Visitor Visa Refusal - Family members of British nationals

[rahulmisra204]

Hi,

Visitor visa application of my in-laws was refused last month. It came as a surprise as they were granted a UK visa before. The only change in circumstances from last time was their sponsors (my wife and myself) are now British citizens. They overlooked documentation provided for fixed deposits.

Has anyone else faced rejections for family visit visas recently?

I'm pasting the contents of the refusal letter received for reference of community.

• You intend to travel to the UK to spend five months with your daughter and her family. You have provided a sponsorship letter from her, whilst I accept you sponsor XXXXXXXX has offered maintenance and accommodation for your trip, it is your own, personal circumstances and the credibility of your trip that I must assess for this application. Whilst I understand the importance of family visits under the UK immigration rules, you must show that you qualify for a visa by explaining your own circumstances and the plans you have for your visit.
• In assessing your application I am mindful of the fact that you were previously granted a Visa to visit the UK in 2011, however you are required to demonstrate that you meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules on each occasion that you apply.
• You have stated that you are retired and receive £200 per month from savings and investments. You have submitted copies of your State Bank of India account, ending XXXX. This shows a closing balance of INR 102519 (£1025). Only one other documents has been submitted, however this is untranslated and as such I am unable to place much weight on it.
• I recognise that your sponsor in the UK has supplied you with evidence showing you will be maintained and accommodated whilst you are in the UK but I consider that you have not provided any credible basis upon which I might assess your own circumstances here in India or the likelihood of your intension to leave the UK on completion of your proposed trip and your application is therefore refused under appendix V: 4.2(a) (c).


There were fixed deposit statements worth £15K which was overlooked, the untranslated document was property paper, however it was submitted like this last time. In any case, if they are satisfied with the cost of the trip being taken care of and a track record of good use of visa granted earlier I don't see a reason for refusal. Does this mean poor family members cannot visit? What was the sponsorship letter and documents for then?

There is no right for administrative review and appeal so I'll get my in-laws to apply again. It is really disgusting for Home Office to do this to non EU family members of British citizens and residents.

[CR001]

There is no right for administrative review and appeal so I'll get my in-laws to apply again. It is really disgusting for Home Office to do this to non EU family members of British citizens and residents.

You are of course free to visit them in your home country!! The onus is on the applicants to prove their ties and circumstances in their home country. HO is becoming more stringent on the visitor visa due to years of abuse by visitors who effectively live in the UK 6 out of 12 months and this year alone has seen many visas such as your parents' being refused.

Reapply and address the issues raised in the refusal, provide as much of their documentary evidence as possible of their ties and financial circumstances.

[rahulmisra204]

Statements showing Fixed deposits of £15,000 were overlooked by the visa officer. This is not being strict. It is being careless and reckless. Years of abuse of a visa route doesn't justify punishing everyone else who is playing by the rules. They could have called if they had any concerns. Had I been a French national, my family would have got a free EEA permit without having to provide any documentation other than family links. If we as a community don't stand for our rights, who else will?

I'll reapply as there is no other option. Hope they get it this time.

[secret.simon]

Here is another case on these forums of a long-term visit visa being denied and a pre-existing one being curtailed due to long stays in the UK.

Does this mean poor family members cannot visit?

It is upto the family members to prove that they have sufficient wherewithal to survive in the UK for the period of their stay and that they have sufficiently strong links to their normal country of residence for them to return before their visa expires.

I would interprete it as meaning that they have sufficient liquid funds for them to return to their residence where things to go downhill while they were in the UK. A robust travel insurance policy,w hich covers most eventualities, would help, as would having liquid funds.

As regards property documents, different ECOs may or may not understand their import. It would be best to attach a translation and a cover letter explaining it.

There have been times on there forums where I have not understood the terms being used by people from the country where I used to reside a decade ago. Terminology and language evolve and it is in your self-interest to make it as easy as it is for the ECO to issue the visa.

There is an interesting thread on these forums by laager. He claimed British citizenship by descent through a very complicated interpretation of the law. He researched the law, collected the evidence and documented it so well that the Home Office found it easy to issue him a passport.

Similarly, the onus is on the applicant to prove all the documentation to the UKV&I to make it easy to issue the visa, not argue that as it was not done last time, it is not necessary this time either.

Statements showing Fixed deposits of £15,000 were overlooked by the visa officer

I do not think that the ECO considers FDs for the simple reason that they are not immediately accessible in case of an emergency. There have been a few cases on these forums in the past few months where the ECO has rejected finances based on FDs. However, in one case, one of the applicants was successful after he got a letter from the bank stating that he can break his FDs and access fund from abroad.

Years of abuse of a visa route doesn't justify punishing everyone else who is playing by the rules.

They do justify tightening the rules so as to make it harder for the rules to be abused in the future.

Had I been a French national, my family would have got a free EEA permit without having to provide any documentation other than family links.

That indeed is discriminatory and foisted on us by European law. Given the strength of feeling about EU migration, I daresay we will be out of it in a few years time, after the referendum. Then all of us will have to suffer equally, with no "Surinder Singh route" et al.

[rumi]

Hi Rahul

Sorry to hear about family visa refusal. I just got my family's 10 year visa granted and I did submitted all the documents similar to you. Only thing which I did differently was that to attach a letter from a chartered accountant enlisting all the assets with values.

My suggestion based on my experience is this that if you do re apply make sure you add this document .

All the best

Rumi

[Wanderer]

Statements showing Fixed deposits of £15,000 were overlooked by the visa officer. This is not being strict. It is being careless and reckless. Years of abuse of a visa route doesn't justify punishing everyone else who is playing by the rules. They could have called if they had any concerns. Had I been a French national, my family would have got a free EEA permit without having to provide any documentation other than family links. If we as a community don't stand for our rights, who else will?

I'll reapply as there is no other option. Hope they get it this time.

Fixed deposits are not considered liquid funds so they were not overlooked, they were just ignored.