I applied for a UK visitor visa, I thought I had all my document straight forward disclosing all required information. When it came to question have you been rejected Visa, I was wrongly adviced by many applicants who got the visa to  only list past 10 years since the older rejection is automatically erased from the system. Mind that I was trying to be extremely sincere with my answer and I mentioned my visa rejection to the US. AFter applying I got a rejection letter that I was a Fraud and I got a ten years Ban, it was mentioned that I withhold the information trying to deceive them. I was shocked by their reply. If I was a fraud, by all means, I would not even disclose the US visa Rejection. There is no room for Appeal unfortunately but this is unjust and harsh. I do not know if anyone had a simmilar situation and on top of that I did not have that passport nor the information regarding that rejection since my family applied for that visa and I had no idea why we were rejected nor the exact dates. anyone manage to solve similar situation.
15646
I am a Nigerian citizen.  In 2007 I was twice denied a visa to the UK.  Recently I was filling out an application for another UK visitor visa and by mistake I answered no to the question whether I had ever been denied a UK visa, instead of yes.  When reviewing my application, the visa officer found out about the previous visa rejections and as a result I got a 10 year ban on travel to the UK.  What can I do to lift my 10 year ban?   Will this ban affect my chances of obtaining a visitor visa to the USA?
57107
I am a very recently naturalized America citizen. I want to visit the the UK but leaning towards flying in to France, and attempt entry into the UK via Calais by road on my US passport, so that if I am refused entry I can just go back to Paris and continue my vacation in France instead of flying direct into the UK from USA and risk being sent back to the USA directly.  I don’t intend to apply for a visitor's visa ahead of time. My reason being UK visitor's visa applications are evaluated purely based on the documentation you mail in without having the opportunity to talk/explain to the officer, while my current plan of going physically to the UK would mean at the very least I will have the opportunity to petition for admission face to face.  Some background for my dilemma:  In November 2015, while a permanent resident in the USA, I applied for a simple 6-month visa to visit the UK for one week and indicated I had $3,500 of spending money. I was refused under V4.2E.  His explanation for my refusal is I presented a Bank of America account with a balance of over $20k, which shows huge deposits (of $25k+ each) and withdrawals not in line with my biweekly pay deposits of about $5k. Now of course because UK visas are purely by mail and without appeal, I was unable to explain to him those funds come from my own brokerage account. I chose not to submit a new application with additional financial documents to clarify the  because of time, my vacation to Europe was about to start in a couple of weeks plus I have zero intention of providing her majesty with more in unnecessary visa fees.  I have been legally resident in the USA since 1998. I am married, have a well paying job as an engineer here in the USA, have traveled several times to the UK and never stayed more than ten days. Previously I had two different five-year multiple entry UK visas (the last of which expired in 2014), visited several other countries in Europe, own my own home and I'm financially secure. I have never overstayed a visa in any country and travel extensively.  So basically I want to travel with all my financial documents plus a copy of the previous refusal as if I were applying for a visa, and present my case if questioned at entry. I assume as an American I am allowed to travel visa free to the UK, despite my previous visa refusal.  Is this better than applying for entry clearance ahead of time, bearing in mind obtaining entry clearance ahead of time does not mean I will automatically be allowed entry into the U.K.  UPDATE 1 on March 15 2017  See my answer below to find out how it unfolded at Heathrow.  UPDATE 2 on July 8 2017  Follow-up visit after my detentiion in March.  UPDATE 3 on July 3 2018  Second visit after the initial detention.  UPDATE 4 on March 3 2019  Third visit after the initial detention and removal of stop flag from my profile.
106363
My mother acquired a criminal record in UK in 2010 when she was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and charged £85. This time while applying the on-line applications for her, I accidentally missed the criminal records column and replied "NO". The visa was refused with appeal and administrative review not allowed.  Can someone please suggest my next course of action for reapplying for a visa  It is an extremely urgent family matter, and I want the visa as early as possible. While researching I found in a blog some mention of a forwarding letter while reapplying.  Can someone please enlighten me on the entire issue?
37534
I had applied for a PLAB (Doctors) Visa for the UK to appear in PLAB test. I got refused on the basis of two recent large deposits in the bank statement I provided (my mothers). In reality, these are my own savings which I had deposited in her account to make it more strong. The only objection I got was that I must provide evidence for the source of these deposits. Other than this, I have previously travelled to the UK and USA as well as other parts of the world and my travel history is fine. Can someone please advise on how to proceed and re-apply?
15054
On November 11, my American girlfriend flew over to the UK to visit me. She was detained and questioned, and refused entry under the belief she would not leave within those six months. This was due to her having no return flight booked, as we were going to wait until we were together in the UK to book a return flight for either herself, or both of us back to the USA once we decided what exact dates I would be able to travel. Lesson learned. A hard lesson, but we learned!  Anyway, they said although she'll flag up in the future, it won't be a straight ban from entering and she could even try to come back the next day if she so pleased, although it would be unwise if her circumstances had not changed.  Fast forward to December 18. She got herself a job in the States to prove she intends to leave at the end of her stay, and has since applied for a UK Standard Visitor Visa. She posted her documents off to New York earlier today.  Will they send her a letter back refusing to issue her a visa since, as an American citizen, she does not even need one? She wanted to get one to be safe as I told her not to fly to the UK even with return flights booked if she doesn't have a visa, as she risks being denied once again after a long flight. It's hard to get this information on the Internet, and some stories I read said that they were sent a letter back from the UK Embassy denying their visa simply because they don't need one in the first place - even after that person was denied entry.  We're in a bit of a pickle granted, so any help would be greatly appreciated.   Cheers.
64409
I got a refusal under 3.6 a of Appendix V due to failure of checking the previous denial that I had 8 years ago. I changed the passport 2 times since then and have travelled to many countries and while the application form had so many things to check, I just did not pay proper attention to the boxes I checked. Please check the below refusal letter.   Now, I want to appeal for this ban to be cancelled, what can I do? I am of Asian national based in Spain with long term residence permit for the European Union.  Here is the copy of refusal letter, thank you so much for your comments!
39199
A friend from Russia (Moscow) is planning to visit me in late August. She is about to apply for a visa but she's worried that they will deny her application because she doesn't have anything to prove her willingness to return. She is 22 years old an just got her first degree in university and even though she will continue studying in the next semester, she won't have any documents from the university until September.  Is it likely that she won't get the visa? If so is there anything we can do about that, like proving she has a return ticket / reservation?  Edit: I should add that she lives with her parents (who are paying for the trip).
72313
I'm Italian and I wanted to return to the U.S. to meet some friends. The problem is that in 2011 I overstayed my visa by 4 months (so 90 days of regular visa waiver plus 4 months more for health problems). I read that this put me into a 3-year ban.  Now it's 2015 and in March I went to apply for a B2 visa (ESTA was denied), but they refused to give me a visa because I didn't have enough ties in my home country. I took all the proofs so I believe that the denial was actually for the overstay.  I want to reschedule another appointment this month, but I wanted to know if anyone has re-entered the U.S. after an overstay, or if anyone got a B2 visa after an overstay.
8704
I just submitted my UK Standard Visitor visa application and I inadvertently answered the question Did your travel outside your country of residence? with "NO", which should be "YES" as I have plenty of foreign travels as seen in my passport.  At this moment I can't edit my application anymore. I emailed them about this.
1538
I am applying for a complicated visa right now and I was told the chance of refusing visa application is high.   What happens if my visa is refused and I already have my airplane ticket? My flight is in one month, with British Airways. Is there a chance of getting my money back? Will the embassy give some affirmation for the flying company to cancel the ticket?
18934
I am 21, Vietnamese and have been accepted for the 26-week-long General English course in St Giles International, Brighton, UK. I have applied to the UK Visas and Immigration office in Vietnam. I have asked for short term student visitor visa and got refused. Now I am reapplying.  Exact wording of the refusal letter quoted here:     I have refused your application for a  visit visa because I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of paragraph A57 of Appendix V: Immigration rules for Visitor because:         You have said that you will travel to the UK for a period of 26 weeks, to study a general English course. You have said that upon completion of the course you will return to Vietnam looking for a better job. You appear to have completed your full time studies in Vietnam in 2013, and you have been working in administration role since May 2014. You have not sought to continue your studies in your home country since 2013. and you have not undertaken any English course previously, outside of your high school studies. You are employed and receive a monthly income of VND 5,000,000 (GBP 144.70). Of your GBP 144.70 income you spent GBP 100 on living costs. You have said that your study in the UK will cost you GBP 16,000. Therefore I am unclear why you would elected to travel; to the UK now, at the course involved - when courses are available in Vietnam, considerably cheaper.   As evidence of funds available for your trip you have presented a Sacombank savings book, on 14/08/2015 you credited VND 800,000,000 to this account, this is equal to GBP 23,151, and equates to over 13 years total income, before considering your living costs. As such, I am not satisfied of the origin of these funds, or if they are genuinely available to support your visit now. In light of the above, noting the costs involved, in fact you have not sought to study English previously, and there is no evidence that completion of this course would offer you better employment in Vietnam. Coupled the fact that I am not satisfied that the funds a genuinely available to support you visit means I am not satisfied that you intend to leave the UK at the end of the study. Furthermore, I am not satisfied you have enough funds to support your return journey, or that you will be maintained and adequately accommodated out of funds available to you.      First of all, after completing high school, I was not able to make it to a college or university. I got the job as a arrangement of my father with his friend's company. I could live quite easily without the salary thanks to my parents' financial support. In another word, all I needed was just a so called job, no matter how much it would pay me. After a year of being bored of the jobs as well as family dependence, with my parents' encouragement, I decided to go to study abroad to improve my knowledge and experience. I simply think that if I continue being in my country, no matter how much I want to do it, my family will give me everything I need when I am in trouble. And more than to become independent, I want to get a job with my very own sources when I return. I think the course will afford me that.  The funds for my course, obviously, came from my parent. And if the UK Immigration officers have doubt about my return or my bond to my hometown which can assure my return (such as a high salary job or real estate ownership) I just don't know what to show to convince them.  At the moment, all I think of to add to my reapplication are my parents' income statements (though I am not quite sure if it will help because legally, I have been no longer their dependant). Just so you know, I've already had my bank statement, employment description, return ticket booking, study record etc. I desperately want this, and even much more after the refusal, as I don't want to be called parasite any more.  What should I prepare and do to reapply?    I'm so afraid of being refused again and that would be the end of all of this because every time of being refused, it's only getting harder and harder to apply next time.
