Problems applying for a 10 year UK visitor visa for my wife

[ferdis]

My wife has traveled with me to the UK several times over the past ten years on a 6-month visitor visa. She now wishes to apply for a 10-year visitor visa.

 

Vfsglobal says applicants should complete and pay for the application on GOV.UK. And after payment, they will be directed back to the VFS Global website to book the appointment. 

 

Unfortunately, this did not happen for us.

 

GOV.UK did not send us back to VFS Global after the PayPal payment. However, PayPal took the money from our account.

 

It has happened twice now. We have contacted GOV.UK multiple times by email and telephone, but they ignore our questions. The only solution they can offer is to request a refund, clear cookies and cache, and try again. They have also suggested using out-of-date web browsers (see attached).

Vfsglobal is unable to help either. They say GOV.UK handles all email and telephone inquiries. They did however, send a link for visa technical issues that no longer works www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Home/ViewFAQ

 

The refund process takes up to 6 weeks, so we don't want to risk paying another £820. For all we know, it could happen again.

 

Has anyone else encountered similar issues? We have called and emailed the UK visa office many times but don't seem to be getting anywhere.