Letter from the MP

[ginapeterb]

Here is a Letter from my MP and the Response from UKVisas.


Mr Simon Burns MP
House of Commons
London SW1A OAA.


29th Setpember 2005

Dear Mr Bennett,


Further to your visit to my constituency office on 23rd July 2005 at 3.30pm, I am sorry to hear of the problems you are experiencing in getting your wife Gina to the United Kingdom, I have since written to the Minister along the lines we discussed to see what the situation is at present, and have received the following response to the representations I made on your behalf.

As you will see this is self-explanatory, I note that Mr Hooper says that you were asked for information on the 1st July and they are still awaiting documentation, when they have recieved this they can proceed with your case.

I hopet this is helpful in clarifying the position.


Yours sincerely,


XXXXX



Letter from UKVisas.


Simon Burns MP
House of Commons
London SW1A


23rd Setpember 2005

Dear Mr Burns,

Re: Ma Gina Yap

Thank you for your letter of 25th July 2005 regarding the application by the above named, your letter has been passed to me for a response.

I regret that I am unable to reveal details of any correspondence received from third parties in such cases as this information is classed as confidential.

However, I can confirm that Mr Bennett was asked to supply further documentation to advance the application on the 1st July 2005, to date, he has not complied, if the documentation is supplied then we may be able to advance the case, I hope this letter is helpful.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Hooper.



Petes commentary :

However, I can confirm that Mr Bennett was asked to supply further documentation to advance the application on the 1st July 2005, to date, he has not complied, if the documentation is supplied then we may be able to advance the case, I hope this letter is helpful.

Well is it me or am I just crazy or plain stupid, Here are the documents asked for :

1. A bank statement to 31st July 2005.

2. A copy of Child Support payments to October 2005.

3. A copy of July's Pay statements.



Derrrrrrrrr !!!!!!

How can I respond and produce the documents, when I would need to wait the whole length of July for the bank statement for a forward month, and pay statements for weeks I had not yet worked ????

I mean come on guys, is it me,...or are these cretins just plain stupid !!!

And they still think the case is ongoing ???

Gina was issued with a visa on 29th August 2005, and this letter was dated 23rd Setpember...geeeeeze..no wonder we have problems with them.

[palauotot]

I mean come on guys, is it me,...or are these cretins just plain stupid !!!


You will realise just what cretin means once you start to deal with the inland revenue and the dwp here!
You would get more sense from a call centre in India than you will ever get in phoning any government department in the UK based upon my own experience here. The embassy in Manila were extremely efficient by comparison.

Palauotot

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by palauotot@Oct 3 2005, 10:54 AM
I mean come on guys, is it me,...or are these cretins just plain stupid !!!
You will realise just what cretin means once you start to deal with the inland revenue and the dwp here!
You would get more sense from a call centre in India than you will ever get in phoning any government department in the UK based upon my own experience here. The embassy in Manila were extremely efficient by comparison.

Palauotot

Quoted post

I hear you loud and clear:

Nine months arguing with child benefit, just to get what EVERY child in the UK is entitled to. Only positive result came when I enquired exactly how do I make an official complaint about misconduct and total incompetency on their behalf. Cheque in the post a couple of weeks later. At one stage they set it all back five months by telling me it was better if we applied in my wifes name, so she would recieve the payments, so she had to go get a NI number. When they eventually started paying it, guess where the money was being sent. Yes: into my account!

Nine months arguing with the Tax Credit people just to get what THEY say we are entitled to. Only every time we speak to them they have to start at the beginning again because "oh, they didn't put that in your file. Can you give me the full details again" They can't even get my NI number correct on the numerous papers they send me, as they pathetically try to get it right time and again.

Again the only positive result came when I enquired exactly how I can make an official complaint about misconduct.

Now we owe them money, £20, but seeing as I've only told them three times how much I earned last year they are still not clear that I earned £4000 more than they think I do Bunch of clowns!

[Admin]

I got out of paying for my kids, I murdered them :o I did get 4hrs community service working in a nursery though :blink:

[jooms]

I have had a lot of problems with the visa section. Actually my in-laws had which means I had. Every few years one might visit for a few weeks to a few months and each time visa staff can find reasons to make it difficult for them.

