Hi Everyone, I am new in this forum and I thought of sharing my frustration for having been denied 3 times by the ECO in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to visit the UK with my boyfriend. My name is Lyn, holder of Philippine passport, 25 years old, currently working in Dubai as a Business Support Executive in an international company. I am in a relationship with a British citizen of the same age as mine, who is also working in Dubai. Last June 2012, we both went for a vacation to my beloved city, Cebu, Philippines and he loved the place very much One of our benefits for working in UAE is we get 30 day annual leave, we both went to Singapore - Philippines for 15 days to meet my family in Cebu, and decided to take the rest of the 15 days in the UK on November this year. Unfortunately, it seems like the ECO will not allow me to enter the UK due to the fact that at some months, my account has been overdrawn. I get paid very well in here, but I am supporting my family back home, and sending my siblings to school. I'm so glad my sister passed the Nursing board exam recently. Yaaay! Anyhow, the ECO has been detailed about my account and how much was the balance at some point. On the second application, I submitted the following documents to support my application: -my company's NO objection letter -our company's sponsor' NO objection letter -my boyfriend's sponsorship letter stating he is going to pay for the entire trip which is about 2 weeks with his bank statements, passport copy, visa page -my bank statement (which I think the only document they have checked) -my payslips -my boyfriend's mom's letter stating that we will be staying with them for a couple of days -my uncle's letter stating that we are going to visit him for 2 days (on my first application, I have not mentioned that I have an uncle in the UK because we did not intend to visit him because he is from Leicester and we intended to be just touring around London, the second application, we thought of visiting him for 2 days before going to my boyfriend's place) -travel arrangements -my personal car registration card in UAE The came back to me with a refusal letter saying why I did not mention my uncle in the first application, and my bank statement are still overdrawn. We applied the third time submitting the same documents above even if my bank statements are low at some point, I still am getting paid, and I have written a looooooong letter explaining everything especially that my boyfriend is sponsoring, therefore the money that I will have may or may not be useful. My letter has explained further that my life is here in Dubai and I love my work. My boyfriend does not personally want to go back to the UK to live but our plan was to meet his family because he had met mine on June 2012. I just received my refusal letter for the third time, and I am so frustrated because everything she / he said, I have explained on my letter, I wonder if the ECO read it. There were mistakes on the third refusal letter mentioning that I have only lived in the UAE for less than a year, but OMG, didn't they check my passport and some other letters mentioning that I have worked and lived here for 4 years. Secondly, the officer mentioned that my expenses monthly have changed over the three applications, which is not true because the second and third application have the same data supporting the first application. Third, the officer has mentioned that I do not have assets here in the UAE to come back to. Is my car not an asset? I am a regular employee, do they expect us to have a villa or own apartment here? It is not possible. Is there anything else we could do? I am genuine visitor and I could not accept the fact having 3 refusal stamps on my passport as it will affect my credibility when I apply to another country (we both are planning to go to Rome next year). I have been to other countries aside from Philippines and UAE like: Turkey, Oman, Lebanon, Hongkong, Singapore. Any help or advise from the members? We tried calling the British Embassy but the officers do not take calls. I sent an email to the embassy but there is still no reply. A lot of my British friends here in Dubai said how can they refuse genuine visitors and allow those who aren't? We are so sad. Appreciate any advise.
Sorry I can't offer you any advice about the UK, but you have the same problem that me and my wife had before we married when trying to get a tourist visa for her to come to Australia, this was 6 or 7 years ago and although she satisfied all criteria they would not grant a visa because at her age (then 25) she was in an age group that has a high rate of overstaying and remaining illegally in the country..... we also tried 3 times and then gave up... I was told by an immigration specialist later that once you are refused a tourist visa the first time it is rare for it to be granted at subsequent applications.... I think much of it is down to luck and the person that takes care of your application....
Hello, thank you for the reply. Isn't it unfair to judge according to the papers received? There should be an interview. But anyhow, it is just frustrating having supplied all necessary and irrelevant documents, but they will still return with a refusal letter.
It's extremely unfair, particularly when you go through all the right channels, yet many who don't end up living there permanently, I don't understand a lot of the rules about Europe as I have been living away for a long time now.... is it possible to get a tourist visa for another European country and then apply from there or does one authority cover all visa applications for European countries..?
You apply for a Schengen visa to visit a couple of European countries but I do not think it is posibble to apply to the UK when you are in a European country as a tourist. I need to be a resident here in Dubai in order to apply to the UK. I will probably try next year.
