visit visa

[pinay4uk]

Hi! anyone from here who would like to share their experience in applying for a visit visa sponsored by their British partner...regardless if u have been refused, granted and for how long did u wait before u get the decision?
I have known 2 people who applied at the same date Sept. 30, 2011..the Lady A got her documents back after 5 days but refused then reapplied again Oct. 12, 2011 but until now has not received any decision from the British embassy. Lady B, applied the same date Set. 30, 2011 and got her documents back after 7 days and was also refused. Reapplied again Oct. 19, 2011 after 2 days got her documents back and was refused for the 2nd time.
The question is: what is the chances of Lady B to be granted a visa? base on the processing time given by the VFS what is that percentage shown there?is that the percentage of chance of the applicant to be granted a visa? like for Lady A, she has been waiting for about 12 days already, does it mean she has like 98% to be granted a visa? your reply is very much appreciated. Thanks a lot

[RickyR]

Repeat applying does not achieve anything. I’ve successfully written support/sponsor letters and helped apply for at least 10 visit visas for my wife when we were dating and her daughter, and also for friends that have wanted to come and visit. The key is providing EVIDENCE to prove that you have the reasons and ability to return to the Philippines at the end of your trip, you have sufficient funds and that your trip is genuine.
You can’t just submit an application without the answers to these questions and hope that it will be issued.
For the ability to return you should show stable employment and a good idea is to book return flights (book fully flexible on a credit card and if things aren’t successful you can always cancel or if they are you can cancel and change to a cheaper ticket) and book hotel accommodation that is fully flexible as well. This provides evidence of itinerary and reason to return to the Philippines.
Provide salary statements and letter of support/guarantee from your partner or friend sponsoring you. Provide a letter from yourself explaining why your visiting the UK and how you’ll achieve that and what your plans are etc .
The Embassy will not issue a visa if you cannot prove your reasons. It’s all very simple, and for pretty much any country in the world it’s the same.

[pinay4uk]

Thanks Ricky! yeah that's basically the requirements for the visit visa but that close friend I mentioned above is now in UK, stated in her application that she is unemployed, no own bank account here in the Phils. neither no any assets or business. All she did was she wrote an honest letter stating her real situation her and added updated printed screen photos of them in skype, their pictures together when they met last April. It was somehow, she's just so lucky coz they met end of March 2011 online then the partner came to meet her and spent only 7 days with her then she applied for the visit visa May 2011 then was refused then reapplied again on August, flew to UK Sept. 25, 2011 and be back on Feb. 18, 2012...she only submitted 6 months bank statement of the partner, 6 months payslip, employment cert of the partner and house ownership where she is residing now with the bf and of course simple invitation letter from the partner guarantying her accommodation in UK. So it must have been luck....

[pinay4uk]

If an applicant received an email from the embassy showing this "A decision on your Visa application reference number: AMAN/121011/188056/1 has been made by the British Embassy. Your application has been received at the UK Visa Application Centre and is ready for collection" what does it mean? does it mean refused?

[lastlid]

If an applicant received an email from the embassy showing this "A decision on your Visa application reference number: AMAN/121011/188056/1 has been made by the British Embassy. Your application has been received at the UK Visa Application Centre and is ready for collection" what does it mean? does it mean refused?

Reading these words literally, it doesn't mean the visa has been accepted or refused. It simply means the application is ready for collection.

[pinay4uk]

yeah i understand po but as I was reading some of the applicants who were granted a visa they have a different email received like "Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub" so I presume if one is granted he/she should be receiving a message like this and if refused the one that I pasted above...am I right po? sorry I am just confused and wanna know from those who has more knowledge about it. Thanks so much Lastid

[haileylovely]

:Hellooo::Hellooo:

HI pinay i got this email oct 24,

Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub

and the second email just sent it to me at 3pm today oct 28

Dear HAILEYLOVELY

HK Ref.xxxxx

Your visa decision is ready for collection on any working day between 3.30 and 4.30pm. Please bring a copy of this email with you to gain entry to the Visa Application Centre. You will also need your VAC receipt and your ID card.

This email has been generated by an electronic process and replies will not be acted upon.



Yours sincerely


British Consulate-


:Hellooo::Hellooo:

Im going to collect it on Tues,,


goodluck both of us:Hellooo::Hellooo:

[Terpe]

yeah i understand po but as I was reading some of the applicants who were granted a visa they have a different email received like "Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub" so I presume if one is granted he/she should be receiving a message like this and if refused the one that I pasted above...am I right po? sorry I am just confused and wanna know from those who has more knowledge about it. Thanks so much Lastid

It depends where the e-mail comes from.
If it is from VFS then the message will only state something like the "processed application is ready for collection"

If it's from the Embassy it will state something more positive like "Your visa will be despatched shortly......."
The source of the e-mail will end with @fco.gov.uk

Information about visa application decisions are confidential and are not divulged to VFS. As such messages from VFS will never give any indication of the result as they simply do not know.

I have not so far heard of anyone receiving an e-mail or sms giving any refusal information.

[ViesVies]

hi pinay,

it sounds to me visa application refused.im sorry, thats how i understand it.when i applied for my spouse visa last february 2011 i got the same message what haileylovely got.

