@ Akolawole,

Is LondonCool under a ban?

@ Akolawole , Londoncool , Funkybaby , Pataki and all that as good contributions.

I was just browsing thru goggle when i came across this educative forum , i wish i had found this years ago .

I have a very complicated issue and will be glad if u guys can take your precious time to read the below and put in your contributions and advise .


I applied for a Tourist visa to the UK 4 years ago before they started the finger print thingy , I packaged my application this way
Confirm hotel booking(paid)
Letter of leave and promotion from my office (both letters were well detailed )
I printed out my online bank statement (original not fake)
Pay slips
A copy of my mother wills stating my inheritance of part of her properties
tax clearance certificate (original)
The only fake document i used which was a idea of a friend of mine ; We forged a wedding invitation card stating that i will be getting married in nigeria after some 3weeks of my return from the UK .

I stated in my application i was going for sight seeing and shopping for my wedding. The Eco refused my application and no right to appeal saying that my account statement shows a lump deposit(which is true ), bla , bla , bla .

After some months i resigned my job in Nigeria and got a job with a international hotel chain in Mauritius , applying for visas in mauritius was very easy so i travel a lot and have had 3 schengen visas , 2 switzerland visa and 4 thailand visa on my passport and have had more than 10 arrival visa stamps in Singapore but i never bothered to apply for UK visa as i had no plans of going there again. Due to the economy crises i lost my job 4-months ago due to the closure of the hotel so i relocated to thailand to live at my partner's house.( am living in thailand on a 1 year visit visa).

My partner is british but he works in Singapore and he comes to thailand every weekend to see me , we both now decided to relocate to the UK and signed a civil partnership and then i can apply for 2years indefinite stay which will lead me to apply for a permanent resident . I checked online and it states that to sign civil partnership i will need to apply for a civil partnership/marriage visa in my home country or country of residence before i can come into the UK to sign civil partnership , am living in thailand on a visit visa so i cant apply for a visa in thailand so i have to go my home country(Nigeria) to apply for the civil partnership/marriage visa .

My questions now is that :

1. Do u guys think they still have records on my former application i made 4 years ago ?
2. When i applied then the DOB on my passport was 1978 but after the UK visa was refused i went to the nigerian immigration and they wrote and stamped on the observation page on my passport that it was a mistake from their office and my real DOB is 1980 , do u guys think they will go back to thier database and check the DOB i applied with before on my earlier application that was refused ?
3. A immigration officer in singapore mistakenly stamped arrival visa on the same spot the BHC lagos stamped the refusal stamped on my passport . is this a problem .
4. On my earlier application that was refused i included a invitation card to get married to a girl on my return back from the UK and now am doing a civil partnership application , how does this affect my application? ( i hope u guys knows what civil partnership in the UK means ).

Thanks again for taking time to read the above , will appreciate all contributions . I know i should be sending this to a immigration lawyer but i just need you guys advise and contributions also .

phuket:

@ Akolawole , Londoncool , Funkybaby , Pataki and all that as good contributions.

I was just browsing thru goggle when i came across this educative forum , i wish i had found this years ago .

I have a very complicated issue and will be glad if u guys can take your precious time to read the below and put in your contributions and advise .


I applied for a Tourist visa to the UK 4 years ago before they started the finger print thingy , I packaged my application this way
Confirm hotel booking(paid)
Letter of leave and promotion from my office (both letters were well detailed )
I printed out my online bank statement (original not fake)
Pay slips
A copy of my mother wills stating my inheritance of part of her properties
tax clearance certificate (original)
The only fake document i used which was a idea of a friend of mine ; We forged a wedding invitation card stating that i will be getting married in nigeria after some 3weeks of my return from the UK .

I stated in my application i was going for sight seeing and shopping for my wedding. The Eco refused my application and no right to appeal saying that my account statement shows a lump deposit(which is true ), bla , bla , bla .

