.

A colleague of mine who is a chartered accountant and his wife is GP had their parents visited the UK severl times in the last 10 years

Not a good idea. One of the things that would cause the ECO (Entry Clearance Officer) to possibly refuse the visa is if the parents appear to be resident in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. Did both the parents visit together and did they repeatedly stay for the full six months and then did they reenter as soon as they could? That may be why they got rejected this time around.

I would say that you have played it wisely by rationing (so to speak) your parents' visits to the UK, so you are more likely to be successful than your colleague. I have done likewise, with my parents visiting me in the UK for a couple of visits around major celebrations such as my citizenship and graduation. It helps that both my parents are still in part-time work and so can show the strong link that they need to return back in a specified timeframe. On other occasions, I have met them half-way, in Europe and Turkey, for holidays.

[Parklane]

To the OP:

what my understanding is that rather then using any hard and fast rules, caseworkers seems to be using their extreme discretion and judgements,

The rules for visitor visas are much more discretionary as compared to settlement visas. The crucialproof that you need to provide is that your father (or other visitor) has such strong links (not necessarily financial) to their country of residence that they will return back there before the expiry of the visa.

Proof of such links can be the land that is owned by your father, the families of your sisters, etc. It need not be financial. Crucially, it is something that can be independently verified. Saying that your father is reluctant to come is neither here nor there. The question is whether you can satisfy the caseworker that on the balance of probabilities, your father will return back to his country of residence before the end of the visa.

A colleague of mine who is a chartered accountant and his wife is GP had their parents visited the UK severl times in the last 10 years

Not a good idea. One of the things that would cause the ECO (Entry Clearance Officer) to possibly refuse the visa is if the parents appear to be resident in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. Did both the parents visit together and did they repeatedly stay for the full six months and then did they reenter as soon as they could? That may be why they got rejected this time around.

I would say that you have played it wisely by rationing (so to speak) your parents' visits to the UK, so you are more likely to be successful than your colleague. I have done likewise, with my parents visiting me in the UK for a couple of visits around major celebrations such as my citizenship and graduation. It helps that both my parents are still in part-time work and so can show the strong link that they need to return back in a specified timeframe. On other occasions, I have met them half-way, in Europe and Turkey, for holidays.

Thank you Simon.

Cheers for your reply and it seems very useful ... infact your opinion makes more sense... We are planning to apply it soon... it was delayed as i was awaiting my bank statements.. i am likely to send all documents in post on Monday.

Is it ok, if i could possibly share my sponsor letter and the actual case with you (in Pvt message) to get your opinion on it..

[Parklane]

Also not sure if this is a good enough reason to satisfy PCO, about "why instead we travel to see our parents" ?

Although I travel Pakistan frequently to see my parents and last travelled in January 2015, however I may not be able to travel until June 2016 now, as my wife and children have applied for a variation of leave (from Tier 2 dependent to a dependent of a settled person now as I have received an ILR) and it may take few months before they receive their documents back from the Home Office. Also my daughter is likely to go to nursery from January 2016. Hence we would only be able to travel and see them in the half term in summer 2016.

[Wanderer]

We just got one granted for MIL, she showed £5k of her own funds, payslips, letter from employer and short letter outlining her plans and it was granted no bother. She's here now.

She's from Russia,

[Parklane]

We just got one granted for MIL, she showed £5k of her own funds, payslips, letter from employer and short letter outlining her plans and it was granted no bother. She's here now.

She's from Russia,

Congrats - The difference however here is that my father is retired and the only main source of their maintenance are my remittances. He does have other rental income but that comes through informal (undocumented) contract.. not sure how it could effect his applicaiton.

[Parklane]

Can anyone kindly give me their opinion about my father's income bit (explained in post 1) please ?

[Parklane]

Just want to update that my father has got 6 months family visitors visa approved this morning. I supplied, my cover letter, employment and residential documents along with copy of passport and bank statements.

For father - we provided his cover letter, bank statements and property documents - explained in a letter that he is retired and their only source of income are my remittances, showed full family ties in Pakistan.. thankfully in this case his income source didnt became an issue (which was my only concern) we explained everything in pretty much detail..

HO did call me and asked few questions to confirm my sponsorship and our relationship with some other questions - Not sure why they asked me if i had sponsored someone else in the last two years though

thanks everyone who participated in this thread...

[jigars143]

Congratulations on getting visa for your father...

I am about to sponsor my parents as well and just want to know how many months of bank statements you showed for your father's visit? Do you think three month's of bank statements will be enough?

Thanks
Nabeel

[Parklane]

Congratulations on getting visa for your father...

I am about to sponsor my parents as well and just want to know how many months of bank statements you showed for your father's visit? Do you think three month's of bank statements will be enough?

Thanks
Nabeel

Nabeel - I sent statements and payslips covering 9 months, however i believe you do need to send statements covering preceding 6 months.. Now i guess these are requirements for applicant but if you are sponsoring them , it would be safer to meet the same requirements.

[Parklane]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

Hi
did your father managed to the visa?
My father got refused 4 months ago I reapplied and got it the 2nd time, if you still need help let me know

Hi ismail.

He has actually recieved his visa last week..

thanks

[Parklane]

what is validity of visa needed to sponsor someone for visit?

I sponsored my mom when i was student - She came for my graduation.

I then sponsored my mom when i was on a work permit and then i sponsored my sister and my father when i am on indefinite leave to remain... All these were successful based on their circumstances

so i assume - as long as you are a legal resident in this country you can sponsor someone

[Parklane]

what is validity of visa needed to sponsor someone for visit?

I sponsored my mom when i was student - She came for my graduation ceremony.

I then sponsored my mom when i was on a work permit and then i sponsored my sister and my father when i am on indefinite leave to remain... All these were successful based on their circumstances

so i assume - as long as you are a legal resident in this country you can sponsor someone..

[Parklane]

Sad - I thought someone would share their experience or expertise with me.. But doesn't look like there is any help available in this forum for Visitors visa.. I will try to visit a solicitor next week

Hi Parklane,

Have you checked it with solicitor ? Just update here as it could be useful for others as well

I spoke to someone and they were quoting me a ridiculous amount to answer my query -- So literally i just took a chance to explain the things as they are.... Thankfully it hasnt caused any issue in our case

[yasa222]

Hello there
I need help about sponsoring my mother from pakistan
Im living in uk since january 2012 and i got my Residense Document in 2014 as i marreid with EU national.
I am working here full time and i want to sponcor my mom Age 55 she is pensionerand living pakistan..
Any possibility if i can sponsor her and what documents would i need???