So I bumped into a case worker today

[HappyRussian]

Hey, been lurking on this site for a while and decided it was time I contribute.

So, as part of my business I attend many business growth/entrepreneurial meetings and conferences. Today at one I happened to meet a very nice chap from the Home Office he gave me some pointers about speeding up the application process.

• he said sending extra evidence that isn’t asked for rarely ever helps an application, and at worst could hurt it, and almost always slows the decision process down. This is because HO staff have a duty to review all the evidence submitted. More reviewing and checking of extra non-required evidence means it takes more time to come to a decision. And worse case is he said sometimes when applicants send a ton of extra evidence it implies they are trying to distract from missing evidence they should have included but haven't, so it raises red flags and makes them review the application in a much more detailed manner.

• with that in mind he said only send the evidence asked for. It usually helps speed up the decision making process and, at the very least, makes their job easier–which makes the case worker happy.

• he said if they want extra evidence that the Immigration Rules don’t explicitly require they will contact you and ask for it.

• he also said he knows the Home Office gets a bad rap on “being hard on immigrants” but Home Office workers aren’t evil people. They have a job and duty to carry out the laws of the UK – and as civil servants they must abide by those rules

fyi

[HowHardCouldItBe]

There have also been instances where evidence that wasn't required resulted in a refusal (not for Tier 1).

Whilst I believe most people are just doing their jobs the best they can, from these forums alone, it's clear that some case workers are also being unduly harsh. I'm certain it's a minority but it does make you wonder if you'll be unfortunate and end up with a harsh case worker.

[marcnath]

Thanks for this.

It reinforces what I have been repeatedly mentioning.

Make life easier for the CW and your application get processed faster.

Key things, in my opinion, to help ease the application process.
1. List all the attributes down, collect all the evidence needed for each of those attributes.
2. Ensure that the evidence meets the requirements set out in the guidance to every small detail.
3. Organise your documentation in that order. One set for each of the attributes with a separator that shows what documents are included (see my example of application that is pinned at the top of the forum)
4. If needed, add one section of additional information about your business with minimum information, as applicable - website address, social media channels, mention in the press, advertisements and so. Limit that to three items.

I have been seeing people wanting to add a lot of documents - customer contracts, invoices, accountant letters and so on. I can appreciate that everyone is concerned about the genuine entrepreneur test. But remember, proving that you are not genuine is HO's responsibility. They are not asking you to prove that.

In most cases, the basic documents submitted, a simple google search of your business name, etc will be sufficient for the CW. But if they need more they will ask.

[Manu_cal]

Yes how the application should be presented is described very well by marcnath but having said that there are plenty of refusals based on very small missing information and some people had that experience where the HO never bothered to ask for additional documents. I can relate to one where one of my employees wanted to show her employment to extend her partners visa. Her initial application was refused as saying that the name of the company is misspell and a genuine company would not do that so her employment is not genuine. I gave her some of my regulatory documents of the company and her second application was successful. So what would you say in this case .

[marcnath]

Yes how the application should be presented is described very well by marcnath but having said that there are plenty of refusals based on very small missing information and some people had that experience where the HO never bothered to ask for additional documents. I can relate to one where one of my employees wanted to show her employment to extend her partners visa. Her initial application was refused as saying that the name of the company is misspell and a genuine company would not do that so her employment is not genuine. I gave her some of my regulatory documents of the company and her second application was successful. So what would you say in this case .

Very good example of not doing the Step 2 in my earlier post. Check the smallest detail. The CW does not have the discretionary right to correct the applicant's spelling mistake. It is easier for the CW to reject than to write in to ask for clarification (which would be better for that particular applicant but possibly lead to delays in processing other applicants).
I assume your employee spelled the company name correctly in the second application, which I would attribute to the reason for success rather than the additional documents.

[Manu_cal]

Yes how the application should be presented is described very well by marcnath but having said that there are plenty of refusals based on very small missing information and some people had that experience where the HO never bothered to ask for additional documents. I can relate to one where one of my employees wanted to show her employment to extend her partners visa. Her initial application was refused as saying that the name of the company is misspell and a genuine company would not do that so her employment is not genuine. I gave her some of my regulatory documents of the company and her second application was successful. So what would you say in this case .

Very good example of not doing the Step 2 in my earlier post. Check the smallest detail. The CW does not have the discretionary right to correct the applicant's spelling mistake. It is easier for the CW to reject than to write in to ask for clarification (which would be better for that particular applicant but possibly lead to delays in processing other applicants).
I assume your employee spelled the company name correctly in the second application, which I would attribute to the reason for success rather than the additional documents.

She spelt it correctly the first time also. I can't put the name here just an example say I wanted to register my company as I am for you Ltd. But that name was taken so I choose I m 4 u Ltd. The name was correct just the Highly qualified Case worker pre assumed without doing a simple Google search that the company is not genuine because it has a funny name.
Second application had all the same documents with addition of few more unnecessary documents which as an employer I am not obliged to give it to her but because I am at the mercy of Home office so could understand the mental situation of my employee and gave her those unnecessary documents. And guess what her partner was granted visa in one month which shows we don't live an ideal world.

[kaps84]

oh dear moderators.. sometime life seems so easy and the visa extension easier, when you guys re-iterate the fact to send only the required documents. I am sure that's the right way !

However, world goes upside down when one sees so many visa rejections and specially where the applicant is awarded all the points but visa refused due to things like genuine entrepreneur test.

But, I am more than confident now that sending the (necessary & required) documents is the right way forward. Let the case workers decide for the genuineness.

[zimba]

oh dear moderators.. sometime life seems so easy and the visa extension easier, when you guys re-iterate the fact to send only the required documents. I am sure that's the right way !

Advice given here has been consistent with that. ONLY send documents required in the rules

However, world goes upside down when one sees so many visa rejections and specially where the applicant is awarded all the points but visa refused due to things like genuine entrepreneur test.

ALL of the refusals based on genuineness have happened after months of HO investigation and detailed interviews. They never had anything to do with documents submitted

[Wanderer]

The only problem we had with visas officials etc, was from a migrant themselves, I think they tend to over compensate. She was as thick as pigshit though, really dense.