Tier 1-Refusal - Multiple Bank Statements!

[neosumit]

Hi All,

Application date : 8th Sep 2010
Refusal received : 30th Sep 2010

Reason: The maintenance funds criterion was not satisfied to claim the mandatory 10 points.

I had claimed 110 points and received all the points except for the above.

The British High Commission was provided 3 bank statements as part of proof of Maintenance funds.

The statements from ICICI, HDFC and ING Vysya bank were from 1st June 2010 till 31st August 2010.

The ECO considered the 90 day period as 3rd June 2010 till 31st August 2010 ( which is correct as per the guidelines)

The blunder though is this:

The ECO added the minimum sums of individual accounts (occuring on different dates) to come up with the minimum balance held with me at any point of time.


Minimum amounts in INR:
HDFC Bank - 96915 (balance from 13th July till 15th July)
ICICI Bank - 10822 (balance on 23rd June)
ING Vysys Bank - 45148 (balance from 24th Aug till 31st Aug)

Adding the above amounts which were held across different period, the sum which ECO came up was INR 152885 which was below the 2800 GBP requirement.

However such over-simplification of adding the individual minimum balance occuring on different dates during the 90 day period cannot be the logic to come up with the minimum amount available to the applicant for the 90 days.

The ECO must consider the minimum individual balance and sum up the same for all the accounts and then check if the summed up amount falls below the GBP 2800 requirement.

The above needs to be done for the 90 day period to see if the applicant ever falls below the GBP 2800 on any day/instance.
I had also provided a sheet which had the same calculation of sum of individual sums of money everyday and to my astonishment they did not read or understand the same.

Anyone on this forum, who was refussed for the same reason can PM me.

I will file for a review as well a legal notice would be served for the callousness and financial imprudence on behalf of the British High Commission.

[t1s2010]

If common sense vanishes like this then thou God savor.

Sorry to hear your case.
Does BHC has 'minimum qualification' criteria for case workers?
They should at least make SSC/10th grade must for these case workers.

I am sure you will win your appeal.
Reading your story is making me worried for my own case which I submitted on 20th Sep.

I am as 'confident' as you must have been with 110 points in the kitty.

Just one suggestion, I am not sure how legal notice will help other than venting your anger. If anything else, 'diplomatic immunity' is there.
see the movies man.

So calm down and just focus on your benefits.

[neosumit]

A legal notice will help them check their own processes and put their staff to some training courses on understanding financial documents before arriving at any judgement!

The way these officials interpret the guidelines and apply their logic implies that the British High Commission needs to show who all the so called 'Entry Clearance Officers' who do not have the capacity to understand such simple financial documents.

I am just wondering with the 2009 data which shows that 18% of the decisions were overturned during an AR.

18% out of 1356 AR = 238 were overturned in 2009. (This data is supplied to me by the BHC along with the AR form)

238 is a huge number considering the fees they charge for each applicant and the time for which original documents lie with the BHC.

As a consumer (applicant), I feel I am not getting the level of services required as against the amount that I pay for the Visa processing.

[neosumit]

I have noticed more errors in the comments put down by the ECO in places where he has awarded me points correctly.

In ths attributes section, the ECO mentions:

'You have qualified as your points in attributes are more than 75.

The reason for highlighting this is that the ECO seems to be completely casual in putting down his comments. The new guidelines states 80 points but it seems the ECO has still not read the updated guidelines.

Also, the minimum amount being read from the statements is incorrect for 2 of my statements.

In statements of HDFC Bank, the ECO quotes the minimum balance held by me as 96915, while the minimum has actually been 96415.
In statements of ICICI Bank, the ECO quotes the minimum balance held by me as 10822, while the minimum has actually been 8168.

There seems to be utmost casualness as far as reading the details are concerned!!!

I am perplexed by the BHC staff.

Mods and experts, any comments?

[aruni4470]

I have noticed more errors in the comments put down by the ECO in places where he has awarded me points correctly.

In ths attributes section, the ECO mentions:

'You have qualified as your points in attributes are more than 75.

It indeed is shocking and has to be reported. Atleast, there would not be others in the future becoming victims of these untrained ECOs. Not sure how viable serving a legal notice would be. Maybe in the future you would lose interest in following it up and is also time consuming and expensive. Have you considered writing a formal complaint?

[neosumit]

Aruni,

Thanks for your response.
Serving a legal notice would be on the grounds of cheating (the applicant) as they have charged me 50k+ and rejected my application without due diligence. It is not expensive for me as my family has few lawyers to help me out.

The point is, to people like us who mostly defensive and always take things too lightly, such incidence in other sphere of life would amount to litigation.

