Originally posted by ivor&mel@Feb 18 2006, 08:33 PM

My initial joy at receiving the interview date has now been tempered by wondering why they have called her! I get the impression that part of the streamlining is to cut down on interviews, so there must be something that the embassy are unsure of?
My Mum In Law (MIL) recieved her interview instructions on a letter that asked her to supply 'proof of ownership of lands, property and businesses'.

Now, as soon as this arrived at her house a 'helpful' relative started the process of faking land deeds to present at the interview. She had contacts who could do this. Luckily I caught wind of it and told them to do NOTHING until it was cleared by me personally.

The whole concept of the visa we were after was based on the fact that the MIL was elderly, infirm and dependent on my wife and I, that she had no wealth, income or property. The friendly relative thought they were doing the right thing by supplying what the embassy letter asked for, but they just did not understand the situation. I e mailed the embassy to explain that the MIL had no property etc, but never recieved a reply of any sort. They did ask about it the interview a few weeks later though.

This is something you MUST be prepared for when dealing with this visa operation from a distance. Make sure that EVERYTHING your lady or her family do, or say, or send, is passed by you personally.

I'm pretty sure the very reason my MIL had had to go for interview in the first place was because the above mentioned 'helpful' relative had slipped a single bank statement into the applicaton, that had not been checked and passed by me. It was the monthly statement from the account that had held the 30,000 pesos I had sent for the visa application, and which subsequently made it look like MIL had a rather fat wad in the bank. The money was only in for three days, until the cheque was written up, then the account went back to its usual 'empty' status.

A simple 'but I thought' from the helpful relative, but it could have scuppered the whole application

oh: