Context:
- I applied for a UK visitor visa late-February for my Grandmother (age: 83) and first-cousin (age: 31) to attend my wedding in April.
- My Grandmother is from a rural area in Pakistan, where women do not have bank accounts or anything in their name e.g. when my Grandfather died the power of attorney and the deed to the house was given to the first son to manage.
- In the past 10 years, my Grandmother has travelled to the USA. Her other son is an American citizen and my Grandmother is a green card holder.
- In her application form, I said she was "retired" but she actually has never been in employment.
- I included information about the itinerary of the wedding and that she would be staying for 20 days, where I also attached a hotel reservation for the dates she was intending to stay for.
- I provided a letter of invitation that included my full sponsorship and funding of the trip - this was to amount to £2000 and I attached a bank statement showing funds available amounting to around £10000. This, however, was only one sheet.
- I mentioned that her annual funds are around 500,000 PKR (£2,748) and that this is a regular allowance/fixed income from family members
- I attached her son's bank statement which showed (£9,000) available; however, there was evidence of any fixed income/regular allowance from a family member. Essentially, my grandmother has land that is (as far as I remember) in her name and income generated from this land (from rent) is directly deposited into her first son's account and also managed by him. So, when and as my grandmother needs money, she will ask her son - however, it is not a regular or fixed income. Additionally, she does not have a bank account, so there is no proof of receiving that income from her son.
- To explain further, I did not mention any income she receives from her land (which is managed by her son) - so that figure of £2,748 annually will perhaps be five - ten times more than what it would be had that been included.
Questions:
1) In light of the information above and the refusal letter below, would a reapplication before the first wedding date (12th April) be possible? In the sense, would she stand a chance in a second application or does it seem like she will be refused again?
2) I have a feeling that her application was refused because despite proving that I can support her, they want to know her annual income and assess if she's financial stable in Pakistan. However, how is that possible if she does not have a bank account in her name (due to social reasons) and as well as that her son manages her finances and provides her with money as and when she needs it?
3) I fear that my incorrect information about her being 'retired' might jeopardise future applications as if a new application now confirms her as unemployed rather than 'retired', will that not look extremely suspicious?
4) As her application did not include any income from land, if a reapplication were to include an income that was five or ten times the original amount mentioned, would that cause further issues?
5) If we were to do a reapplication for my grandmother, I will not be sponsoring my first cousin to travel or come to attend the wedding - this is purely because I don't want my grandmother's application jeopardised further as his rejection seemed like a serious dismissal (I will attach his refusal separately below). So, if I were to reapply for my grandmother without my first-cousin, would this need to be stated in the application form (as the original application mentions she'd be travelling with my first-cousin)? As well as this, what possible reasons could I provide?[/list]
If you have any further information that goes beyond these questions, please do let me know!
Apologies for the bad angles/quality of the refusals (they were taken by my uncle in Pakistan):
Grandmother's Refusal:
