I applied for my Aunty, my mum's younger sister who is now retired to visit me from Nigeria, to be around for the birth of her grandniece. She is is my guardian because my mum passed away unfortunately, when i was a kid and my aunty took me in as hers.
My aunty since she retired has been doing business and making money. She buys and sells properties an these huge amount of money goes in and out of her account.
I submitted her application in April 2023 and included these documents
- Bank Statement (£5500 balance, plus credit card statement of £2000)
- Employment letter which clearly states my employment and annual salary
- Copy of British Passport Data Page
- Proof of Address (Mortgage)
- Invitation letter
- Her banks statement of Accounts
In the application, I listed that my aunty is retired but i will be sponsoring her the 3 months she intends to stay in the UK and confirmed she will be staying at my house which is a 3 bedroom. But to my greatest surprise, she was denied a visa only because huge amount of money which she made from sale of properties which came into her account few weeks before she printed her bank statements
See below
I have refused your application for a visit visa because I am not satisfied that you meet the
requirements of paragraph(s) V4.2 of Appendix V because:
You intend to visit the UK for 3 months to visit your nephew. In assessing your
application I have considered the information provided, personal and financial
circumstances and the credibility of your trip in the context of its timing and your stated
intentions.
You state that you are retired, have other regular income of 10,000,000.00 NGN
(£17,317.3) per year and are personally planning to spend 2500.00 GBP on your
proposed visit to the UK. I acknowledge that you have submitted documents including
bank statements to demonstrate your personal and financial circumstances.
I acknowledge a bank statement in your name with Zenith Bank PLC with a closing
balance of 1,003,751.67 NGN (£1,738.23). However there are large credits therein and
the supporting information does not demonstrate the source of these funds. I am
therefore not satisfied that you have given an accurate reflection of your financial
circumstances in Nigeria, that what is stated in your application is genuine and your
intentions to visit the UK at this time are as stated.
I have taken into consideration all the remaining supporting information you have
enclosed in support of your application. I am not satisfied your intentions for wishing to
visit the UK at this time or that your current personal and financial circumstances in
country of residency are as stated by you.
Given the above I am not satisfied that you are genuinely seeking entry for a purpose
that is permitted under the visitor route and that you will leave the UK at the end of
your visit. Your application is therefore refused under paragraph V 4.2 (a), (c) of the
Immigration Rules.
I am a bit upset because i am the sponsor and i do not understand why they made the decision based on the money in her account rather than my ability to take care of her bills while she visits. She only included her Statement of account just to support her application and £2500 she planned to spend would be on top of the money i intend to spend when she visits. She travels to America twice a year and i felt that would even give her an edge with the application.
Now I intend to re-apply and i am going to say she does not earn any money and only depend on money from family members as a retiree but i am not sure if this would make any difference to the new application.
I would appreciate any advice on this