After some months i resigned my job in Nigeria and got a job with a international hotel chain in Mauritius , applying for visas in mauritius was very easy so i travel a lot and have had 3 schengen visas , 2 switzerland visa and 4 thailand visa on my passport and have had more than 10 arrival visa stamps in Singapore but i never bothered to apply for UK visa as i had no plans of going there again. Due to the economy crises i lost my job 4-months ago due to the closure of the hotel so i relocated to thailand to live at my partner's house.( am living in thailand on a 1 year visit visa).

My partner is british but he works in Singapore and he comes to thailand every weekend to see me , we both now decided to relocate to the UK and signed a civil partnership and then i can apply for 2years indefinite stay which will lead me to apply for a permanent resident . I checked online and it states that to sign civil partnership i will need to apply for a civil partnership/marriage visa in my home country or country of residence before i can come into the UK to sign civil partnership , am living in thailand on a visit visa so i cant apply for a visa in thailand so i have to go my home country(Nigeria) to apply for the civil partnership/marriage visa .

My questions now is that :

phuket:



1. Do u guys think they still have records on my former application i made 4 years ago ?

   Yes, absolutely, they keep your records for future references.

phuket:


2. When i applied then the DOB on my passport was 1978 but after the UK visa was refused i went to the nigerian immigration and they wrote and stamped on the observation page on my passport that it was a mistake from their office and my real DOB is 1980 , do u guys think they will go back to thier database and check the DOB i applied with before on my earlier application that was refused ?

   Absolutely, this is questionable and you'll have to prove beyond reasonable doubts that the former was an error, maybe a supporting affidavits can help, though. By the way, what about the day and month, do they correspond?

phuket:


3. A immigration officer in singapore mistakenly stamped arrival visa on the same spot the BHC lagos stamped the refusal stamped on my passport . is this a problem .

   Honestly, i don't believe it was a mistake, no immigration officer will ever do a thing like that, com'on, we're Nigerians, and we know what OLuwole is capable of.
   Anyway, this is a very serious offence, you have just tempered your travel document and this could result in serious immigration prosecution should you happen be found out in the UK territory.

phuket:

4. On my earlier application that was refused i included a invitation card to get married to a girl on my return back from the UK and now am doing a civil partnership application , how does this affect my application? ( i hope u guys knows what civil partnership in the UK means ).

   But i don't think they can verify such private (or personal) invitation card, it's got nothing to do with any government or coporate organisation, neither does it have any legal consequences. So, i don't think this is a problem. However, they might want to know how your proposed wedding went, you should find a way to explain why it didn't take place.

phuket:

Thanks again for taking time to read the above , will appreciate all contributions . I know i should be sending this to a immigration lawyer but i just need you guys advise and contributions also .

   My pleasure. Expect more contributions from others. Cheers

very complicated , am looking to read from funkybaby , londoncool, pataki on this issue b4 i add my 1cent

@ Vicjustice

The date and month is the same only year is different (02/10/1978 / 02/10/1980). What kind of supporting affidavit can help ? should i go to court and get affidavit and get a notary stamp on it ? Please advise more on this issue

They can see on the passport that the refusal stamp is still there , it was just a mistake that the immigration officer in singapore put a stamp close to it and covers the date written below the refusal stamp(and vicjustice am serious , no point in lying to you guys at this stage ). Am ready to tell them the truth on the application form that have been refused before , Will a letter written by me and explaining to them what happened to the refusal stamp help?

Will my past travel history boost up my application?

I forget to mention earlier , i was in nigeria some weeks ago and i applied and got the new ECOWAS passport whit my correct date of birth(02/10/1980 , should i just ignore the old passport and apply for the visa with new passport ? But the thing is i want to show the ECO my travel history so they could see that me and my partner have lived together and have had vacations together in different countries (Europe ,Asia , Africa) so they could see that our relationship is genuine.

