Hi,
I wonder if I can get some help on appealing my uncles visitor visa which was rejected on 22nd December 2017.
I am a british citizen and I was sponsoring the visit for my uncle.
I have just had a look at the refusal letter which he received and it looks to me like the immigration officer has not even read the visa application properly and most the points they have made are wrong due to them not looking at the sponsoring letter that was also provided with the application.
I wrote the following letter to the Complaints Allocation Hub who took forever to reply only to tell me they can't deal with the query as it is out of country and directed me to the direct gov website.
To whom it may concern,
Reconsideration request in reference to the ‘Standard Visitor Viss'
I am writing this letter to address my Uncle's application for a ‘Standard Visit Visa’. We received your notice of decision “Refusal of a Visit Visa” on the 22nd December 2017 (refusal date given as 13th December 2017) which stated that the application fell for refusal under paragraph(s) V4.2 and V4.3 of Appendix V: Immigration Rules for Visitors. We are extremely dissatisfied with the decision that has been reached in regards to my uncle and I believe the refusal was unjust. I would therefore like to request a reconsideration of the decision.
My uncle applied for his visa on 2nd December 2017 and he attended Gerry’s office in Islamabad on 8th December 2017. On 22nd December 2017 my uncle collected his passport and decision letter, which showed that the visa was refused.
The letter stated the following reasons for refusal:
• You state you are unemployed and receive £3000 a year from family. However the documents submitted do not support this, it is therefore not clear how you are supported in Pakistan. I am therefore not satisfied your financial circumstances are as you have set out. [Paragraph 1]
• You state that your visit will cost you £2000, in support of this you have submitted your UBL bank account with a closing balance of PKR 72,487.85 (£498.81) on 06/12/17 which is insufficient to cover your stated costs. [Paragraph 2]
• You further state that your niece will contribute £2000 for your visit. However the documents submitted do not show any funds in your niece’s name. I am therefore not satisfied your sponsor can support you during your visit. [Paragraph 3]
• I am not satisfied that you accurately presented your circumstances or intentions in wishing to enter the United Kingdom. This undermines the credibility of your application to the extent that I am not satisfied that you are genuinely seeking entry as a visitor, intend to leave the uk at the end of your visit, or have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to your visit. Furthermore I am not satisfied you have demonstrated your sponsor in the UK can and will provide support during your visit. Refused under paragraphs V4.2 (a) (c) (e) and V4.3 (c) of the Immigration rules. [Paragraph 4]
First of all it was apparent from the letter that a decision was made on my Uncle’s application on 13th December 2017, which meant if any clarification was required it would have been possible to call my Uncle and seek clarification but this wasn’t done. I know it is not normal protocol to call and seek clarification but was an option that was available to the caseworker.
I will like to justify each point that has been presented within the refusal notification relating it to the immigration rules and why I think an incorrect decision has been made.
Genuine intention to visit:
1. V 4.2 The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor. This means that the applicant:
(a) will leave the UK at the end of their visit; and
My Uncle applied for a short term standard visit visa to meet my mother, myself and the rest of my family, whom all are British Citizens, I provided a copy of my Passport.
My Uncle lives with his father, his wife, 4 children, elderly uncle and a disabled brother and has no intention of leaving them without any other immediate family members being able to provide care. Taking care of his family is his responsibility and going away in this part of their age and leaving them alone for a long period of time would be unreasonable. His intentions are to visit his sister (my mother) and our family for a period of 3 months, taking part in some tourist activities and then returning back to his family.
I wrote a supporting letter dated 2nd December 2017, inviting my Uncle to the UK to visit us and spend time with my mother whose health is deteriorating and confirmed after the visit my Uncle would return back to his family. There was no legitimate reason for the Clearance Officer to believe that my Uncle would not leave the UK and not return to his family as he had provided evidence to showing his strong links to Pakistan. My Uncle also stated in his application he would be returning back to Pakistan after the visit and did not intend to stay longer as he understood the importance of my job and the reputable position I hold as a Civil Servant and wouldn’t want to jeopardise that.
The information provided in my Uncles application, supporting documents and my supporting letter clearly shows that my uncle does meet the requirement of V4.2 (a) and will leave the UK at the end of the visit. He does not have any intentions to stay in the UK as he has stronger ties in Pakistan.
(c) is genuinely seeking entry for a purpose that is permitted by the visitor routes (these are listed in Appendices 3, 4 and 5);
Under ‘Permitted activities’ in Appendix 3, subheading 'Tourism and leisure', it clearly states '3. A visitor may visit friends and family and / or come to the UK for a holiday'. Visiting one’s sister and her family certainly does fall within this category. My supporting letter clearly stated the sole reasons behind my Uncle’s visit to the UK. The reason for the visit was to meet his sister, myself and the rest of my family as it had been over 7 years since some of us had met my Uncle. It also would allow him to meet my nieces who are aged 7 and 5, who possibly won’t ever get the chance to visit Pakistan. As well as meeting the family another reason was my Uncle had a great desire to see the British culture and way of life and to experience this he would be taking part in tourist activities including visiting historic places.