70366
I can't seem to find a story related to mine so here it is.  I am 25 and a German citizen. In 1998 when I was 7 years old my family moved to the states and we stayed until early 2002 and left voluntarily. Basically we overstayed. I am aware that my parents had the ten year ban and since I was a minor at the time of our overstay I did not receive such ban.  Ever since 2002 I have not attempted to go back to the USA for any reason. However now that I am older I would like to go back for vacation and stay for a short period of time (one month) during my christmas break.  I've lived in Germany since leaving, have a great job, enough money in the bank account. My whole life is here and I have no intention on moving anywhere else.  After reading a bunch of stories online I have decided to apply for a B2 visa to be on the safe side but I was curious about the ESTA approval. For the last question. 8) Have you ever stayed in the United States longer than the admission period granted to you by the U.S. government?   I should put yes but is it a no if I stayed when I was a minor? And what are my chances on getting the B2 Visa?
39283
I applied for the UK tourism visa.  I mentioned that I was going to travel only for 2 weeks. However I got rejected because I didn't mention in the application, that I was working, nor mentioned that my dad has a job also.  Although I gave them my dad's bank statement, they were worried that I might go to the UK and not come back, because I might not have enough funds to return to Egypt which is not true.  My mum wrote my application and she didn't know that she was supposed to put my dad's job or mine as well, or whether I stayed with my family or alone. I suspect that's the reason why the visa application got rejected.  I want to apply again for the visa because I want to visit my cousin - she lives there, plus I need to go on a vacation. I want to know whether it's possible for me to apply again for the visa now, or do I have to wait for another six months to reapply?
123338
I am about to apply for a UK Standard Visitor visa on an Indian passport. I have sufficient funds as shown by bank statements and am a full-time employed permanent resident of Canada. The application requires me to state whether I have friends/family and then requires all their details (their status in UK, address etc). I have a few old friends and one cousin but do not want to add them because of the details required.  Do you think it is a plus point or can go against me if I say "NO" to Do you have friends or family in UK?
76753
Your UK visa application has been issued.      PLEASE DO NOT GO TO THE VISA APPLICATION CENTRE BEFORE THEY CONTACT YOU.      You will be contacted by the Visa Application Centre when your documents are ready for collection, or have been dispatched via courier where this is relevant.       You are reminded that you should avoid making travel plans until you have collected your passport, as the outcome of your visa application is not final until you receive your passport.      Please ensure you check the details on your visa when collecting your passport. If you need to contact us you can do so via our International Enquiry Service at www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-outside-uk      Kind regards,      UK Visas and Immigration   British Embassy Abu Dhabi     Your UK visa application has been issued.   I know words like processed, forwarded, received, refused but never heard anything like that, so I am confused.
660
When certain nationalities of people want to travel in the Schengen zone, they are required to apply for a Schengen visa. This is a straight-forward process for most, but when an applicant has had problems with removals or refusals they may be reluctant to apply because they want to avoid the complexities of serial visa refusals. This reluctance may lead some into wondering how their history can be expunged, and this line of thought inevitably leads to the idea of getting their passport replaced with a new one.  This sounds like a great formula for people who have had prior refusals or removals.  In essence they can become 'reincarnated' as a first-time traveller and hence avoid the unpleasantness of revealing their prior interactions with the Schengen authorities.  The relevant parts of the application form are shown here...    Nothing asks about a prior removal or refusal, and the applicant is left with simple denials for 3 questions in order to present themselves as a first-time traveller.  Assuming the person is happy to set aside the moral issues associated with denying their history, are there any holes to this strategy?  This question is scoped to Schengen visa applications so that it will not be unmanageably broad, but answers from other regimes (particularly the affluent Commonwealth and the USA) are acceptable as long as the main points are relatively consistent with Schengen.
23499
I'm from the Philippines, and I plan on travelling to the UK with my sister to visit a relative.  I have just submitted my visa application and have already paid online, when I noticed that I've made a clerical error. In the 'visit or stay' portion of section "Do you have any friends or relatives in the UK?", I clicked the 'no' box, instead of 'yes'.  My sister's application is correct. She selected 'yes'. Our appointment is due next month. I am planning to email them about this, and also inform them on the day of application submission.  Is this the right path to take?