Can I appeal a visa refusal ???

[toon_bloke]

Hi,

I am completly new to the whole UK visa situation and feel a little confused by the whole process.

The reason for this post is that I have my own business selling car accessories on the Internet. Most of the products are imported directly from Chinese suppliers (isn't everything these days!) and I have been over to China twice to meet a number of the suppliers.

I am interested in some products from a potential new Chinese supplier (have not done any business with them yet) and want to discuss some new ideas for products with them. The Chinese firm applied for a visa for their sales manager (30-year old woman) to come to UK for a 10-day business trip to visit us at the end of Jan 07 and discuss the various ideas and for her to see what our business does. They used a visa agent in Shangai to help with the process. My business sent a letter of invitation plus other documentation and the Chinese business submitted all the documentation that the visa agent specified.

Naively, I assumed this would be just a case of rubber-stamping the application form.

However, I have now found that the visa application has been refused - from the limited information I have received it would appear that the visa officer did not believe that it was a genuine application because the cost of the trip was significantly more than the salary of the sales manager.

This made me laugh because they are comparing UK costs for flights, hotels, expenses, etc with a Chinese salary!!!

Anyway, I want to appeal against the decision and I have no idea what my options are for appealing.

I think I would prefer to appeal in the UK (rather than from China) - is this possible ? If so, what is the procedure, what information will I need to show, etc.

Many thanks in advance...

[Jeff Albright]

Is there a right of appeal?
Has she been given an Appeal form (AIT-2)?
If yes, then go ahead appeal. Appeals are processed very fast nowadays - 1.5 - 2 months and you will know the outcome.

Good luck!

[vin123]

Hi,

That was rather unfortunate. From my understanding, the whole business visa approval process is manually done based on the following 2
- Personal circumstances shown
- Supporting evidences of the trip.

With your clients case, it appears like the personal circumstances furnished ( e.g. salary, age, job and other relevant social/economic tie-ups within China) didn’t quite impress the visa officer, and hence it was refused.

You can carry on with appeal, but I would recommend seeking some professional advice on this matter.

[toon_bloke]

Rather than going through the appeal process, would it be quicker and more chance of being successful, for our company to apply again for a visa for the sales manager from the UK ?

Can we apply again now or is there a time limit before another application can be made ?

Maybe we would have success if my company indicated that we will sponsor the trip rather than the Chinese supplier footing the bill. Would this make any difference ?

Would it also help if I included details of my two trips to China last year ?