How long after refusal can you re-apply for a UK tourist visa?

[graemeaylward]

My Thai partner and her daughter have just been refused entry visas for a one month holiday as a family and to celebrate my Aunts 100th birthday. The grounds for refusal were 1. Insufficient details about accommodation. Even though my 40 yr old son and daughter had sent letters stating we would be staying with them. 2. Doubts that I could fund the trip on my pension of £2000 p.m. net citing that my bank account was overdrawn. ( I have had an overdraft limit of £1000 since 1983!) I have already paid for car hire and a few days accommodation in Devon. I also have considerable credit card facilities which are ready for use. 3. Doubts that my partner has the funds for return or onward flights home. If they had taken the trouble to look at the paperwork properly they would have seen that return flights have been booked AND PAID for.

They accepted we were in a relationship, and that I was the sole provider. Clearly, £2000p.m. is insufficient to support a family of 3 in UK these days!

As there is no right of appeal even though they have not read all the information, how soon can we re-apply. We hope to travel on 26th March!

[howerde]

There is no limit, you could apply again today, But there would be little point until you can address the reasons for the refusal, or you will just get the same result, it might help to post the refusal taking out all personal details,

[Waterloo]

5 years ago we had a visit visa for the wife's uncle to attend our wedding denied, we addressed the issues point by point and reapplied almost immediately.

The second application was successful, so address the issues successfully and you can apply as soon as.

As stated above I would also recommend you post the refusal notice after first deleting any personal details, there are some very knowledgeable and helpful individuals on here.

[BusyBee123]

I too got refused a few years back on income even though I earn over £50k per year. I immediately reapplied but on my letter I did an income expenditure table which clearly showed available funds after all bills were paid. I can see why they refused initially as I was transferring money all over the place and my bank account went overdrawn for a couple of days! which I explained and showed other bank accounts with savings etc but once I did this the visa was granted.

You can reapply anytime.

[theoldgit]

£2000 per month exceeds the amount required for a settlement visa by a fair bit, so it certainly should be sufficient for a short visit visa.

There's nothing wrong with having an overdraft providing it's authorised and properly serviced, you do have to demonstrate that there are sufficient funds available to support your partner on her trip.

The problem is with return flight tickets is the UKVI do strongly advise not to purchase tickets until the visa is granted. But given you already have them it's strange that they should say there is no evidence that to indicate she could afford a ticket.

Did she provide evidence that she has strong ties in Thailand, so is likely to return.

As has been said, a further application can be made straight away, but the reasons for the refusal need to be addressed or the result with be the same.

If you are able to post the refusal notice, erasing personal details, we can offer specific advice.

Now that the right of appeal has gone, there is nothing to encourage ECO's to get it right.

I'm not sure if the administrative review, where the decision to refuse is examined by an Entry Clearance Manager, has also gone.

[7by7]

As said, it's impossible to comment specifically without seeing the actual wording of the refusal notice.

But in the mean time:

In their offer of accommodation did your son and daughter describe the property to show that there is adequate accommodation for you and your family? Did they provide any evidence of this?

Did you provide evidence of all your finances? Did you provide evidence to show that your overdraft is authorised and being serviced to your bank's satisfaction?

[graemeaylward]

Thanks, here is the text of the refusal.

"The Decision

You state within your visa application form that you wish to go to the United Kingdom for 4 weeks accompanied by your daughter and your British partner Mr........ in order to celebrate his aunt's 100th birthday. You state you are unemployed and supported by Mr............ who is currently living in Thailand, copies of his British passport confirm this.

In support of your application you have submitted a letter from Mr........in which he states that he has known you for 15 months and has been living with you and supporting you since April 2013. You have submitted 3 photos, 1 receipt from Milletts and 2 letters addressed to Mr.......at your address as proof of this relationship. Mr........States that he will fund the trip for the 3 of you and has already paid for the flights.

You have submitted details of Mr.......pension and his bank statements with a closing balance of £683 overdrawn on 9th January. There is no evidence to show that this overdraft is authorised, there is also a Thai Bank Account in his name with a balance of 5162 THB on 6th January. (£92 using the current exchange rate of £1 = 56THB). You have submitted your own account showing a balance of 80,026THB on 4th January (£1,429) As one account is overdrawn it would appear to leave available funds of £838 for the trip. Given that you have submitted hotel bookings totalling £606 which have yet to be paid, I am not satisfied that there are sufficient funds for your trip. You have submitted e-mail of invitation from family members but no evidence of available accommodation. Given the foregoing I am not satisfied that you will be able to maintain and accommodate yourself and your dependant without recourse to public funds or taking employment, nor that you can meet the cost of the return or onward journey as required by paragraph 41(vi) and (vii).

