UK family visa refused due to UK Imm muck up.

[Captain Haddock]

Just got the wife's passport back from the VFS office: refused visa - due to UK immigration's mistakes!

She's had two shengen & UK visas before in her old passport. No priors and kept her promise of entry and exit dates. Shouldn't be a problem this time, methinks.

So... had a letter of invitation from my parents, their house dox and bank details. I included my own financial details as well. I filled out the online form exaclty as asked with loads of extra info.

Received email from UK Imm to say her visa had been processed and would be returned. Picked it up this morning with the refusal letter. Apparently I didn't give them my financial details and they had no record of any previous travel history for her, so no dice.

What irks me is that there is no accountablility from the numpties who processed her application and mucked up. We have copies of everything submitted of course, so I know damn well they DID have copies of my financial records as well as dates of her previous trips. Now we have to "appeal" (point out to them where they went wrong is more like it!) within 28 days to wait another 28 days just to clear up this new "black" mark on her record.

She has had a new passport since she last went to the UK some 6 years ago (this has been lost, so to be fair I couldn't provide the old number), but I gave them the exact dates we went last time (it was for a family wedding, so I know those dates!). Surely it shouldn't have been too much to cross-reference all our names and dates on their big-brother data system to check her records? It is the same family, with the same member sponsoring her as for the previous occasions.

How about the shengen? If Interpol can catch crims on the run in Thailand there must be some form of record keeping going on!

It's bloody frustrating that as a genuine family, married for over a decade and having followed the rules, kept visa "promises" and even giving them more than asked for, it just takes one moron to muck it all up and wreck a family holiday.

If we just had one good phone number we could probably straighten this all out, but there are procedures to be followed and dots to cross, sigh...

And what's the point of UK Imm sending me an email telling me her visa has been been processed and not bloody mentioning that it has been refused? Do they get some perverted thrill out of using double-speak to lead us on? I asked for a tracking number to check the delivery progress only to be told they don't provide that; then why are forced to pay to use DH/FedEx etc? To top it off, my wife went down to the VFS office on the offchance it was in and was able to collect it. This afternoon just after their office closing time she gets an email to tell her she can pick it up. Numpties!

Rant over, thanks for listening!

[wooloomooloo]

Firstly, what visa did your wife apply for? I can hazard a guess as your wife has the right of appeal, but please confirm.

For a better understanding you may wish to consider posting the refusal notice with personal details blacked out.

It's therapeutic to rant but equally as important to get it out of your system and get serious about a potential appeal.

Edited December 15, 2014 by wooloomooloo

[theoldgit]

It's sometimes good to let off steam, do it all the time.

Just going through your post trying to pick the bones out of it.

Woolloomooloo is right, it might be a good idea if you can post the refusal notice, redacting the personal details, then someone maybe able to advise.

An appeal is mentioned, there is no right of appeal for any visit visa, and I suspect that's what it is. If however an ECO has missed some relevant evidence, and the refusal has been made because of that evidence has been ignored, then you could ask an ECO to review the applications. Maybe contact Thai Visa Express, they may be able to help.

Did you actually include evidence to support the level of income claimed?

I would have thought that they could have checked previous visa history, but whether they would is a different matter, clearly the presence of a previous travel document would make it easier, though I suppose a note saying the passport had been lost or stolen would explain that, and details of the previous travel with maybe photos of you together on those trips may have filled the void.

The email you received from the UKVI are automated emails and, I suspect are part of the consideration process, I understand that once the decision has been made the email is auto generated. I think the email actually says "UK Visas and Immigration has made a decision on your visa application", they aren't allowed to actually advise what the outcome is, citing data protection, but it does give you a heads up that the passport can be collected.

I actually think the email from VFS is a good idea as it advises the applicant that the pack containing the is ready for collection, again an automated process, however in your case I fully understand how it added to your frustration.

So, as previously advised, let's see the redacted refusal notice and we can take it from there.