More contributions are welcome

phuket:

@ Vicjustice

The date and month is the same only year is different (02/10/1978 / 02/10/1980). What kind of supporting affidavit can help ? should i go to court and get affidavit and get a notary stamp on it ? Please advise more on this issue

They can see on the passport that the refusal stamp is still there , it was just a mistake that the immigration officer in singapore put a stamp close to it and covers the date written below the refusal stamp(and vicjustice am serious , no point in lying to you guys at this stage ). Am ready to tell them the truth on the application form that have been refused before , Will a letter written by me and explaining to them what happened to the refusal stamp help?

Will my past travel history boost up my application?

I forget to mention earlier , i was in nigeria some weeks ago and i applied and got the new ECOWAS passport whit my correct date of birth(02/10/1980 , should i just ignore the old passport and apply for the visa with new passport ? But the thing is i want to show the ECO my travel history so they could see that me and my partner have lived together and have had vacations together in different countries (Europe ,Asia , Africa) so they could see that our relationship is genuine.

More contributions are welcome

   I know someone who had a similar case regarding his birth year discrepancy; he supported his claim with an Age-Declaration document and it was rectified for good. You can do the same, go to your local affidavits court for an authentic age declaration, trust me, it will be acceptable.
   As for the refusal stamp that was overlapped, i really don't have an advice for that because i can't see the extent of the damage. However, you can assess it yourself and judge. . .
   And sure, your travel history will give you some credibility and that would encourage your chance. Therefore, you're adviced to attach your previous passport of which the UK embassy already has a copy.
   The sad thing is you might not be called for an interview, but the good thing is; unlike the former application which did not attract a full right of appeal because the visa sought was a tourist one, this time, (if however you're refused) being a Civil Partnership one you'd be given a right of appeal and that would give you a chance to explain yourself.

@phuket

Since you are applying from Nigeria, i think you should concentrate your efforts on how to convince the ECO on the seriousness/commitment of your relationship with your British partner beyond all reasonable doubt. You both are going for civil partnership so you really have to show enough facts about your relationship with her.

People legally married to british partners sometimes have it tough when applying for settlement visa so you should not expect anything less for a nigerian applying for civil partnership from BHC, nigeria.

So concentrate on getting anything that can establish the relationship with your partner. This should include pictures of the both of you taken on your vacations (since you say you both go for vacations together), copies of her passport showing her various entry and departure stamps to thailand to see you, her old plane tickets showing trips from singapore to thailand to see you, various email correspondences between you two, evidence of financial commitments between you two (maybe joint bank account ) . . . . . anything else that you can think of or lay your hands on to prove that you and your woman are serious with each other. . . . just get them all together and submit them with your application. Never assume that no piece of paper is irrelevant or too much to prove and establish your relationship with her

Regarding your previous refusal, that is no big deal. Remember to state on the visa form that you were refused before. In the space for ''state reason for previous refusal'', dont write out details of the shopping for marriage stuff. If they check their records and see that you had plans of getting married before in nigeria, it is no big deal. Planned marriage ceremonies get cancelled. That is nothing new. You might be called for an interview, if you are asked any question on it, just tell them that the marriage got cancelled and did not hold again. Simple.
Just state on the visa form that refusal was based on lump deposit in account. Besides, the space for that in the visa form if i remember correctly is small , no there is really no need for long epistles

sometimes i think this previous UK visa refusal issue and their ugly stamp placed on passports is rather overrated. people get refused by BHC and still take the same passport to other embassies .eg. US embassy and they get their visa applications approved. Each (new) visa application is treated based on its own individual merits or demerits. . . . never forget that.

On the date of birth issue. That as well is not a problem.
Reason : On your old passport, the mistake was stated on the observation page
              On your new passport, you have your real DOB on it
So submit both passports with your application. How else are you going to prove your previous travel history if you do not submit your old passport?

Regarding the visa placed on the refusal stamp. Dont worry, i dont think that should be a problem. I have never read it anywhere that the last page of a passport is strictly reserved for UK refusal stamp. So if a visa is placed on your passprt page, i dont see any big issue about it. Besides, its the immigration official in sigapore that placed the stamp on it and not you


You have good travel history, that is very good. But like i said, you should focus on convincing the ECO that you and your partner have genuine intentions about relocating to the UK and that she loves you enough. . . blah blah. . . reason why she wants you to come along with her. If you do your homework well on that, i really do not see why you should get the visa.

