Visitor Visa Success

[owl1971]

Hi ,

My Girl freind has recently been succesfull for the second time in obtaining a visitor visa to the UK , The first visa (2009) took about 6 weeks to proceess , but the second one (2010) only took 5 days which was brilliant.

As I will be travelling back with my girlfreind to thailand in Oct 10 I only bought a one way ticket for her to the uk,so we could travel back to thailand together latter, Unfortunately Immigration where very suspicious of this and intoregated my GF for about 15 -20 minutes.

They asked my GF many quetions (All in an aggresive and stern manner) :

Why are you visiting the UK

Where will you live in the UK

What is your boyfreinds Nationality

WHY HAVE YOU NO RETURN TICKET (Immigration say to my GF that they think she will not return to the UK , because her english is so good and she could get a job easy)

How Much money do you have (She had to show her bank book and money that she had in her Purse)

What is your occupation

My Girlfriend was very upset by the whole experience , but fortunatley I had seen previous posts on this forum ,and we were aware of the questions that maybe asked so my girlfriend was able to answer them comfortabley .

I totally agree that UK immigration have to be strict , but I find there aggresive manner a bit OTT.

I think next time I will definately by A return ticket , to save any hassle.

Many thanks the the people on this forum you knowleges and experiences are invaluable.

Cheers

Dave

[theoldgit]

For the IO at the port to have refused your girlfriend entry they would have needed to convince a CIO that there had been a material change in circumstances since Entry Clearance was granted or indeed that the visa had been fraudulently obtained, If entry had been denied she would have an in-country right of appeal, though there would be an outside chance of Immigration Detention, it is extremely rare for a Thai to be detained. The arrangements for her return ticket are perfectly reasonable as would would her stating that she was going to purchase a ticket in the UK, where tickets are cheaper, providing she can prove she has sufficient funds to purchase a ticket.

The vast majority of IO's are perfectly reasonable people, carrying out a pretty difficult and tedious job under a lot of pressure to clear flights with the minimum of delay.

[7by7]

Though they could only refuse entry on the grounds outlined by the OG, it is reasonable for an IO to question a person seeking entry if they have reason to suspect that those grounds may exist; particularly when the person has no return or onward ticket. (I've not expressed that very well, but I hope you get the gist.)

However, it is not reasonable to do so in a rude or aggressive manner. Are you sure that it was this, and not just the brusqueness of a pressurised official?

[ThaiVisaExpress]

My advice is to book a return ticket because you may spend a lot of time answering questions, however as long as you can demonstrate you have the funds for the onward journey you will be fine.

[Kadafi]

My girlfriend travelled with myself last month on a one way ticket to the UK. Immigration asked where her return ticket was and i just responded that it will be purchased in england because its cheaper and also that i wanted to book our tickets to thailand together.

Just a 30 second convo and we were qucikly on our way with no more questions asked...

[Lickey]

Has the open return ticket been stopped? always done this a few years ago, the return would be valid for the lenght of the visa, up to 6 months, had to book a week in advance for Thai Airways,,