Unusual Visa Refusals - Tier 4

[SirF]

My friend applied for a Tier 4 (student) visa to come to the UK from Jordan. He studied for his undergraduate degree here and wants to return to the same institution to study for his masters.

He applied a couple of weeks ago and was refused on the grounds that there was a letter missing; the letter from his father saying that he could use the funds in his bank account (which were more than sufficient.)

This was strange as he was 100% sure he had submitted that letter with the application. He spoke to the people in the offices, and they said something along the lines of "well, it happens, people don't see things or letters get lost. Apply again."

Which is bad, particularly financially, but he is going to fill in a new application as the course begins soon.

However, he has also heard recently of other people in his country who have had strange refusals. Friends of his parents know of seven Tier 4 refusals, one of which was someone who was refused on the basis of inadequate funds despite having a great deal more money than that required in their bank account.

The thing that's very concerning is, is it possible that people are simply being turned away for no reason. That the government have issued some kind of invisible cap, or are limiting visas with nonsense refusals? This is very worrying, particularly as there are no appeals.

Has anyone had, or heard of, similar situations to this at the current time?

[Lucapooka]

Every refusal must be accompanied by a refusal notice letter stating why the visa was refused and nobody can be turned away for no reason. Mistakes happen and details can be overlooked but that is what the administrative review is for. If the ECO has not spotted something that is obvious, another (different) ECO should be able to correct this in the AR. It's a points-based application (but nevertheless a strict one) that has been designed to eliminate arbitrary decisions that plague other categories of entry clearance. If you score the points as defined by the rules, you get the visa; it's as simple as that. I am inclined to believe that a lot of refusals are for poorly-presented applications where the applicant has not read the guidance or provided the necessary paperwork outlined therein.

[Susan83]

Tell me about UKBA in JORDAN
I'm having a hard time with them myself.

I read an inspection report about them and it tells you how incompetent they are.
They refused my visa for the wrong reason, the refusal letter said Administrative Review enclosed and nothing was enclosed, they retained very important documents although i provided copies and stated the importace of having them back.

Now getting in touch with anyone at the embassy is a whole different story.

Good Luck!!!

[SirF]

Thanks for your responses; I found the report on the Amman UKBA.

I understand that the points-based system was meant to make the whole process transparent and less arbitrary. However, I guess there is no sure fire system to get rid of bureaucratic ineptitude.

http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/w ... Jordan.pdf

(the foreword on page 4 is a summary)

Fingers crossed, and for you too Susan83

[Susan83]

Thanks SirF

Good luck to everyone applying especially those applying from Jordan