Family Visa or Tourist Visit Visa?

[mastergidd]

Hi there fellow members in this forum

I just want to ask your opinions because I have this confusion. I have been visiting UK for the past 2 years using the Family Visit Visa. But recently when I was back earlier this year, I applied again for a family visit visa but was refused for the reason the ECO was not convinced that I am genuine visitor in the UK since I just returned in the Phil from the UK and a month after wanted to return again.

And now, it was past how many months since I last applied. So, I am planning to apply again for a visa. But for this time, I am confused whether to apply for a Family Visit Visa again which my brother is my sponsor or a Tourist Visit Visa which my bf wanted to be the sponsor and be living with him entirely of the visit visa time. I once met him in the UK during my last visit but we were not in a relationship at that time and only during this past few months that we kept on communicating by net.

Please do advise me.


Cheers

[sammy]

Hi
If you have been traveling back and forth to the Uk for the past 2 years on a Family visa, it proves you have allways returned to Phils and have not overstayed, i cant see why the ECO refused you, you should have appealed the decision.I would apply again and appeal if refused again, As to your bf sponsor of tourist visa you need to show a genuine relationship with photos,time together, phone calls etc, you need to be in the relationship longer than a few month on the net as this looks suspect after being refused the family visa. It would help if your bf visited you in Phils otherwise it seems just like another "internet relationship" I personally would stick with the family visa for the time being as thats a genuine relationship.
Sammy

[darren-b]

(Sammy - try looking back at mastergidd's previous posts. In my opinion the refusal was justified.)

You stand more chance of getting a family visa than a tourist visa. But you should really mention your bf on your application because if you don't it may cause you problems at a later stage if you apply for a fiancee/spouse visa and the ECO see that you previously witheld details of your relationship.

[mastergidd]

Thanks darren and sammy for getting back to me.

You have a point here darren, it might cause a problem if I wont mention that I have a bf in the UK.

So, what will I do on my application? Im a bit confused. Will I apply for a Family Visit Visa and? Do I need to attach documents of my bf aside from my brothers documents?

I will be awaiting for your reply.


Cheers xxx

[mastergidd]

To Sammy

I was refused but then I appealed but was still overturned by the ECM so they forwarded my application to the AIT in UK and they told me that it will take some time to have it heard by a judge in London. I can't wait for that any longer, so I just withdrew my appeal.

[IainBusby]

Hi there fellow members in this forum

I just want to ask your opinions because I have this confusion. I have been visiting UK for the past 2 years using the Family Visit Visa. But recently when I was back earlier this year, I applied again for a family visit visa but was refused for the reason the ECO was not convinced that I am genuine visitor in the UK since I just returned in the Phil from the UK and a month after wanted to return again.

And now, it was past how many months since I last applied. So, I am planning to apply again for a visa. But for this time, I am confused whether to apply for a Family Visit Visa again which my brother is my sponsor or a Tourist Visit Visa which my bf wanted to be the sponsor and be living with him entirely of the visit visa time. I once met him in the UK during my last visit but we were not in a relationship at that time and only during this past few months that we kept on communicating by net.

Please do advise me.


Cheers

If you wait a while you will probably get another visa, you have just applied too early after your previous visit. You're only allowed to visit for six months in a year, so if you've just returned a month ago, then wait another 5 months or so and you'll probably be OK as long as you have never overstayed before.
Iain.

[mastergidd]

Thanks for sharing me your thought Iainbusby.

But my concern, is what to kind of visa would I apply now? Would it rather be a Family Visit Visa or a Tourist Visit Visa? I have been refused early this year and wanted to re apply a fresh application later this year.

[IainBusby]

Thanks for sharing me your thought Iainbusby.

But my concern, is what to kind of visa would I apply now? Would it rather be a Family Visit Visa or a Tourist Visit Visa? I have been refused early this year and wanted to re apply a fresh application later this year.

Your best bet is to apply for a family visit visa again but you should only apply when you have been back in Phils for at least six months. This will be the reason you were refused. If people were allowed to get family visit or visit visas as soon as their previous visa had expired and they had retuned back to Phils, then that would be like living in the UK and going home for a short vacation every six months.

If that was allowed, which it was at one time I believe, then it would be an obvious loophole for people who would like to live and work almost permanently in the UK to abuse.

