Visitor Visa Refused,

[Lickey]

We live as a Civil partnership near Udon Thani for 11 months now, i havent left thai in that time, We wanted to go to UK in Oct for 3 weeks as there is 3 family birthdays that month.

I asked questions on this forum,scoured the internet for info to provide a good package for UKvac. this visa is for my gf and her daughter,

Here are some notes from the refusal.....

You returned from the UK 6 days ago,

Yes A YEAR AND 6 DAYS AGO!!!!

It is important that you provide evidence of your economic professional and family circumstances in Thailand,you are a single person of working age with very little in the way of assets,ties or property which might encourage your presence in your country,in addition you have failed to provide any evidence of your employment as a buisness owner,futhermore it is not credible of a genuine buisness owner to take such a long absence from their buisness, i am not satisfied under these circumstances that you are soicially and economically settled in your country.

Assets ties and property,

Property, 5m bht 3 storey beauty salon, 40 rai fruit and salad farm, and another house jointly owned with brother, the ownership books were presented!!! no money is owed on these!

We provided pictures of us and the salon staff {4} outside the salon, also the daily ledger of cash, usually 45/50k a month,

We presented an itenrary of intended flights [courtesy of ThaiVisa travel]

I wrote a letter stating why we wanted to go and why we wanted to return,I provided bank statements, e-mailed letters from my brothers in UK inviting us to stay with them, both have 4 bed houses, they put ALL their contact details on the mails.

We provided a letter from GF sister with ID card PCed on it stating that she would look after GFs buisness in her absence, we got letters from gfs Daughters school about holidays ect and we wanted this holiday so it didnt interupt her studies.

Gf had everything translated into english at a cost of 9kbht.

Does anybody think we have a right to appeal or apply again?? Thanks in advance, {distraught} Lickey..

Edited September 18, 2007 by Lickey

[Mahout Angrit]

There is no facility for you to appeal this decision, that is only afforded to a family visit application.

I suggest supporting documents via email from your family has not helped as they can easily be faked and it is not the responsibility of the ECO to justify that they are genuine

You may also be suffering (and I checked your previous posting) from the fact that your g/f asked for and was granted a stay of 2 months visiting the UK on a previous occasion yet decided to stay 5.5 months while still operating the same business in Thailand. Clearly that business was not a 'reason to return' on that occasion so why would it be now?

I wonder, also, how much value is put on being the joint owner of property as there is always someone else in Thailand to look after it and no reason to return.

I suggest you tidy up your application and apply again.

[Lickey]

Mahout, The buisness my GF had last year was solely run by her in the jointly owned house, since i have lived here, she has sold a bungalow, we pooled our money and built the new salon, she employs 4 staff now. the salon has a house book, is insured and buisness regersted as far as i know, so i believe that this is a good reason to return..

Also the letter does state SIX DAYS AGO, which is totally wrong!! it was a year and 6 days ago!! and circumstances have changed a lot since then,

I can agree with the e-mailed invite letters, i can get this changed to snail mail, which doesent always get here,sadly,,

Do you think it would be better to get the help of a legal advisor to present our case?

TIA Lickey..

[vinny]

Try writing to the Embassy, addressing all their reasons for refusal, pointing out any mistakes and current circumstances, etc.

[Mahout Angrit]

Mahout, The buisness my GF had last year was solely run by her in the jointly owned house, since i have lived here, she has sold a bungalow, we pooled our money and built the new salon, she employs 4 staff now. the salon has a house book, is insured and buisness regersted as far as i know, so i believe that this is a good reason to return..

Also the letter does state SIX DAYS AGO, which is totally wrong!! it was a year and 6 days ago!! and circumstances have changed a lot since then,

I can agree with the e-mailed invite letters, i can get this changed to snail mail, which doesent always get here,sadly,,

Do you think it would be better to get the help of a legal advisor to present our case?

TIA Lickey..

You could give them a call and point out that the 6 day comment was in error but the problem is they have given more than one reason for the refusal. However the other reason is linked to the fact that a business owner would not spend so long away from their business and that conclusion was probably drawn due the misunderstanding about the date of return. It possibly is worth a calm call to the embassy to point it out.

Why did they say she had given no evidence of being a business owner?

If the call is not successful, the only recourse you have is to re-apply, get proper letters of invitation from your family stating they are the owners and giving details of the size of the house and number of current occupiers and state that there is room for you all.

Presumably you have given proof that you can fund the trip.

As well as giving details of the business as a 'reason to return' you should give evidence of your long relationship and prove that you (lickey) are based in Thailand as that will also be evidence that she will return.

If you are desperate you can get the letters from UK sent by DHL (at £30 and takes 3 days to your door) or use International Signed for at the P.O.(a lot cheaper)

You should mention this refusal and their mistake and that this is a new application.