[pinay4uk]

hi pinay,

it sounds to me visa application refused.im sorry, thats how i understand it.when i applied for my spouse visa last february 2011 i got the same message what haileylovely got.

yeah but the same message that my friend received when she was granted a visa last August 15, 2011...I guess the only way to find out is wait for the passport if it has sticker on it or none. But the waiting is just really worrying....thanks though viesvies

[pinay4uk]

Hailey lovely! thanks for the reply...have u known of any one who applied and got the message from the VFS first before receiving the UKBA? I am thinking that some may get the message from UKBA first and some from the VFS first whichever is...it's just horrible feeling and it's Friday today so it's only on monday that we will really know. Thanks a lot for sharing and replying.

[pinay4uk]

It depends where the e-mail comes from.
If it is from VFS then the message will only state something like the "processed application is ready for collection"

If it's from the Embassy it will state something more positive like "Your visa will be despatched shortly......."
The source of the e-mail will end with @fco.gov.uk

Information about visa application decisions are confidential and are not divulged to VFS. As such messages from VFS will never give any indication of the result as they simply do not know.

I have not so far heard of anyone receiving an e-mail or sms giving any refusal information.

I actually figured it out already that messages from UKBA and VFS differ...yet when it comes from UKBA it is more obvious than from VFS. Thanks a lot Terpe

[lastlid]

yeah i understand po but as I was reading some of the applicants who were granted a visa they have a different email received like "Your visa will be despatched shortly. Passports can normally be collected from the Visa Application Centre after 3 days. Applicants in Australia and New Zealand should allow 3 days before tracking their documents via the local post. UKBA-Manila Visa Hub" so I presume if one is granted he/she should be receiving a message like this and if refused the one that I pasted above...am I right po? sorry I am just confused and wanna know from those who has more knowledge about it. Thanks so much Lastid

Well, I asked a similar question to a qualified, government approved, UK Immigration consultant and their answer was that the messages can come from 2 sources. VFS or the UKBA or both. It sounds like your message came from VFS, a bit like in our case. We didnt get one from the UKBA which is more specific if the application is successful. We did, however get our visa.

I asked why the variance in approach by the UKBA and the answer was simply that it just depends on the person dealing with the case as to how they inform the applicant.

[lastlid]

yeah but the same message that my friend received when she was granted a visa last August 15, 2011...I guess the only way to find out is wait for the passport if it has sticker on it or none. But the waiting is just really worrying....thanks though viesvies

Exactly. Thats what we had to do. No clues in the message from the VFS.

[pinay4uk]

if u didn't get a message from UKBA therefore did u get the same message as I got?sorry Lastid, I guess u understand how I feel, it's just worrying, mixed feelings.

[lastlid]

if u didn't get a message from UKBA therefore did u get the same message as I got?sorry Lastid, I guess u understand how I feel, it's just worrying, mixed feelings.

Ours was for a Spouse Visa. But yes, similar message from VFS as yourself. No message from the UKBA. But we did get the visa. We didnt know that the visa was approved until my wife opened her passport and saw the visa in there.

Why we didnt get a message from the UKBA to say the Visa had been approved, I do not know. The explanation given to me was simply that it is down to the officer that takes your case on as to what messages, if any, that they send.

[pinay4uk]

Ours was for a Spouse Visa. But yes, similar message from VFS as yourself. No message from the UKBA. But we did get the visa. We didnt know that the visa was approved until my wife opened her passport and saw the visa in there.

Why we didnt get a message from the UKBA to say the Visa had been approved, I do not know. The explanation given to me was simply that it is down to the officer that takes your case on as to what messages, if any, that they send.

ah ok! thanks a lot Lastid....

[joebloggs]

if you keep submitting the same app without further evidence to counter the reasons you were refused, you will all most certainly be refused again, and each time your refused and re-apply, it will probably make it even more difficult to get the visa, as your demonstrating how desperate you are to come to the UK, and they might not believe you are a genuine visitor, thou a visit visa is always a bit of a lottery.

[pinay4uk]

if you keep submitting the same app without further evidence to counter the reasons you were refused, you will all most certainly be refused again, and each time your refused and re-apply, it will probably make it even more difficult to get the visa, as your demonstrating how desperate you are to come to the UK, and they might not believe you are a genuine visitor, thou a visit visa is always a bit of a lottery.

Thanks joebloggs! you're right...well, I supposed I submitted all the necessary documents to defend myself from the reasons they mentioned for the refusal, I also wrote them a letter to explain the documents I submitted. Only that sometimes we thought we already done our best, gave all the necessary documents yet ECO see things that we don't see and when they mentioned it in our refusal that's the only time we realized that we oversee something then we try to correct it again. Anyways, thanks a lot for those who replied here...

[Dedworth]

:Erm: I'm a bit confused here pinay4uk your first post talks about Lady A and Lady B making applications and then post #19 says "I submitted all the necessary documents"

Anyway good luck if you have applied

[RickyR]

To be honest, when applying for a visa you should really do as much research as possible to ensure that its done properly and not based on hearsay or what such as such reckons you need to do. There is definate and clear guidelines on the website, and most of the refusals seem to be because people don't submit enough or the right evidence.
Refusal of a visa, even if you subsequently have one issues, is a permenant mark on your travel history and could affect you travelling to other countries in the future.

[ConfusedMe]

When a British partner is sponsoring the visit visa, the embassy always have doubt whether the girl is coming back to Philippines or not.. For me, collect and show as much evidence as possible that you still have plan going back to Philippines...