The information providing in my Uncles application, supporting documents and my supporting letter illustrate that my uncle does meet the requirement of V4.2 (c) as he will be visiting his family and take part in some tourism activities.
(e) must have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to their visit without working or accessing public funds. This includes the cost of the return or onward journey, any costs relating to dependants, and the cost of planned activities such as private medical treatment.
Referring to paragraph 2 of the refusal point (listed above) it stated that the bank statement where supplied showed PKR 72,497.85 (£498.81 as of decision date 13/12/2017) but using Oanda currency convertor it shows as of 08/12/17 when the documents were submitted the balance is £510.99. The fund my uncle had available would support ¼ of the visit. But as his niece who is sponsoring my Uncle to visit with the main reason of my Uncle being able to spend time with my mother, I would be covering all the costs of the journey including food, travel, accommodation and any other costs incurred.
I appreciate that my Uncle has to show that he has funds to travel to the UK my Uncle is able to show that he can contribute to his journey and did clearly state in the application that I would be taking all financial responsibility for my Uncle which also meets the requirement for V4.2 (e) as my Uncle won't be working or having any access to public funds during the visit as I would be providing the full support and my uncle has some money (PKR 72,497.85) as extra available and easily accessible if needed.
Funds, maintenance and accommodation provided by a third party
1. V 4.3 A visitor’s travel, maintenance and accommodation may be provided by a third party where the decision maker is satisfied that they:
(c) Can and will provide support to the visitor for the intended duration of their stay.
The main reason as to why I would like the application to be reconsidered and strongly believe that the respected caseworker had made an incorrect decision was based on the refusal paragraph 3. The caseworker stated that “your niece will contribute £2000 for your visit. However the documents submitted do not show any funds in your niece’s name. I am therefore not satisfied your sponsor can support you during your visit.” I can confirm no documents were submitted to show I had the funds available to support my Uncle during his stay in the United Kingdom but vital information was overlooked by the caseworker. With the documents my Uncle submitted I provided a SU07 form and also a supporting letter outlining the reasons for my Uncle’s visit and that I will be taking all financial responsibility for my Uncle. I had included in the letter that I had not provided any bank statement or payslips and the caseworker could contact me for these.
I am a Civil Servant and work as a PA/Executive Officer to the Director and thought it would be appropriate to provide my payslips and bank statements directly to the caseworker rather than it going through Gerry’s office and being scanned over. The supporting letter which I provided with my Uncle's application listed all the ways the caseworker could contact me and taking into consideration that the decision was made on the 13th December 2017 there was still time in the service standard for the caseworker to contact me and request the information. If I hadn’t provided the supporting letter requesting the caseworker to contact me for financial evidence and further information then I would have been content with the refusal decision. As no contact was made it was a failure on the side of the caseworker in not being able to assess the information provided with the supporting documents.
Furthermore it seemed that the caseworker had used a blanket refusal statement when refusing under paragraphs V4.2 (a) (c) (e) and V4.3 (c) of the Immigration rules. V4.3 (c) would not apply in this circumstance as the supporting letter submitted requested the Clearance Officer to contact me. I was not provided a fair opportunity as the documents had not been requested even though supporting letter had indicated to the Clearance Officer that this could be done.
Below is a section from the supporting letter clearly stating that I should be contacted;
'I am a civil servant and currently employed by the **** ***** as an Executive Officer/PA to the Director. I have not enclosed any evidence of employment and therefore, please contact me directly if you require any financial or employment evidence.' And it also stated that 'I give you my full assurance that I can support, maintain and accommodate my uncle without any recourse to public funds.'
From what I am aware a decision is based on the information provided at the time of application, which clearly shows that I had asked to be contacted for financial or employment evidence and this was not done. The Clearance Officer made an assumption that I would not be able to support my Uncle's visit.
Outlining the issues above, on a balance of probabilities it is really disheartening that my Uncle's visa application was refused on nothing concrete but flimsy grounds. Had the Clearance Officer not assumed his circumstances and made the relevant contact, I believe the correct decision would have been reached.
Kind regards
*******
I am going to appeal the decision but I want to know if there is anything else I can do in the meantime for them to reconsider the application or whether I can speak to UKBA here in the UK to get them to turn it around. I've contacted a few places and conscious of time and I don't think I should be submitting a new application when all the details where provided just some over looked by the Entry Clearance Officer.
Any advice is highly appreciated.
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