Up to you if you get an agent to present your case but I dont think they can do much more than you can do alone, You know what is required

[Lickey]

Vinny and Mahout,

After a couple of hours pondering what to do, Ive e-mailed the complaints department at the embassy, stating this not a complaint but,,,,

So heres hoping someone there will look into our case, ive stated all the facts about our application and the reasons for refusal, it just seems so many things were overlooked, so if this doesnt work, will have to reapply, I really want my new family and i to be in UK in Oct, mums 79th birthday, my Bday and i want to see my kids and grandson,

Thanks for your advice and help, Lickey..

[markr]

Lickey,

If you want them to look in to it you really need to call them, be persistent!

Emails are ok but I think you'll get the same old pre-written reply that has been received in the past.

Been there myself unfortunately, so try and call them and speak to the ECO

Good luck

Mark

[Lickey]

Thanks Mark, if i dont get a reply by noon today will try calling them, do you have a direct number for the ECO please, TIA Lickey,

[the scouser]

Whilst more than one reason for refusal is given, it is unforgivable that the primary ground is that your girlfriend only left the UK six days ago whereas it is, in fact, in excess of one year ago. This indicates that the application has not been given the anxious scrutiny it deserves and detracts from the overall credibilty of the decision to refuse. The embassy visa section may claim that they are busy, but that is no excuse for not considering an application properly.

Scouse.

[Lickey]

Thankyou Scouse, my thoughts exactly!! perhaps we submitted too much info and with the work load these officials have, some important info was overlooked, besides the 6 day thingy, there is so many more notes in the refusal that really isnt applicale to our application, I have e-mailed the embassy stating all the facts,

I had really hoped this would e a clear-cut desicion, because i have to renew my retirement visa on or before 2nd oct, then i could inform them of dates i would be out of Thailand, but at the moment,sadly, not to be,

Again Scouse, thanks for your input, and will keep this forum posted on results,

Cheers, Lickey..

[Lickey]

Just to keep you all posted,,,, I tried many times to phone embassy with no luck,couldnt get past the recorded message thing, and with no answer to my e-mail , i decided to write to them pointing out i wasnt happy with there decesion, so i put lots of stuff in the envelope disproving their claims, enclosing a SAE for there reply and advice,

And with my retirement visa renewal due, we decided to go to Nong Khai IMM for this, if it failed, and no visas for GF and daughter, i would go to Uk alone and get a 3 mnth from Hull, as we sat at the desk i had a call from UK embassy, 'sorry, we made a mistake with your application, please send passports and pics and we will process them quick for you,' then the IMM officer said all ok for extention, and i told him i wanted to go to UK next month, he gave me the form and even helped fill it in, stamped PP ect, fee for this was 1000bht, I was so pleased, i put another 1000ht on the desk and said to all in office, uy yourselves some food and beer tonight, Thankyou very much!!

I sent PPs off yesterday morning with a guarantee next day delivery, and as soon as i have them back, will make a booking for UK,

PS, im not angry with anybody about the delay ect, we all make mistakes with a heavy repetetive workload ect, Thanks, Lickey..

[Mahout Angrit]

06....07 not a lot of difference, as you say mistakes can be made

Nice outcome and enjoy your trip to UK

Not happy enough to scatter a few grey notes for the tips you picked up here then??!!!!

Edited September 27, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[the scouser]

Well done, Lickey.

Scouse.

[Ollie]

Well done, Lickey.

Scouse.

Well done to the OP.

I'm gonna scamper off after posting this, so no need to flame - listen to Scouse, follow the links provided by Vinny - that should see most people right. Don't worry too much about the others.

Didn't do me much harm.

[Krub]

Just to keep you all posted,,,, I tried many times to phone embassy with no luck,couldnt get past the recorded message thing, and with no answer to my e-mail , i decided to write to them pointing out i wasnt happy with there decesion, so i put lots of stuff in the envelope disproving their claims, enclosing a SAE for there reply and advice,

And with my retirement visa renewal due, we decided to go to Nong Khai IMM for this, if it failed, and no visas for GF and daughter, i would go to Uk alone and get a 3 mnth from Hull, as we sat at the desk i had a call from UK embassy, 'sorry, we made a mistake with your application, please send passports and pics and we will process them quick for you,' then the IMM officer said all ok for extention, and i told him i wanted to go to UK next month, he gave me the form and even helped fill it in, stamped PP ect, fee for this was 1000bht, I was so pleased, i put another 1000ht on the desk and said to all in office, uy yourselves some food and beer tonight, Thankyou very much!!

I sent PPs off yesterday morning with a guarantee next day delivery, and as soon as i have them back, will make a booking for UK,

PS, im not angry with anybody about the delay ect, we all make mistakes with a heavy repetetive workload ect, Thanks, Lickey..

Congratulation and well done. You took the right decision to write to the Embassy pointing the evidence they overlooked. Also very good reaction from the Embassy to admit their mistake. The system at least seems to be fair when you hearof these cases.

I also think my file was not looked at properly, I have decided (for schedule purposes) not to re-apply but am confident that if I really wanted to pursue the application it would be granted.

Thanks for posting and good luck