General Visitor Visa. Please Help

[ady75]

I would like to ask your help and opinion. I am the Sponsor for my Russian friend who plans to visit England on the 29th October. We applied for a General Visitor Visa from Moscow. I sent all my correct documents including Invitation Letter and Sponsor Letter for my friend to stay with me and my family. My friend submitted all her necessary documents. The only problem is one document the Reference from her boss and company was not translated into English because there was not enough time. But she gave her bosses and company contact information in English at the Visa Application Centre. Do you think she has a good chance of getting her Visitor Visa or will the one not translated document mean her visa application will be refused? She is rather concerned and I need to book the hotel soon.

I thank you very much for your help and really appreciate it.

[Lucapooka]

Personally, I don't think one document in Russian should be an issue (but depends on the overall quality of the application and their situation). Yes, translations are requested but this is not of central importance if the Entry Clearance Hub is actually inside the country where the visa application is made rather than another location; somewhere where the ECAs don't understand a foreign language. They will certainly have bi-lingual, locally-employed Entry Clearance Assistants in the Moscow visa section who will be able to read what the letter is saying. The role of the ECA is to verify all paperwork before presenting it the ECO for assessment. Some locations even have locally-employed ECOs who are themselves bi-lingual. This is the case in Brazil where the omission of translations of Portuguese documents is generally not seen as an impediment to the issue of entry clearance. However, the visa post in Rio is notoriously reasonable and fair-minded in its operations. Other locations, where there is a high rate of fraud and deception, seem to adopt a very strict inflexible system. If she provided bank statements then hopefully her on-going income will show this. Good luck!

I think what matters here is that the employer letter is deemed sufficient to determine her ties to Russia that will motivate her return from the UK, irrespective of the language.