Cheers

ps. am assuming you are a guy since you did not state your sex in your profile

Wow , U guys have been so great and i really appreciate your contributions and more contributions are still welcome .

@ Funkybabe ; Newsflash for you , am a guy and my partner is a guy ( civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex, formed when they register as civil partners of each other) It is the registration we are going for in the UK and after the registration you can apply to the home office in the UK and get a 2years probation stay(allows you to work full-time) , after the 2years if we are still together i can file in for a permanent residency. But to do the registration i need to apply for a civil partnership visa before entering UK.

@ Vicjustice ; Thanks a lot for that contribution

Funky your contribution was really helpful , i never thought about getting our used Airport boarding passes along side with the application but thank God i still kept them .

if you guys read my earlier post again , you will discover that it was after my visa application was refused that i went to the custom and get observation on my passport for the DOB , which means that on my first application i made i filled in my DOB as 02/10/1978 because have not done the observation then but now have done the observation and i have a new ECOWAS passport that reads 02/10/1980. Advise please


I feel i owe u guys a lot for all your contributions but all i can say now is a BIG THANK YOU .

I think Funkybaby has answered you satisfactorily. Yet still, I would give further insights to your questions in seriatim.

1. Yes they have all your records, including all documents witheld from your initial applications. I remember the case of one of my friends who applied to the BHC Lagos in 2004 to join his parents, when you still have to make a face-to-face application, the ECO brought out the file of his father and mother who were already resident in UK, just to verify whether there were any discrepancies in the records from either parties.

2. Of course they will check your DOB from your initial application. In fact, it is one of the vital records to identifying you easily with the BHC. Nevertheless, since you stated that the error has been corrected from the Nigerian Immigration Service, you have no problem. Just ensure you attach your Birth Certificate showing the real DOB with your application now.

3. An Immigration officer placing a stamp on the spot where your refusal was on your passport, is NOT a problem. It is your fault, and there are no implications with it. It is already noted in their system that you had been refused, if you submit any application, the records will pop up showing your refusal. The stamp issue to the best of knowledge and in which I have the same is not a subject of worry in any way.

4. There are ways you can be intelligent with this. Firstly, it is best you are ''intelligently honest'' with them. In the sense that, when filling your application, make reference to the fact that you had suffered relationship damage in times past following your refusal to visit the UK in 2004, because your partner broke off the relationship since you were not able to travel to the UK to procure all necessary items for the wedding. That the refusal had an irreparable damage to you and your relationship which led to the cancellation of your proposed marriage from your partner. Secondly, you can then march on to state that because of that, you have moved on you have now found someone else.

@ phuket,

Please I hope you do not mind my asking, are you gay? It is just a question of curiosity, nothing more.

phuket:

Wow , U guys have been so great and i really appreciate your contributions and more contributions are still welcome .

@ Funkybabe ; Newsflash for you , am a guy and my partner is a guy

Erm . . . . I know what civil partnership is all about
I just did not want to believe a nigerian man will be involved in such . . . . . no offense meant
Reason why i highlightened the ''civil registration'' in my posts and stated i was not sure of your sex
So i thought maybe the rules had been adjusted or something , so it allows ''boyfriend-girlfriend''

On the DOB issue, its a bit complicated but just stick to your real age and like pataki advised, attached copies of your birth certificate.

Cheers

Lol
Waited to see how it will all unfold.
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 was entirely for same sex couple.
It will take the the OP cracked nut to convince the ECO of a durable relationship since they live apart(Thailand-Singpore) and on a time restricted visit visa there in Thailand.

darkroll:

very complicated , am looking to read from funkybaby , londoncool, pataki on this issue b4 i add my 1cent

darkroll, please add your 1cent  
I remember the thread where your brother had similiar issue on date of birth
maybe you can teach phunket a trick or two on how to handle his issue

@All


Look messy a la Nigerian applicants [ From the eagle eyes of ECO]


@Poster

1) " You met your patner in Thailand. Why are you living in Thailand while you hold just thailand visiting visa?

