Visa for parents - No NOC from father's employer

Hi,

I am planning to sponsor the visiting visas for my parents. They plan to be in UK in mid September for about a couple of months. My mother is a housewife has previously been to UK while it will be the first trip for my father. I am a British citizen. While we do have all the necessary documents, both for applicants and the sponsor, there is one glitch that I wanted to take your suggestion about.

My father is central government of India employee and is retiring at the end of the month. However, his Regional Manager has refused to give him a NOC for the travel in September. He was planning to apply in the middle of the month when he would be in Calcutta.

Is there an alternative to the NOC if we still want to go ahead with the application and the appointment is a couple of weeks before his retirement? Even though he is applying while he is still in job, he will have retired at the time of travel. He should therefore technically not need the NOC. However, how can we put this information across in the application?

If the option above is not straightforward, the other option is wait until the end of the month and apply soon after he retires. He wont need the NOC but he will still have to give the employer details and the date of employment on the application form. However, do you think a visa application soon after the retirement will raise alarms about the intention of the visit? He of course has proof of assets and family ties to sufficiently demonstrate that he will return.

Please therefore suggest which would be the safest option to go for given my father's employment circumstances. Any other suggestions welcome.


Regards,
ff

perhaps include in the covering letter and/or at the end of the application (where you can provide additional information) something as:

Currently employed with “XYZ Govt Depart” and due to retire from services on dd/mm/yyyy. Will be travelling to UK for family visit after retirement hence employment leave of absence/employers no objection letter not provided.

however do ensure they provide sufficient evidence in support of their ties to the home country.