Hello Lyn, welcome to the forum. Sorry to learn about your visit visa woes. Generally speaking a tourist visa is probably the most tricky to secure for many reasons, not least of which being that the ECO's have complete discretion based on how they 'feel' about the intent of the application based on balance of probability. The major complication is the need by the applicant to prove a non-immigrant intent. You need to give a good feeling to the ECO's by clearly demonstrating that there is no intention to remain in the UK on a permanent basis. Immigration law places this burden of proof firmly on the applicant. That's one reason why each application needs to provide individual supporting evidence. The ECO needs to be completely satisfied that the applicant has strong social, economic and family ties abroad that would compel them to leave the UK at the end of the temporary stay. Rightly or wrongly this can often be more difficult to establish if there is an existing romantic relationship between the applicant and the British citizen/permanent resident/sponsor. Unfortunately, in most cases it becomes difficult to overcome this presumption. Even more so if there is a family member already settled in the UK. Another aspect in your case is that of previous history. Although UKBA will state that each application is judged on it's own merits, many ECO's will consider that numerous applications within a certain timeframe and without any significant changes in circumstances relating to previous refusals, could indicate further weight to their belief that the probability of overstay is more likely than not. Sorry I can't offer any specific solutions. I'm sure you are very familiar with UKBA requirements so I'll not bore you with those, but perhaps a review of this post might help. Good luck.
Thank you so much, Micawber for the reply. I have given up on trying this year as I have to work out my bank account for the next 6 months and we will try to reapply by next year of June to visit the UK on August 2013. Their main reason was my bank account was low at some point. Would it help if I have supplied my credit card statements? I have just recently bought a condo in the Philippines, I hope this would help in the next application as well. But how much do I really need to have in my account for a visit of 2 weeks?
Hello again The thing is both myself and my boyfriend are working here in Dubai, and we submitted documents to prove our employment here as well as our residence permits in UAE. We are still not married, therefore, what can be done to prove family, economic, and social ties here in UAE since we are applying from here. My head is breaking from thinking too much about this complicated situation
I'm so sorry to hear what you went through! I could really imagine how frustrating that can be! Sometimes my husband and I can't help but utter "censored/swearing' words in frustration at how insensitive some ECO's could be! They might say they are just following the rules by the book, but for heaven's sake - they should also go over the documents they are demanding from the applicants and they SHOULD READ the letter. What's the use of explaining everything in there and attaching it if it ends up almost unread after all???
Me and my wife also live in the UAE, she was denied a visit visa twice before we successfully got her a visit visa issued in Abu Dhabi. I believe I know how to successfully get the visa issued. After reading your post I noticed some things you have done wrong. If you would like some advice send me a pm and I will advise you on the best way to write your application. Good luck
Why not share your ideas here ? That's the purpose of this forum ? Everyone shares, helps and supports ? Even to those who are just readers and lurkers There may come a time when you'll need some guidance
Fair enough. I only meant with regards to applying within the UAE but point taken. Firstly as soon as you mention 'boyfriend' on the application form, they already begin to doubt you. It makes no difference how much money your boyfriend has, or what his income is, they are looking at YOUR finances. They onus is 100% on you to support yourself in your claim to maintain yourself while in the UK. What you need to show to them is that you have every possible reason to return to your country of origin. To do this, show them you have family ties in the UAE, tell them you have a good job, with opportunity to grow there and that your working future lies in the UAE. You are earning a tax-free salary in the UAE. Get letters from your employer or manager stating you are of sound morals and will return to the UAE. The salary you are earning also plays a big part here, because financially it all comes down to you personally. If you have savings say you will use these to support yourself. But you must prove this. Get an itinerary planned, tickets to see shows, or concerts, things you will do while in the UK as a tourist. With every claim that you make, you have to PROVE it. Produce as much documented evidence as you can with each point you make. For example structure your application like this : With reference to paragraph 41i of the immigration rules: Here you outline your purpose of your visit, then when you have finished writing that paragraph, support everything you have said with a piece of documented evidence. by saying ' to support my claim please see attached supporting document '1' or as listed accordingly. Then move on to the next part, paragraph 42ii of the immirgration rules. Read paragraph 41 of the immigration rules, and with each rule you answer prove you claim by asking the officer reading your application to see a supporting document. The Immigration officer is looking for reasons from paragrapgh 41 to deny you entry. Show that you meet EVERY requirement in that paragraph. It is very difficult to get a visa issued if your salary is 3k aed or less.
With reference to your reference to the immigraion rules, this is what we did. It kind of makes a statement that you know the rules and you meet them. It can also act as a reminder to the ECO what the rules are as they appear to forget now and again.
haha, yep. We paid lawyers to do our second application, and they were useless, it got denied straight away. 3rd time round, we went all out and gave them absolutely no reason to deny on any grounds, the application was quite thick but my wife was granted a 6 month visa with multiple entries.