2) ECO hardly forget culture of the applicant while dealing with "unusual" visa application.

@Vicky

Long time

brownbonno:

Lol
Waited to see how it will all unfold.
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 was entirely for same sex couple.
It will take the the OP cracked  nut to convince the ECO of a durable relationship since they live apart(Thailand-Singpore) and on a time restricted visit visa there in Thailand.

In fact, it all just got more interesting and puzzling for me. I thought civil partnership was for boyfriend-girlfriend thingy.

@ phuket,

How long has your partner been resident in Singapore? My reason for asking is based on what brownbonno has posted, which is an eye-opener to your case for me.

For one, you and your partner are not ''living together'' at the moment, you only visit yourselves in different countries, your partner is British, works in Singapore, has he secured a job in the UK that will make room for you guys to live together as partners, do you have documents to show for this? You are not gainfully employed at the moment, you have a visit visa to Thailand for one year and you last worked four months ago, have you considered all this loopholes to your application?

@ darkroll,

Please I await your contribution on these matter. This is really complicated as you anticipated.

Akolawole:

@Funke

You don teach me on "how not to believe people"

i feel rather hurt by that statement
i have explained to you
i have apologised again and again
i have asked several times if you still need the info
whatelse do you want me to do  

Pataki:


@ phuket,

How long has your partner been resident in Singapore? My reason for asking is based on what brownbonno has posted, which is an eye-opener to your case for me.

For one, you and your partner are not ''living together'' at the moment, you only visit yourselves in different countries, your partner is British, works in Singapore, has he secured a job in the UK that will make room for you guys to live together as partners, do you have documents to show for this? You are not gainfully employed at the moment, you have a visit visa to Thailand for one year and you last worked four months ago, have you considered all this loopholes to your application?

and to cap it all, he is gay, he is a nigerian and submitting the application at BHC, lagos 

but he can be successful though
only needs to take his time and prepare very well before submitting the application

@ phuket,

Below link maybe helpful(especially the Vietnam route).

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Civil-Partnerships-t171025.html&mode=linear

funkybaby:


Erm . . . . I know what civil partnership is all about
I just did not want to believe a nigerian man will be involved in such . . . . . no offense meant
Reason why i highlightened the ''civil registration'' in my posts and stated i was not sure of your sex
So i thought maybe the rules had been adjusted or something , so it allows ''boyfriend-girlfriend''

On the DOB issue, its a bit complicated but just stick to your real age and like pataki advised, attached copies of your birth certificate.

Cheers

Funky dont lets us go into the "I just did not want to believe a nigerian man will be involved in such, " issue . just address my case with a openmind, lol

Like  you said it is complicated and i will stick to the advise of pataki (attach copies of birth certificate and affidavit) . Do you guys think if i write a letter and state that it was an ignorance of me that i used  the wrong DOB will help?

Am sorry  i keep referring these DOB issue ,  just really bothering me

@ Akolawole ;  we met eachother in Singapore during a training i was attending , and we kept visiting each other constantly until i lost my job .After i lost my job i went to europe for 2 month along side with him and we returned to singapore together . He bought a house in Phuket(thailand)  so i decided to move  to his house in thailand since is cheaper to live in thailand, Singapore to Phuket(thailand) is 1hr 25min flight and he comes around every weekend and anytime he has off from work.

He works in singapore and he has investment in UK (he just bought an apartment at the emirate stadium plaza in the UK)

We plan settling down in Thailand at our later days , just that for now he needs to move back to the UK for work  and we want to be together .


I am not sure if what you do in bed as anything to do with culture (just my own opinion) , and i think the ECO should understand that being a Nigerian does not mean u cant be gay.

@ Pataki am actually bisexual but am talking about my gay side now.