You have only 5 months validity on your passport. No, I don't care if your sister is ill in hospital and this is an urgent visit and that you intend to stay 3 weeks only, go away and come back with a new passport.

Bring us the registration documents of your husbands' vehicles so that we can see just how rich you are.

Come back again and bring the title deed of your property. Yes we know you came to UK before and you are now want to visit your daughter who is ill in hospital but the rules say that you must have another interview.

No we cannot permit you to go to the UK because I don't think you are serious about your studies and you only want to go there to look for a husband.

These are the sorts of things that the visa section say to my in-laws (my words though). It stems from 8 years ago when I faxed a letter of complaint to the embassy when I learnt that my sister-in-law was queuing outside the embasy for more than a week to process her application. She was refused entry. Coincidence? Since then 4 other applications from different members of the family have been blessed with obstructive bureaucracy and each time I had to ask my MP to intervene. I took the last case to the Parliamentary Commissioner of Administrative Affairs but being part of the establishment he was not on my side. I also asked for all the information they had on me under the Data Protection Act because I felt that their applications were being compromised by my earlier complaint. I certainly did not get all the info and anyway this sort of thing won't get written down.

I have now informed the Visa Section that we shall continue submitting all the papers that we are supposed to submit but if they want extra ones then they should state in writing the reason why. After all they should be as open to us as they want us to be with them. Hindi ba?

Another sister-in-law intends to visit in the new year and I have already contacted the visa section and my MP so if there is any funny business then I'm ready to fight. If necessary I'll accompany her to the interview.

It seems that if you complain then you jeopardise the visa application. The embassy has a file on me but they know that I pay my taxes and have no criminal record so can they continue to find reasons to obstruct all my wife's family coming here? She has a large family. Let's see if their imagination can keep up.

My suggestion to everyone else who will experience similar problems is to contact your MP, write to F. & C.O., insist that the Entry Clearance Officer provides a written explanation to the decision. If you know that you are in the right then persist. Just make sure that you supply every possible bit of information so that they don't have the excuse to send the applicant away and return with bits of paper that have no relevance whatsoever to the application. I have doubts whether they even read them or can tell whether or not they are genuine.

Might be interesting to hear all the things that happen to other visa applicants.

I wonder how Blunkett managed to fast-track the entry clearance for that nanny? I suppose it's down to who you know but for us ordinary citizens with no connections ....?

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by jooms@Nov 20 2005, 10:14 PM
I have had a lot of problems with the visa section. Actually my in-laws had which means I had. Every few years one might visit for a few weeks to a few months and each time visa staff can find reasons to make it difficult for them.

Quoted post

You're having little more problems than anyone else getting a visa at the Manila embassy. All the staff are interested in is evidence that the relative is not going to stay in the UK and sponge off the governnment. Oh, and an excuse for the staff to hassle somebody and boost their personal powertrip.

My wife had no problems getting two visas for the UK, tourist and settlement, but then we were in a pretty long term relationship, loadsa money and I'd lived in the PI for years. That is the exception to the rule though. I actually made a personal complaint when we applied for the CTI to get married, and we were told to turn up at the embassy at the wrong time. Not great drama, appart from the five hour drive to get there and the watse of an entire day? I thought that would maybe be held against us at some stage.

After the settlement visa was issued I also complained in writing about the way we were expected to sit and wait for six hours, with our two year old, because the desk dork was too stupid/ignorant to tell us the facts. We had been told to arrive at 9am, then we were told to sit and wait for the passport. I eventually got up after two hours and asked what was happening. "Oh, you have wait until 3pm to collect the passport"!!

This week my mom in law is going for a settlement visa interview so she can hopefully come and live in the UK with us. We'd hoped it would be fairly straightforward, as we have a house, job blah blah, but one of our Filipino relatives threw a spanner in the works by including one single bank statement that showed mom in law had some money. It was only the 27,000 pesos application fee, but it upset the applecart enough to warrant an interview.

Fingers crossed she is successful.