Wednesday 3 January 2024

As there is no right of appeal against the refusal of a Visitor application and no right to administrative review, the only real options are judicial review, a costly and time-consuming exercise, or a fresh application. The latter will nearly always be the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to obtain the necessary approval to visit the UK. In this article, we look at how you can ensure the greatest chance for success, the second time around.

The Home Office must consider each application on its own merits, but it can be daunting knowing where to start with a new application following a refusal, especially if there has been more than one.

The key to success in an application is demonstrating you are a genuine visitor and that you:

• • will leave the UK at the end of your visit;
  • will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits or make the UK your main home;
  • are genuinely seeking entry for a permitted purpose and will not carry out activities prohibited for Visitors;
  • have sufficient funds to cover the costs of your visit.

Home Office guidance contains red flags for caseworkers assessing whether you are a genuine visitor, and these include:

• • where you have few or no family or economic ties to your country of residence and have several family members in the UK;
  • you or your sponsor have attempted to deceive the Home Office in a previous application;
  • there are discrepancies between statements provided by you and your sponsor;
  • it has not been possible to verify information provided in your application; or
  • the reasons given for your visit are not considered credible.

Four tips for a Visitor application following a refusal:

1. Address the reasons for refusal of the previous application

Any refusal decision must be disclosed in a new application and there is no way to hide it. Whilst it may be tempting not to mention a previous refusal, doing that may lead to your application being refused again, but on deception grounds resulting in a 10 year ban on entering the UK. It is therefore essential to declare any previous refusal received.

Review the refusal decision, carefully consider the points that need to be addressed and ensure that your new application deals with all issues raised and the shortcomings of the previous application.

This could include, for example, making sure that you provide your personal bank statements showing your income from employment in your home country if you failed to supply these with your previous application and the decision maker was not satisfied that your income was as claimed.

2. Ensure you are clear regarding your circumstances in your home country

The Home Office must be satisfied that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit. You should therefore supply evidence with your application which clearly demonstrates your ties to your home country.

If you are employed, this could include proof of your employment (a job to return home to). If you are enrolled at university, or school, evidence of this would show a school term to return home for. If you have a family, this could include evidence of those relationships such as a marriage certificate or the birth certificates for your children. If you own a property, you can provide evidence of this as well. If you have any other evidence of ties to the community, that can also be supplied. These are just some examples of what may satisfy a decision maker of your intention to return to your home country. If you have been refused a Visitor visa previously, it may be because the decision maker was not satisfied with your circumstances at home, and more information and evidence should be provided so that your circumstances at home are clear.

3. Provide a reason for your visit and evidence to back it up

The Visitor category is available to individuals seeking to visit the UK for a wide range of reasons which include (inter alia) tourism, visiting friends or family and for business. If your previous application was refused because the purpose of your trip was doubted, you can supply evidence with your new application to ensure that the reasons for your visit are clear.

Regardless of the main purpose of your visit, if you have family in the UK, you must provide their details in your application form and confirm whether you will see them or not during your visit. If you have been invited by family to visit, then you can provide a letter from them confirming this. Similarly, if your purpose is to attend a set of business meetings during the course of a week, you can provide a letter from your employer or the organisation that has invited you to attend the meetings and an itinerary. If you can, evidence confirming the intended duration of the visit should also be provided. If your purpose is clear to the decision maker and your activities are permitted under the rules, supplying evidence of this should satisfy the decision maker of your intentions for the visit.

4. Be transparent regarding your financial circumstances

Show that you have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to your visit including the costs of your flight tickets, hotel bookings (if applicable) and day to day maintenance in the UK. These costs may be paid for by a third party with whom you have a genuine professional or personal relationship, but you must make it clear in your application if you will rely on financial support and ensure you provide evidence to prove it.

Be aware that any financial commitments you have in your home country (such as rent, mortgage payments or family members that you support) will be taken into account in the assessment of your financial circumstances. You must therefore be able to show that your savings and income, minus your financial commitments at home will be sufficient to cover the costs of your visit.

If your Visitor application was previously refused because the decision maker was not satisfied that your evidence was consistent with the financial circumstances declared, you will likely need to explain your circumstances in more detail and supply additional evidence. All sources of income should be declared, and any large or recent deposits explained. Where funds have not been held in your account for long, Home Office guidance recommends that decision makers conduct further checks to establish the origin of the money being relied upon so the more information you can provide, the better.

A common misconception is that the financial evidence provided in a Visitor application is only provided to show access to sufficient funds to cover the costs of the visit. In reality, the Home Office will also consider whether your overall financial circumstances are truthfully reflected by the evidence provided. This means that even if someone else will cover the costs of your trip to the UK, you should still provide evidence of your own financial circumstances.

Get in touch

Our team are experienced in assisting individuals in obtaining Visitor visas and can help if you have received a refusal.

If you would like to learn more about making a Visitor application after receiving a refusal or would like assistance with making a Visitor application, please contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.