If you managed to get a family visit visa before then it's quite likely that you get one again, but you must follow the rules, ie, don't apply for visas to stay here more than six months in any one year period.

Iain.

[IainBusby]

(Sammy - try looking back at mastergidd's previous posts. In my opinion the refusal was justified.)

You stand more chance of getting a family visa than a tourist visa. But you should really mention your bf on your application because if you don't it may cause you problems at a later stage if you apply for a fiancee/spouse visa and the ECO see that you previously witheld details of your relationship.

At this stage I wouldn't mention anything about bf's. The reason I say this is that there was a member (or the gf of a member) on this forum who applied for a family visit visa to stay with her aunt which was refused. She later applied for a fiancee visa and she was refused again because she hadn't said anything about a bf or fiancee in the UK when she applied for the family visit visa.

As you have already had family visit visa(s) and have never told them about a bf on your previous applications, it's quite likely that if you tell them this when you apply for a family visit visa again, they may refuse because you never mentioned it on your previous applications.

I agree with the principle behind Darren's advice, that honesty is the best policy, but at this stage I think that telling them this is likely to lead to a refusal if you apply again for a family visit visa.

With regard to any future fiancee visa application, as long as you don't supply evidence of a relationship over a period which covers most of your visits so far, then I don't think the ECO will have grounds to refuse you a fiancee visa.

To avoid this sort of problem the scenario must be something like this, you went to the UK to visit your brother, while you were there you met a man, after a short time you got engaged, so at the end of your family visit you went home and applied for a fiancee visa.


Iain.

[mastergidd]

Thanks Iain.

I was about to ask darren about that scenario but you already read my mind. You are very smart! That was a great help.

Cheers xxx

[darren-b]

Hmmm... Telling lies on a family visit visa application, then potentially telling lies on a fiancee/spouse visa application in the future. Not the best advise, though if you do go down this path make sure your story lines up so the ECO doesn't realise.

[mastergidd]

Im a bit confused now....

Can anyone share some of their opinions with regards to my confusion?

Cheers xxx

[Geraldine]

Hi!

I agree with Iain. Why not ask your bf to visit you this time in the Phil? If theres no rush in visiting the UK again then wait for a few months and apply for another visit or fiancee visa however just to let you know, I didnt mention my bf in UK when I got my visit visa...so when I applied for spouse visa I was grilled by the ECO when he back tracked my previous visa applications and asked me why I didnt tell them about my bf. It was a long story but then you just need to prove everythings genuine.

Goodluck!

[mastergidd]

Do you mind if I ask what happened to your spousal visa before? Were you refused at a time?

By the way, If I would be granted a Family Visit Visa at this time and would be applying a Fiancee Visa soon, Iain was telling me to cover up that I have just met my bf during my recent stay in the UK for this year and not the previous years stay in the UK. How about in your case? What really happened? Can you share to me your experiences? That might be of help. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.

[mastergidd]

What is really the best way, to tell I have a bf in the UK or not to tell?

[IainBusby]

The reason I say this is that there was a member (or the gf of a member) on this forum who applied for a family visit visa to stay with her aunt which was refused. She later applied for a fiancee visa and she was refused again because she hadn't said anything about a bf or fiancee in the UK when she applied for the family visit visa.

Hmmm... Telling lies on a family visit visa application, then potentially telling lies on a fiancee/spouse visa application in the future. Not the best advise, though if you do go down this path make sure your story lines up so the ECO doesn't realise.

Always telling the truth is very admirable trait and I wouldn't normally advise anyone to deliberately tell lies, but in this situation, where she has already lied (by omission), I think she's now in the position where she's damned if she does and maybe even damned if doesn't. She's already started on that particular road and I think that telling the truth at this stage would probably do her more harm than good.

Iain.

[IainBusby]

What is really the best way, to tell I have a bf in the UK or not to tell?

We can't tell you what is the best thing to do now, you have to decide that for yourself. Do you tell the truth and risk being refused because you never mentioned your bf on your earlier applications, or do you continue to say nothing about a bf in the UK, which if they find out that you had deliberately omitted this from your earlier applications, might also lead to a refusal of either a fiancee or a family visit visa.

