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I have received a refusal for a UK visit visa. Below is the relevant text of the refusal. What does this mean and what steps can I take to significantly increase my chances of success in a potential new attempt to apply?

The Decision

I have refused your application for a visit visa because I am not satisfied that you met the requirements of paragraph(s) V4.2-V4.10 of the Appendix V: Immigration Rules for Visitors because:

Home Office records shows that you have been previously been refused a UK visa (VAF Shefo/344051). However each application has to be assessed on it own merits using the information and evidence submitted.

You state that you wish to visit the United Kingdom to attend your interview with the British Army and you have provided a reference letter in support of this. You state that your sister will fund your trip and you have provided her bank statements. However, the onus is on you to qualify for a visit visa based on your own circumstances and your own intentions.

In order to be able to make a decision on whether or not to grant you a visit visa in this category, I have taken into account your stated circumstances in Ghana, the reason for your visit and your proposed travel arrangements. I note that you state you earn GHS 266.00 (48.44) pounds per month employed as a sales representative. You appear to have no property, investment,savings or asset in your own country. I must take into account your personal and economic circumstances in Ghana when coming to my decision and given that you would not be able to afford to fund this visit without third-party financial assistance, I am not satisfied that your personal circumstances in Ghana are such that you would have sufficient intention to leave the United Kingdom at the end of your visit as stated.

Given the statement you have made and the documentary evidence you have presented to support your application I am not satisfied that your circumstances in Ghana, coupled with your reasons for wishing to travel to the UK, are such that you have shown your intention are as stated or that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your proposed visit.

In light of all the above , I am not satisfied that you are a genuine visitor and will leave the UK at the end of your visit. Your application for visit visa has been refused under paragraph V4.2(a).

pnuts
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Francis
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    As I read the refusal note, get a job, home, spouse and kids, all in the same country, do some traveling from that country returning home within the limits set by visa if needed, and then you are ready to apply again to the UK. (It might be possible to get an UK visa with only some of above things, but it will not be easy. Without strong ties to a country outside the UK, forget getting a visa at all.) – Willeke Dec 21 '16 at 20:39
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    @Willeke why a comment and not an answer? –  Dec 21 '16 at 20:48
  • Only a comment as I do not have any link to share. – Willeke Dec 21 '16 at 20:54
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    @Willeke Sounds like something of a Catch-22. The asker must have strong enough ties to Ghana that the UK will believe he'll leave at the end of his visits, and weak enough ties that he's prepared to take a job in the UK! – David Richerby Dec 21 '16 at 21:32
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    @DavidRicherby no, they only got him on (a) and not the (a)+(c) that we usually see on the other refusals here. I.e., they believed his premise. – Gayot Fow Dec 21 '16 at 21:35
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    @Willeke the only link you need is https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules and possibly (optionally) http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/66104/should-i-submit-bank-statements-when-applying-for-a-uk-visa-what-do-they-say-ab as the OP is using a co-sponsor. With those links your comment can be credibly raised to an answer. – Gayot Fow Dec 21 '16 at 21:41
  • I am going to leave that answer to an other (or maybe try it tomorow if nobody did.) – Willeke Dec 21 '16 at 21:45
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    They would have a better view had you included your tax returns. – Gayot Fow Dec 23 '16 at 05:35
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    @Francis even though your livestock provides income (the photos are worthless, anyone can grab some photos off the internet) they do not provide you with evidence that you have sufficient ties to your home country in order for the immigration officer to be reasonably assured that you will return at the end of your visit. 700 GHS a month income also isn't substantial enough to be considered a tie, as it only equates to £130 - and you could easily make substantially more than that as an overstayer in the UK. Do you see the problem here? –  Dec 30 '16 at 16:27
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    @DavidRicherby I don't believe this is a catch-22 at all - he's applying to come for a job application, and the immigration officer has to be satisfied that he will return to his home country if he does NOT get the position (and he may not be notified of any success for several weeks, so he must return to Ghana in the meantime). So it becomes a question of "does the applicant have enough ties in order to prevent overstay in the event the job application is not successful or is delayed". A successful application then becomes another issue altogether, as its a different visa situation. –  Dec 30 '16 at 16:32

1 Answers1

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I will give you as honest an answer as possible, being that I am originally from Ghana. You can get a job, home, spouse and kids, in Ghana, do some traveling and returning to Ghana within the limits set by the visa, and then you are ready to apply again to the UK however it doesn't guarantee anything. How do I know?

Well I am from Ghana but legally resident in the USA since 1998. I am married, have a great well paying job as an engineer here in the USA, have traveled several times to the UK and previously had two five year multiple entry UK visas, visited several other countries in Europe, own my own home and financially secure. I have never overstayed a visa in any country and travel extensively.

In November 2015 I applied for a simple 6 month visa to visit UK for one week and indicated I had $3500 of spending money. Lo and behold I was refused under V4.2E

I laughed out aloud! He said I do not have enough funds to spend in Britain for the duration (1 week) without working or recourse to public funds. Can you believe it? I a 41 year old married man with a great job with great travel experience and a permanent resident of the USA would recourse to public funds or work illegally in UK for one week? Lol methinks the consular officer thinks too highly of his country, or perhaps too lowly of me.

His explanation? I presented a Bank of America account with a balance of over $20k which shows huge deposits (of $25k plus each) and withdrawals not in line with my income of $9.5k/month. Now of course because UK visas are purely by mail, I am unable to explain to him those funds come from my own brokerage account because no sane person leaves such amounts just lying in a checking account earning 0.1% interest per annum. Did he expect me to send copies of all my financial accounts including brokerage, savings, checking, IRA's, 401k's etc for a simple UK visa?

I was refused without recourse to appeal, apparently UK visas no longer give appeals. But I am just giving you my case to make it clear to you that you may improve your profile however visa officers are able to refuse you with the most asinine of excuses, particularly if you're coming from a developing country. In my case I don't even live in a developing country.

I didn't apply again and plan to visiting the UK on an American passport next month without a visa. I just might be refused entry and you'll see me featured on an episode of UK Border Force getting deported.

So once again, take a few years and improve your profile like suggested in the first paragraph, bearing in mind there are no guarantees and there is some degree of randomness and madness in the visa approval process.

Augustine of Hippo
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    "Did he expect me to send copies of all my financial accounts including brokerage, savings, checking, IRA's, 401k's etc for a simple UK visa?" I think the refusal suggests the answer here is: Yes. – Andrew Lazarus Jan 26 '17 at 02:39
  • See http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/39153/uk-visa-refusal-provenance-of-funds-parking for information on what you have to submit with a UK visa application if you have lots of money sloshing in and out – Gagravarr Jan 26 '17 at 07:13
  • @Gagravarr , I make $9.5k/month. Even eliminating the large transactions from my brokerage and assuming I have no assets, that FAR FAR FAR exceeds the income required for a one week visit to the UK. They can go screw themselves. – Augustine of Hippo Jan 26 '17 at 11:39