I plan on a review first and then if things don't move fast enough, I will keep all my options open.

But to everyone on this forum, BHC is not doing what we expect from them. Even if they put half the diligence that is put by the applicants, there would be very few ARs to be overturned by the BHC.

I have a question though, do I need to include the same set of documents again with the AR packet ?

[push]

The statistics you have quoted suggests that 82% of the rejections made by ECO were correct- not amazing but pretty impressive I would say. I am not a legal expert but a legal recourse under cheating might not be tenable on the grounds that it is not a business service that you are buying. BHC/HO clarifies that the fee is not refundable because it compensates them for the costs they incur on assessing one's application and surely making immigration decisions is not a business activity, in my opinion at least.

Lastly, they provide the applicants with an avenue for cure if a wrong decision has been made due to incorrect application of immigration rules/guidelines in the form of the "Appeals/AR Process". Remember Case Workers are like adjudicators/judges who decide on the basis of evidence presented to them in line with the immigration rules & interpretation thereof. Have you ever heard of a lower court/ high court being sued for claims/damages in case their decisions are overturned by the superior courts?

That said, UKBA has a formal process for dealing with complaints and reimbursement of costs -

What happens after your complaint has been dealt with
We want to learn from complaints and to improve the service we provide to our customers wherever possible. We may, for example, consider making adjustments to the process that led to your complaint. We may also consider giving our staff extra training or, in serious cases, taking disciplinary action.
If you can show that you have suffered financial loss as a direct result of an error we have made, you may be able to claim reimbursement of the costs you have incurred. We will only consider reimbursing you for these costs if they were reasonable, unavoidable and a direct consequence of our actions - and you will need to provide evidence such as original receipts.
In exceptional circumstances not involving financial loss, we will consider whether a consolatory payment may be appropriate

My personal advise to you is - (1) Whilst it is your right to feel angry over a supposedly wrong decision of BHC/ECO, take it easy as your primary aim is to get the VISA; (2) Appeal against the decision; & (3) there is a formal process for complaint - follow this link - use it!!

[push]

I have a question though, do I need to include the same set of documents again with the AR packet ?

Yes, and indicate that all of these documents were provided in the first instance. You may also choose to send additional documents in so far as they help explain (provide commentary to) the supporting document provided at the time of original applications. I would also advise you to search the forum and look for pointers from those who were successful in getting the decision overturned.

[neosumit]

Thanks push.

Though UKBA is charging me for their processing fees, however they have failed to provide me a Visa in the first instance due to plausible and provable financial illiteracy of the so called ECO. There is a deficiency in the service for which they are charging me, although I provided them with all the evidences as per the set guidelines.

'Cheating' is a possible ground as as an applicant I have every intention to prove that the UKBA charged me Visa fees without providing me with the due diligence required to correctly judge my case. And as an applicant I have no other recourse other than to file for an AR or pay them the fees again for a process which clearly is not performing the way it should.

As you would have read earlier, the ECO failed to sum up individual amounts for every singlke day and check if my combined balance went below 2800 GBP.

I am going to file an AR and if the result is not overturned then legal recourse is a very plausible action.

Meanwhile, I will also follow the link suggested by you. A formal complaint is on the way for sure.

[neosumit]

Hi All,

I am pleased to inform everyone on this forum that my Administrative review decision is in my favour.

I am thankful to everyone as myself and my friend used the information on this forum to file for Tier-1 Visa. Just that I had to wait for couple of months for the admin review and he got his Visa within 20 days of filing.

The documents that I submitted was just these:

1. Degree Certificate Original
2. Passport
3. Salary slips for 12 months (stamped) + covering letter from the employer about the authenticity of slips.
4. Bank statement of 12 months for salary deposit (net amount matches in salary slip and bank statement)
5. Bank statement for maintenance funds. As discussed before, I had submitted statement from 3 banks as I did not maintain the required amount in one account. However the combined amount in the last 90 days before application date was always 2.37 lacs+.
I had provided statement from 1st June 2010 till 31st August 2010.

Thanks everyone!

Please post if you require further information.

Cheers!!

[t1s2010]

Congratulations neosumit.

Good to hear your news indeed; pure nonsense from case worker.
When are you planning to fly?
What is your visa start date?

Hope, you have already posted your time lines on sticky.

[mulderpf]

Well done!!! Great to hear some positive stories on here!!

[neosumit]

Friends,

I have to submit the passport and then I will get the Visa.

My earlier start date was from 1st Dec. I now plan to get that delayed by 2 months. Is that possible?

This is the last question probably!

[t1s2010]

Oh yes, neosumit.

I guess, you have to specify your new proposed date for ARs. (don't miss it)
So, you can take a new date.

