Advice please - GF's 1st Visit Visa Refused

[TroyC]

Just hoping for any advice from the more experienced amongst you, we just got the refusal letter for the 1st Applications for my gf's UK visit visa, and yes i am under no illusions of how difficult it will be especially due to her unemployment status in Thailand. I understand the chances of getting a visa for her are pretty slim but i still want to give it the best shot i can.

 

The refusal letter gave the 2 reasons as follows:

 

"You state that you live in Udon Thani are unemployed and have no savings of your own. You have declared that you received a regular income from your family of xxx Thai Baht. You have provided various land documents and deeds however these documents do not satisfactorily evidence your financial circumstances as there is no indication how you receive any revenue from these properties. The documents also do not indicate the source of the regular income stated in your application and therefore i am not satisfied about the circumstances surrounding your finances in Thailand"

 

"You have provided an account statement for Bangkok Bank Account xxxx. Whilst i acknowledge the funds present in your account, i note that the transactions made to this account do not correspond with your stated annual income. The documents provided do not satisfactorily evidence the source of these funds. These discrepancies lead to doubts as to whether the closing balance of your account forms an accurate picture of your personal circumstances or that these monies are genuinely available to you"

 

Now when i completed the original Visa Application Form - there was a section for Employment followed by Income and Expenditure - now i presumed the money which i send my partner would be regarded as income, so i completed the application with that understanding, so i entered the following:

What is your employment status? - Unemployed
Do you have any other income or any savings? - Other regular income
What kind of regular income do you have? - Allowance or regular money from your family
Total amount that you get in a year - xxxx Thai Baht
How much money are you planning to spend on your visit to the UK? - £xxxx
What is the total amount of money you spend each month? - xxxx Thai Baht

 

and for the total amount she received in a year, i made sure the amount was twice what was showing as credited to her bank account from me for her 6 month bank statements we provided.

 

For supporting evidence i included all the remittances for money transfers i had made into my partners Bangkok Bank - which matched her bank statement, and also matched the exact figure i gave for her "other regular income" We also made no references anywhere about receiving any income from her properties because she does not.
In both our covering letters i also stated that i send my partner a regular payment to her Bangkok bank every month. I also included a sponsors letter stating i would cover ALL her costs for this visit.

So is it because i selected the "Other regular income" and "Allowance or regular money from your family" which has caused this problem? On our next attempt for a visa should i select No Income.
Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully accepted.
 

[theoldgit]

First of all you can't presume anything, when your girlfriend submitted her application she needed to satisfy the decision maker that her proposed trip was affordable and that, on the balance of probablities, she would return to her home in Thailand.

 

You say that you are financing her trip, you needed to satisfy the decision maker that it was not only affordable but that it's reasonable for you do so. Did she provide evidence of your relationship, did you provide evidence of the source of you income and that you could afford to sponsor her.

 

Based on what you've said, no income was shown, you say you provide her an allowance and she has no strong ties to Thailand, did she do any research? 

 

From what you've described the Entry Clearance Officer could be forgiven for thinking that she wished to go to the UK and be with the source of her income, and had no real ties to her home country, so no compelling reasons to return. 

 

I think she needs to start from scratch and start again if she's got any hope of obtaining a visa for a short visit to the UK, if the guys on here are going to offer any advice you need to give us some background, how long have you known her, how long was she intending visiting, two weeks or maybe even four?

 

 

[TroyC]

I supplied a sponsorship letter stating i would cover ALL the costs for her trip to the UK, which we stated would be for one month.

 

I provided 6 months of my bank statements showing ample balances to cover the cost of this.

 

I provided my house council tax, utility bills and a statement showing my mortgage has been cleared.

 

We have been together 2 years, in which time have spent 9+ months together in Thailand - i supplied photocopy of my passport showing the relevant Thai visas, hotel bookings together, internal Thai flights together, we have also rented property together in Thailand which i supplied the contracts from. Also supplied photo and communication evidence for the entire duration of our 2 year relationship.

 

I stated that i give my GF a monthly allowance, and provided details of the transfers i had made for this.

[Tony M]

Were there any other reasons for refusal ?  If not, then my own personal view is that the reasons are unlawful. UKVI will probably disagree, and will argue that the ECO "was not satisfied", and that is the reason that he reached his decision to refuse the application.

If you wish to request a review of the decision, then it must be done through the UKVI Contact Centre, and costs 5.48 GBP for the email to them.  If you would like some help, I am happy to do so.  I don't charge any fee, as I enjoy the challenge. It's more than possible that UKVI will maintain the decision, but no harm in trying.

[TroyC]

Many thanks for your reply Tony M, would you mind if i sent you a PM with a synopsis of all the details, to see what advice you maybe able to offer?

[theoldgit]

3 minutes ago, TroyC said:

Many thanks for your reply Tony M, would you mind if i sent you a PM with a synopsis of all the details, to see what advice you maybe able to offer?

I'd do just that, he certainly won't mind.

[Tony M]

20 minutes ago, TroyC said:

Many thanks for your reply Tony M, would you mind if i sent you a PM with a synopsis of all the details, to see what advice you maybe able to offer?

Of course.  No problem (theoldgit knows me so well !).

[Rob180]

I don't understand this refusal. I have a friend who has obtained 3 tourist visas to the UK for the same girl in the past 4 years. All were granted without any problem. She didn't have to provide much evidence about her finances in Thailand as he stated to them clearly that he was paying for the flights and all her costs when she was here. Sounds to me like you have good grounds to challenge their decision.

Edited July 14, 2019 by Rob180

[GarryUK]

It's a few years back when we were in this situation, rules had just been tightened, but my then girlfriend's first visit visa application was going to be for a trip for more than 4 months. She had no assets and no job, I was supporting her completely. We too got an initial refusal because I didn't explain having a second phone (cheaper international calls), didn't provide evidence of regular communication, and didn't show clearly my financial support. In our re-application we addressed the points from the refusal by providing almost excessive documentation for each one raised. We also reduced the length of her visit by a few weeks (still 13 weeks) to maintain the same date of return to Thailand indicating that we planned to get married on the anniversary of when we met.

 

Point out that the deeds were provided to show assets she owns and did not form any part of her income, apologise for the confusion. Make sure any money you've been sending is paid into her bank account and that she provides statements that reflect these transfers, and make sure she's clear that all her money comes from you. We used Western Union at the time (have since switched to Azimo as it's cheaper), so include any transfer confirmation emails etc. Make sure your sponsorship letter details that you're funding the entire trip from the flights to the money you'll spend whilst she's here. Include proof to show you have sufficient funds to cover the cost of the trip. Medical insurance is recommended as it cost my girlfriend £85 to visit the doctor as we feared her sore throat might be tonsillitis, and travel insurance too in case anything unforeseen should happen. Show quotes for both with start and end dates reflecting the proposed travel dates - it's no guarantee she'll actually go home at the end of the trip, but it suggests that to be the case. And make sure you show evidence of your relationship - the more times you've been to Thailand to see her the better, but you'll need to provide any proof you have that you actually met her each time you went over as visa stamps are not enough - at the very least include dated photos. Post #3 does appear to suggest you did provide this, but be sure it's all very clear.