anyone know how to withdraw visa application from Visa4UK?

[bridgeponte]

Hello everyone,

I'm coming on here because I'm desperate. The contact support for the visa4uk visa application website is absolutely horrendous, I'm starting to think I am paying to email robots who reply to me with a basic script.

Basic run down of my situation:

I'm applying for a settlement visa as a married partner of a UK citizen. Everything was going fine until we were setting up my appointment for biometrics. At the time of making the appointment there was absolutely no information telling me that the actual full visa application would be sent out to the UK at this appointment. So I made the appointment way too early, some essential documents were missing, there was no way I'd be able to send the application off to the UK at that appointment.

By the time i figured out this mistake, it was already within 5 days of the appointment and so instead of being able to reschedule I had to request a refund of my visa application fee and then pay again and then make a new appointment. It was an absolute mess trying to request a refund in the first place, the system is buggy, information was wrong in the refund request form and the page wouldn't allow me to change it. I spent 5 quid to talk to a technical support person (robot) who told me the website only works on internet explorer 8,9, and 10, long story short I was able to send in the request. Only to be followed by radio silence. For a full week. No confirmation of the request no communication, no reply after many outgoing emails from me to them.

SO NOW. I have accepted my fate that I might have to fight with them for a while to receive this money back but I thought AT LEAST I'll be able to just pay the application fee again and continue on with my visa application and worry about the refund later. Nope of course not. My entire application is basically locked, I can't click anything, I can't make a new biometrics appointment, I can't pay the visa application fee again. The contact number and email they provide are absolutely useless so I am well and truly stumped and frustrated and about to lose my mind.

Does anyone have any advice? Was anyone in this situation? Please help.

[arfinkhan128]

Don’t waste your time and money contacting them just Register with a new email address and fill in the information again.

My account got locked and they where not able to do anything about it they advices me to make a new account.

[bridgeponte]

Thanks for your advice. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to do that because I already sent in my application, signed the declaration and everything. Will it mess up the visa process if I send in another application? And what about the IHS and application refund, were you able to get refunds on those eventually?

[dillonuw]

I went through the same troubles with requesting a refund. All government offices were closed in Washington, D.C. on the day of my biometrics appointment due to a windstorm. With no way to reschedule the appointment from Visa4UK's site, I contacted UKVI for advice. They told me to request a cancellation of the entire application from the Visa4UK site (which refunds your payments in about 25 days) and start completely anew. It's definitely a pain. It's pretty easy to re-input all the information and get the ball rolling again, but you will have to pay again while you wait for your money to get refunded.


(And then, months later while you wait for results from your actual visa application, you will get a bizarre email telling you that the first one has arrived at the consulate in your country [mine was New York] despite the fact that it was canceled and never got sent anywhere... fun, fun. )

[bridgeponte]

I went through the same troubles with requesting a refund. All government offices were closed in Washington, D.C. on the day of my biometrics appointment due to a windstorm. With no way to reschedule the appointment from Visa4UK's site, I contacted UKVI for advice. They told me to request a cancellation of the entire application from the Visa4UK site (which refunds your payments in about 25 days) and start completely anew. It's definitely a pain. It's pretty easy to re-input all the information and get the ball rolling again, but you will have to pay again while you wait for your money to get refunded.


(And then, months later while you wait for results from your actual visa application, you will get a bizarre email telling you that the first one has arrived at the consulate in your country [mine was New York] despite the fact that it was canceled and never got sent anywhere... fun, fun. )

That is some awful luck, sorry to hear about that. I've read so many horror stories with this website sometimes I think they make it difficult for us on purpose. How did creating a new application work out for you? Did anything get messed up from you having two applications submitted at the same time, or did you have to cancel your first one before you sent the second one out? Did you ever get your refund?

[dillonuw]

The site allows you to send in as many at a time as you like, but that would not make much sense unless you are moving a family.

Basically, on my Visa4UK dashboard, I have two completed applications. The first one is the one with the appointment that I could not reschedule. Its status reads 'Complete' and it has Application Completed and Declaration Signed in green font, but nothing else. Since it was canceled, I can no longer edit it. The second application is the one that I finished, did a biometrics appointment for, printed and sent to Sheffield. It also says 'Completed,' but ALL of the buttons are green and I can still click them.

I'm still waiting for results from my application and did get my refund from the first one about three weeks after I requested it. It made money a bit tight for a few weeks ($4112 USD is a lot harder to swallow than $2056 USD) but hey, that's what emergency credit cards are for.

[bridgeponte]

The site allows you to send in as many at a time as you like, but that would not make much sense unless you are moving a family.

Basically, on my Visa4UK dashboard, I have two completed applications. The first one is the one with the appointment that I could not reschedule. Its status reads 'Complete' and it has Application Completed and Declaration Signed in green font, but nothing else. Since it was canceled, I can no longer edit it. The second application is the one that I finished, did a biometrics appointment for, printed and sent to Sheffield. It also says 'Completed,' but ALL of the buttons are green and I can still click them.

I'm still waiting for results from my application and did get my refund from the first one about three weeks after I requested it. It made money a bit tight for a few weeks ($4112 USD is a lot harder to swallow than $2056 USD) but hey, that's what emergency credit cards are for.

Okay good, at least there's some hope of seeing that money again. It really is a pain in the butt though. That's basically what I'm in the midst of doing as well, that's what my dashboard looks like. I've heard you have to submit your request to withdraw the application in writing, did you do that? And also, how did you manage to request your IHS refund, through email to UKVI? Thanks so much for your help.

[dillonuw]

You can request a refund from the site itself by clicking "View Payment" on the application that you would like to cancel. There is a tiny Request Refund link further down the page (number 7).

Also, from the FAQ ( https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Home/ViewFAQ ) on the IHS charge:
How do I get a refund of an Immigration Health Surcharge payment?
The Home Office will automatically process any refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge owed to you once your application has been decided. Full details of the refund policy for the Immigration Health Surcharge, including how this is obtained and how long it will take, can be found by using https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration and searching for 'Immigration Health Surcharge'

My proposed civil partnership application did not require a surcharge payment, so I cannot comment on how well that works. YMMV.

Hope this works out for you!

[bridgeponte]

Hello Everyone,

So due to some complications thanks to the very competent people over at the Visa4UK website, I am needing to withdraw my visa application and get a refund on both the application fee and IHS.

How do I do this? No one from their contact center is telling me. I've read I need to submit my withdrawal in writing but to what address and to who? My IHS fee refund will only begin to be processed once the withdrawal goes through. Also, I still need to submit my new visa application and I'd rather not have two duplicates of the same application out there at the same time, something might go screwy while processing.

• I'm applying from outside the UK (Munich, Germany)

• I haven't done my biometrics yet

• the visa application has not been sent off to home office

If anyone knows I'd really appreciate some help. Thanks!

[Blighty]

On my wife's settlement visa account, I discovered the following:

Selected 'View Payment'
Selected 'Request Refund'- which has a free-form area to explain why you want a refund.

Just them you want a refund as you want to cancel the Visa.