I would only suggest, don't delay too much. Feb (and may be march) is good time to start your job search.

Whenever you decide, fly to 3 weeks before your hunt starting i.e. conservative period of mid-jan to feb-starting.

[sangul]

Hi

Do we need to mention the minimum balance in bank letters if we are going to use multiple bank account statements for maintenance funds

Thanks

[neosumit]

If sum of the minimum amount for the same 90 days > 2800, then you can very well show that way.

However in my case, the sum of the balances of acccount was always as per the requirement, but the minimum amount of individual accounts when added did not meet the criterion.

Simply put, if you can claim that => 'min (account A) + min (account B) + min (account C) > 2800 GBP', then you need not worry.

Highlight the same using letters from the individual banks and you should be through!

[T1_Mainframe]

Caseworkers are bunch of jokers who play with mind and situation of applicants.

Congrats as AR went in your favour. You could have avoided this situation by having bank statement from only on account. I know its easier said than done in aftermath. But we all prepare application alteast 90 days in advance.

Cheers!

[neosumit]

Because I interpreted the guidance correctly, I could get the decision in my favour.

What I mean is we get 'defensive' just because its a VISA. But if you interpret the rules correctly, you should secure it even after the AR.

I never maintain that much amount in one single account because of my personal circumstances!

[vp77]

Hi neosumit,

Since I am planning to apply with maintenance funds from 2 bank accts and an FD, pls guide me on what do I do to show a clear and comprehensive picture to the ECO? Pls share with the relavant working formats and all necessary.

Thank you.

[neosumit]

Take a statement of 90 days from the bank stating the minimum amount held in each bank account.

Take a letter from the bank where you maintain the FD mentioning that you hold between xxx-date to yyy-date (same 90 days as above) an amount of ____ and which can be liquidated at the instruction of the FD holder without any precondition.

The From date and To date exactly on the bank statements/FD letter has to be the same!

[vp77]

Hi neosumit,

I have got the below docs on the maintenance funds -

1. HDFC bank statement from 1 Sep to 7 Dec
2. ICICI bank statement from 1 Sep to 7 Dec
3. Bank of India passbook updated as on yesterday which has the last transaction dtd 1 Dec alongwith the letter from Bank confirming my minimum balance from 1 Sep to 7 Sep and quoting my balance as on 7 Dec
4. FD letter from my bank confirming my FD funds from 29 April 2009 (FD issue date) to 8th Dec..

Does the above proof seem ok? I am planning to apply on Monday.

[neosumit]

Hi neosumit,

I have got the below docs on the maintenance funds -

1. HDFC bank statement from 1 Sep to 7 Dec
2. ICICI bank statement from 1 Sep to 7 Dec
3. Bank of India passbook updated as on yesterday which has the last transaction dtd 1 Dec alongwith the letter from Bank confirming my minimum balance from 1 Sep to 7 Sep and quoting my balance as on 7 Dec
4. FD letter from my bank confirming my FD funds from 29 April 2009 (FD issue date) to 8th Dec..

Does the above proof seem ok? I am planning to apply on Monday.

Strictly interpreting the guidelines if amount in FD as on 8th Dec > individual bank balance amount on 7th Dec, then the amount in FD would be considered for back calculation of 90 days.

It implies case worker can say that you hold on 8th Dec only the amount present in FD and resfuse you the points for maintenance funds.

That is why I am insisting that the 'From date' and 'End date' on all the documents of the 'Maintenance funds' has to be the same in case an applicant wants to show multiple sources!
In your case you should have the FD 'till date' as 7th Dec.

[vp77]

Ok.

So I'll have the date changed in FD letter stating below -

Funds available since 29 April 2009 (date of issue) to 7th Dec.

Would the above work? any more change required?

Also, what about the pass book? its updated till 1st Dec since there are no transactions beyond that date. But I have a letter from Bank confirming minimum balance from 1st Sep to 7 Dec and current balance as on 7 Dec.

[neosumit]

Ok.

So I'll have the date changed in FD letter stating below -

Funds available since 29 April 2009 (date of issue) to 7th Dec.

Would the above work? any more change required?

Also, what about the pass book? its updated till 1st Dec since there are no transactions beyond that date. But I have a letter from Bank confirming minimum balance from 1st Sep to 7 Dec and current balance as on 7 Dec.

Take letters from all the banks stating the minimum balance from 1 Sep 2010 till 7 Dec 2010 is XXX amount.

Show to the case worker that when all the minimum amounts and the amount in FD is added, then you hold well over 2800 in the last 90+ days.

[neosumit]

I have finally collected my passport.

The entry clearance is valid from 11 Feb 2011 as requested by me.

Cheers to all!!