I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all the requirements of the relevant Paragraph of the United Kingdom Immigration Rules"

I hope this helps. It is difficult to know what else they want!

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[graemeaylward]

Not quite sure how that 'smiley ' got in there!

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[7by7]

To be fair; what they want is all in the refusal notice.

They want evidence that your overdraft is authorised and being serviced to the banks satisfaction.

On the face of it, the evidence you provided showed that, after clearing the overdraft and paying for the hotel, the three of you would have just £232 to pay for the trip, food etc.; not much for four weeks.

You also didn't provide any evidence that the accommodation offered by your family was adequate. (If you're going to be staying with them, why book hotels?)

What you need to do is apply again and address these issues and, most importantly, supply the evidence missed from this application.

[graemeaylward]

Thanks 7by7. However, if they had taken the trouble to read ALL the bank statements, they would have seen each one headed overdraft limit £1000, and also noticed that during the past 8 months my account could fluctuate between £1700cr to £700dr, but heigh ho!

As far as my family goes, I provided letters in which both my son and my daughter said they were looking forward to us staying at their respective houses and would firm up on arrangements nearer the time. The hotels, which incidentally have now been confirmed and 50% paid for are to enable us to attend my aunt's 100th birthday and visit my sister in Devon and Cornwall. My Pensions arrive in my account in UK on last day of month and are normally transferred to my Thai account and then to my partner's account. We will not need any money in Thailand whilst we are in UK so this money will fund the trip adequately by the strategic use of credit cards which will be paid off when due.

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jay Sata]

Most people accessing this forum have hit problems and they come here asking for a quick and cheap fix.

Well the truth is unless you've messed up big time with simple answers on the application there is no cheap fix.

That's why visa agents exist. They make their money fixing problems.

The entry clearance officer does not have hours to wade through reams of stuff that you send. He quickly whizzes through the paperwork and on to the next file. He's seen thousands of applications similar to yours.

In my opinion you need an agent to sort this one out.

Get a good one (lots of recommendations on here) and don't pay up front.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Jay Sata

[7by7]

Thanks 7by7. However, if they had taken the trouble to read ALL the bank statements, they would have seen each one headed overdraft limit £1000, and also noticed that during the past 8 months my account could fluctuate between £1700cr to £700dr, but heigh ho!

As far as my family goes, I provided letters in which both my son and my daughter said they were looking forward to us staying at their respective houses and would firm up on arrangements nearer the time. The hotels, which incidentally have now been confirmed and 50% paid for are to enable us to attend my aunt's 100th birthday and visit my sister in Devon and Cornwall. My Pensions arrive in my account in UK on last day of month and are normally transferred to my Thai account and then to my partner's account. We will not need any money in Thailand whilst we are in UK so this money will fund the trip adequately by the strategic use of credit cards which will be paid off when due.

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Get a letter from your bank confirming the overdraft arrangement; notes at the top of a statement can be easily missed.

Say in your sponsor's letter that you have this arrangement and will also be using credit cards if necessary, saying what your limit is on each card. Include a statement for each card showing your limit and the current balance.

Get your son and daughter to describe their properties and say who else is living there to show that there is sufficient room for you all; some people recommend photographs as well, which may be a good idea considering the previous refusal.

Do not assume that just because something is obvious to you that it will be obvious to the ECO.

UK visit visa basics and the links from there may help.

If you are considering using an agent, read this first.

[bobrussell]

Not sure an agent is required for this. The advice from 7by7 seems to have it covered!

The ECO missing the overdraft limit on the statements is a bit annoying! Pointing this out might be enough but it should cost you nothing to get the bank to confirm the arrangement.

If you are relying on credit cards you really need to submit evidence that the borrowing is available. The ECO is not to know this! An up to date statement should suffice.

A fresh application to cover the points raised looks pretty straight forward to me.

[Seekingasylum]

Re-apply but get a decent representative to draft a letter of submission to accompany it which deals with each contentious point within the context of the Rules.

[Waterloo]

Not sure an agent is required for this. The advice from 7by7 seems to have it covered!

The ECO missing the overdraft limit on the statements is a bit annoying! Pointing this out might be enough but it should cost you nothing to get the bank to confirm the arrangement.

If you are relying on credit cards you really need to submit evidence that the borrowing is available. The ECO is not to know this! An up to date statement should suffice.

A fresh application to cover the points raised looks pretty straight forward to me.

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