Need Suggestions: Tourist Visa Rejected for Hotel History(!)

[bubblegum]

Hi All,

By way of background, I'm an HSMP holder, living in the UK for the past 3.5 years+. My current residence permit is due to expire at the end of July 2009. I have had two single-entry tourist visas to Ireland before, and based on advice published on the Embassy website, applied for a multiple-entry tourist visa for the third visit. Since the embassy provides Visas for a 90-day duration, I expected no problems in getting a visa until end of April 2009, which leaves a clear 3 month window before my residence permit expires.

The documentation was complete in all respects, but to my utter surprise, I got a rejection with the following reasons:

INCO – Inconsistencies e.g. contradictions in the information supplied.
The hotel you have given as the place you were staying on your last 2 applications have no record of your staying there on either 'date1' or 'date2'.
OC – Observe the conditions of the visa – the visa sought is for a specific purpose and duration:- the applicant has not satisfied the visa officer that such conditions would be observed.


I have previously held Schengen visas on several occasions, and have travelled extensively in other European countries, with a fully compliant travel history - so this decision is a bit of a shock to say the least.

While the observation of the embassy is true, I did stay at the same hotel on the first visit, but on different dates, due to work commitments (I could not go to Dublin on the expected dates, and had to go a week later than planned). For my second visit, which was during Christmas 2008, I had booked the hotel two months earlier anticipating a major rush at Christmas, and subsequently changed the hotel since I got a better deal.

I was hoping forum members could guide me on the following:
1. Has anyone faced such a rejection before? Is this the real reason for the rejection, and if not, what is likely to be the true cause? Could the rejection be because I have applied for 3 visas in 5 months?
2. Is the OC reason just a follow-on from the INCO, or is there something else that needs to be read into? The guide description of INCO is unhelpful - and I'm not sure what is missing in my application.
3. I would like to appeal against this decision. What kind of documentation would forum members recommend submitting with the appeal? Also, in your experience, are appeals such as these successful?
4. Is it a good idea to ask for another single-entry visa in the appeal in case my case does not justify a multiple-entry one?

Thanks for any help you can provide folks!

~ Bubblegum.

[bubblegum]

Hi All,

Based on the lack of any feedback to my post, it looks like my situation is unique, at least among the active members of this forum. So I thought of posting some feedback, which might be useful to others.

I appealed my refusal successfully, giving evidence of previous hotel stays (including bookings and receipts), flight tickets and credit card receipts to show that I was in Ireland on the dates stated. I also showed a letter from my employer validating that I could not travel on the dates promised in my application due to work commitments. However, this only resulted in a single-entry visa.

Lessons I learnt from my experience:
1. If you’re not an EU citizen, the fact of the matter is that GNIB does not like you visiting often, no matter how good your credentials. If you’re young and single like I am, the odds are stacked even more against you – because embassies view you as high risk. If I had a problem given my own credentials, I don’t see any hope for those with less strong cases, no matter how genuine your intentions. Just keep in mind – you’re considered guilty until proven innocent.
2. If you’re applying for a multiple-entry visit visa, I suggest you either have very compelling reasons – such as the presence of a blood relative in Ireland, or forget it. NEVER go by the embassy advice of just having a compliant travel history, good credentials or relevant supporting documentation – my case shows that this is clearly not enough.
3. Keep all your flight and hotel receipts and credit card statements with you – never throw them away. You never know when they might be useful. They proved invaluable in my appeal. If you are applying for your second, third or further visas, I would recommend including these receipts in your visa application itself.
4. Finally, the mental agony of going through this experience (let alone the cost of almost £200 on my three visas alone) has put me off Ireland as a country. I can vouch for the fact that the Irish people are a very friendly bunch – but the GNIB is unfortunately not. Based on my experience as well as that of others on the forum, they seem to be particularly poor at distinguishing genuine cases from non-genuine ones. I made one visit to Ireland to keep my visa commitments, but after this, I’d rather go for my holidays to countries like France, where I am far more welcome.

Hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

~ Bubblegum.

[scrudu]

Thanks for the update Bubblegum. I hadn't actually heard of anyone in the same situation and was suprised to hear the the DoJ actually called the hotel to confirm that information about your prior visits. Interesting facts to know!

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I do not have experience with a standard visa application at the Irish Embassy in London (having just been involved with family member of EU). But I am not surprised. They do not seem like a very professional organization to me (“Randomâ€