Embassy Called To Speak To Sponsor!

[markr]

Hi all

today the embassy called my gf about her uk tourist visa and simply asked can we have your mums mobile number! whats this all about? they then called her mum and asked various questions about where she lived who she was married to etc

when we submitted her application katy asked her mum if she would write a reference for her just to make everything water tight, in all honesty her paper work is perfect.

The thing that worries me is they didnt ask katy anything, is this bad? and i also beleive they dont normally want to speak to sponsors etc, and they didnt mention when it would be ready, its been well over a week now.

am i worrying for nothing again? what do you think?

cheers

mark

[atlastaname]

I don't think its a bad thing at all , as long as her mum's answers were consistant with her application , which they would have been if all is above board. They are working on the case and i would guess just before approving it decided to make a call just to check.

Yes they certainly sometimes do call sponsors or indeed anyone they chose to connected with the application.

One thing is for sure, as they are working on it today you will know VERY soon now.

[aussie_21]

A bit of topic but Just out of interest. When the embassys are speaking to mothers and the wife,fiance,GF do they speak thai or does the mother and the partner need to speak english?

[markr]

All in english, at least today anyway!

mark

[Maizefarmer]

Nothing unusual about that phonecall - its called verifying what they were told and conducting due-dilligence - which they do a lot of, often without the applicants ever knowing about it!

Tim

[pompeysi]

So any news yet mark, did she get the visa?

[markr]

the online tracking system now says she has to have an interview!!!!

[markr]

What do you think they will ask her? we sent them so much papar work they cant possibly need to know anything else can they!!

[atlastaname]

None of us here are privy to what the Embasy is thinking but the following must be common sense. They were dealing with your g/f's application and on that day they decided to call her mum . So they were probably in 2 minds to grant it or not.

If they were going to refuse it point blank they wouldn't have bothered with the phone call. They try to decide most applications, especialy visit visas, on the paperwork alone. Clearly although you think your paperwork is quote "perfect" obviously they didn't. The key must be in what they said to her mum , something happened there which stopped them from granting it immediately but made them decide to go for the interview. Presumably its the full interview ?? As opposed to the short one ?? You will know this when you get the answer back in writing. Not saying her mum said anything wrong but was the phone call in English or Thai ? If it was in Thai then something in the translation to English to show to the ECO may have been lost or altered , and that could be what has raised the doubt.

This is all speculation of course but its logical and not a million miles away from the truth i would suggest. None of which helps you i know .

As to what else they could want or ask , all i can suggest is that between now and the interview you and her go over the application point by point so she understands every question on it and the answers she has given. You also both search for any other documentation that could assist her as she will be allowed to hand anything else in before the interview starts. Check again the guidelines on the uk visas website and the BE Bangkok websites.

Sorry , still doesn't help much does it but its all you can do unless anyone else has any ideas?

[GU22]

today the embassy called my gf about her uk tourist visa and simply asked can we have your mums mobile number! whats this all about? they then called her mum and asked various questions about where she lived who she was married to etc

Is she married, or been married before? If yes to either, was this dealt with in the paperwork?

I suspect that they had some questions, maybe on the point above or maybe why she used he Philippine passport before but is using the Thai one now. These questions weren't answered by the paperwork or by the phone call, so now they want to ask her face to face.

As Atalastaname says, make sure that her answers to any questions are consistent with what they have already been told. As, I hope, you and she have been truthful up to now and not tried to hide anything then this shouldn't be difficult. Take any further documents that could possibly be relevent.

If, after the interview, they still have doubts, but not enough to refuse, then they may restrict her visa to a single entry and ask her to sign an undertaking to return to Thailand at the end of the period she has said she intends to visit. Breaking that undertaking and staying longer would not be illegal, but it would demonstrate that they were right to be concerned and would make any future applications difficult. Sticking to it, on the other hand, would be a very positive move for future applications.

Atlastaname, from what I have read, the telephone 'interview' has now replaced the 'short interview.' So, being called into the embassy probably means a long interview; which can last anywhere from 5 minutes upwards.

[markr]

yes her mum is married katy has never been, the passport was genuinely lost and we provided the police reference as proof. i can imagine people have said there passport i lost to somehow get around a previous overstay or something like that! it is true but if they dont believe her what can we do? i just cant think of anything that we missed out,we must have submitted nearly a hundred peices of paper!!!

[GU22]

Ah, it was her mum's marriage the asked about. probably to do with the Philippine nationality.

Mark, as Atlastaname said, none of us can say for sure what questions they may ask.

Just make sure that her answers are consistent.

[markr]

yes its quite complicated mums thai, dad died when she was a baby and she is now adopted by dads phillipino brother (her uncle) mum is now married to an american, but has never been married to her legal father (the one still alive) i can see how this could confuse them but we did explain it all in the cover letter.

the fact that they have not refused her yet can only be a good sign as i am confident she will have no problem in an interview situation

[markr]

Anyine know of a link to some possible questions for the vv interview or is this just based on the paticular application

thanks guys

[guardian]

While on the topic, anyone ever had any embassy officials visiting their home to verify details???

It happened about 5-6 years ago, I don't really remember exactly when. My uncle had applied for the USA visa and one day we had officials from the embassy actually visiting out home @ 9am to physically verify that the address stated is correct

Everything went smoothly and while leaving they explained that @ the time when my uncle had applied, there was a unusual flood of applications from Indians and so they wanted to actually verify the informations claimed in the application.

[pompeysi]

Mark if you've got the time I'd go through previous topics and guidelines and check you gave everything on the list. If there's something you think you may have left out, then its probably best to go over it again and get your gf to take the information to the interview.

[markr]

Called the embassy today we have to wait yntill the 16 november for the interview!! they also want her to go back to her bank and get her 6 months bank statements(witch she has already provided) AGAIN!!

they wont tell me why, i just dont understand, do they think there fake or something?

its driving me mad!

cheers mark

[markr]

really confused! i would have thought if there was a descrepancy with the paper work they would have just point blank refused her, but asking for the same papers twice? just shocking!!

never mind, we'll get there in the end! we wont let em get us down!

[GU22]

Have they specifically asked for updated bank statements, or is it just the standard note on the standard interview letter?

Maybe they want to check that her salary payments have been continuing, and were not just paid into her bank over the period of statements supplied to give the impression of a job. Or maybe they just want updated ones.

Whatever, simply get them and take them along to the interview.

[markr]

There are no notes on the interview letter just time and date etc, this is just what we have been told on the phone, surely the person on the phone is just some sort of receptionist or was that the eco?

[markr]

also her bank statments were collected from the bank on the day before she applied so they are completely up to date she also provided a letter from her bank stating she is finacially secure, this is joint signed by 2 managers!

[GU22]

The person on the phone was probably a clerk following a standard script. If she doesn't have more up to date bank statements then simply tell this to the ECO at the interview.

[pompeysi]

Something similar happened when my gf was called for the interview. Something along the lines of 'please bring the relevent paperwork to the interview'. I get the feeling it was a standard line that they are told to read. But like I said before it may be double checking all the lists and if there is anything she hasn't included, then get her to take it to the interview. If there is just one bit of paperwork missing, it will definately be worth checking the lists and taking it to the interview, maybe the decision depends on that very fact?