You are now in a situation where you must choose which one you believe to be the lesser of two evils. If you do decide to say nothing about a bf until it's time to apply for a fiancee visa, then you must make very sure that both you and your bf are singing from exactly the same hymn sheet with regard to where and especially when you met and that any evidence you sumbit relates only to the period since then.

Iain.

[IainBusby]

Hi!

I agree with Iain. Why not ask your bf to visit you this time in the Phil? If theres no rush in visiting the UK again then wait for a few months and apply for another visit or fiancee visa however just to let you know, I didnt mention my bf in UK when I got my visit visa...so when I applied for spouse visa I was grilled by the ECO when he back tracked my previous visa applications and asked me why I didnt tell them about my bf. It was a long story but then you just need to prove everythings genuine.

Goodluck!

You see mastergidd, Geradine is the second person I have heard of who has come up against this situation. The ECO would have assumed that because she had a bf in the UK at the time she applied for the visit visa, that her real purpose in coming to the UK was not as a tourist or to visit family, but to visit her bf and that she had in fact lied about the purpose of her visit.

I am assuming that whe she applied for her spouse visa she submitted evidence of a relationship with her (then) bf which included the period before she applied for the visit visa. I think she was quite lucky that she only got a grilling from the ECO and not a refusal, which had she been applying for fiancee visa not a spouse visa, might have been the case.

This is because the ECO has to be absolutely sure or even more sure that his reasons for refusal of a spouse visa are very strong because the couple are already man and wife.

Iain.

[mastergidd]

Thanks Iain for enlightening my mind. I do appreciate it a lot.

Cheers xxx

[darren-b]

Always telling the truth is very admirable trait and I wouldn't normally advise anyone to deliberately tell lies, but in this situation, where she has already lied (by omission), I think she's now in the position where she's damned if she does and maybe even damned if doesn't. She's already started on that particular road and I think that telling the truth at this stage would probably do her more harm than good.

Iain.

You seem to be suggesting the 'upping' of the dishonesty from the not mentioning of a boyfriend in the UK when applying for a visit visa to totally changing the story of their relationship if they ever apply for a fiancee/spouse visa. If the ECO works that out (not everyone is a confident liar when being grilled in an interview...) that could result in a ban.

To be honest in this case the ECO may well suspect something is up and look into any application in more detail anyway. Asking for a visa for 2 months, then staying almost 6, and then applying for a visa (2 year one..) immediately suggests there is something in the UK worth returning for (usually work or relationship).

[joebloggs]

if you dont decalre the relationship with your b/f, you could be refused entry if the Immigration Officer discovers it, because the IO will not accept that you have been honest and that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit.

but if you mention a boyfriend that might simply alert the ECO as to the real reasons your coming and a good reason why you will not want to leave the UK.

but tell a lie, and your found out, wave your visa goodbye

[mastergidd]

I am spinning my head already.

Honestly, I just met this bloke during my previous visit of last year and was not in a relationship with him at that time. It is only these past few months that we started talking and had a relationship over the net. The main reason that I stayed longer than what I put in my application last year was my sisters breakdown of her marriage and her divorce issues. I had already explained these issue to the ECO in my appeal letter that I had withdrawn recently.

[darren-b]

I am spinning my head already.

Honestly, I just met this bloke during my previous visit of last year and was not in a relationship with him at that time. It is only these past few months that we started talking and had a relationship over the net. The main reason that I stayed longer than what I put in my application last year was my sisters breakdown of her marriage and her divorce issues. I had already explained these issue to the ECO in my appeal letter that I had withdrawn recently.

Really you've got 3 options...

1) Be honest and mention your relationship now when applying for a visit visa. If you and your bf ever apply for a fiancee/spouse visa in the future it will make life a lot easier. This may reduce your chance of getting a visit visa.

2) Don't mention your relationship now when applying for a visit visa. If you and your bf ever apply for a fiancee/spouse visa in the future be honest and admit when the relationship started, though the ECO is likely to give you a hard time about not mentioning your boyfriend in your previous visit visa applications.

3) Don't mention your relationship now when applying for a visit visa. If you and your bf ever apply for a fiancee/spouse visa in the future lie about when the relationship started, though if the ECO realises you have lied (for example if he calls you in for an interview) he will give you a very hard time, and maybe even refuse your visa and ban you.

The choice is yours....

[mastergidd]

Thanks a lot darren. That was a great help.

Cheers xxx