My main concern about the application is the DOB issue

@ pataki , funky and all thanks alot and am still looking forward to more contributions , your contributions as been giving me ideas of other documents i needed to include in the application

@Puket

I am not bothered about your sexuality.

Be it proper gay, bisexual or gay to get papers.

I cannot advice about DOB discrepancies as well.

I was just looking at the application and questions that will come up in the interview.

Last month, a friend of mine was refused marriage visa application because of genuiness of the marriage as only 6 people were present at their wedding. The ECOI further state that in Nigeria, weddings are widely celebrated bla bla bla, Isnt this culture?

brownbonno:

@ phuket,

Below link maybe helpful(especially the Vietnam route).

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Civil-Partnerships-t171025.html&mode=linear

Brownbonno i owe you , you are a life saver . It cost less than nothing to register the civil partnership at BHC in Vietnam and who knows may be they would allow me to apply for the indefinite stay from the BHC in Vietnam

I no sure say na the same google search engine we dey use oooo , have searched before but got nothing regarding this , I only got the one for Hongkong but u have to be honkong residency to register.

Thanks alot guys .

@ phuket,

The DOB is something you can work around with. It has been corrected on your passport by the Nigerian Immigration Service. If you had written on your application form the wrong DOB, which I suspected you did and you are bothered about it, I am sure if you think critically well, there are ways you can ''intelligently'' explain the discrepancy with your new application.

Seeing that your partner is economically tied to the UK, apart from his being a British citizen, that is OK. Ensure that you have supporting documents to the claims you have stated here. This is all I have to say for now.

@ Akolawole,

The Nigerian culture, does not allow for gay marriage. Hence, people paying attention to his marriage in matters of attendance is inconsequential. That is my own view though.

@ phuket,

One more thing, whether you apply from Lagos or Vietnam, your previous application would be cross-checked from their database. That I can assure you of.

All the best.

phuket:

Brownbonno i owe you , you are a life saver . It cost less than nothing to register the civil partnership at BHC in Vietnam and who knows may be they would allow me to apply for the indefinite stay from the BHC in Vietnam

I no sure say na the same google search engine we dey use oooo , have searched before but got nothing regarding this , I only got the one for Hongkong but u have to be honkong residency to register.

Thanks alot guys .

Just to make you happy.

http://ukinvietnam.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-vietnam/how-register-marriage/civil-partnerships

@ Phuket have been reading everyone's post

Am not really good with d  UK immigration issue , but my 1 cent is regarding the DOB issue and stamp

There is no where in the law that state the last page of the passport is to be used for BHC only , as long as you are honest with them that you have been refused before no worries regarding that. My brother had the same issue as yours , he erased the refusal stamp of BHC , lagos and he when he applied here in Seychelles he simply stated it in a letter to them that  due to ignorance he erased the stamp. he was granted the visa under 2days .

As for your own case it is really complicated but if you are intelligent ( and it seems  to me you are ) , you can beat the ECO on the DOB stuff . My own opinion is write a letter and clearly state to them that when the error was made by the Nigerian immigration you never put much attention to it  , but after you realized that the error could affect you in the nearest future you decided to go to the NIgerian immigration and rectify it .

You have a good case phuket , if you can back up all what you stated in your post ( your partner's  investment , and him buying a house in thailand and you are living there ) , do you  have any letter addressed to your name sent to that house ?

BHC  handles civil partnership case with extreme care especially if applicant is from a country where being gay is not legalized , they will treat your case with the highest discretion and i can assure that they wont judge you on  the basis that you gay and you are a nigerian , you are absolute right that what you do on bed as nothing to do with your nationality .


Hope my 1cent help

@ funkebaby ,  How u dey ?

Akolawole:


@Vicky

Long time

   Honourable, i Salute you!

Akolawole:

Look messy a la Nigerian applicants [ From the eagle eyes of ECO]



2) ECO hardly forget culture of the applicant while dealing with "unusual" visa application.

   You just said my mind. You see, homosexual is not something commonly practiced in Nigeria, so, it might be hard for the subject to get through all these especially as there are other complications. You won't be surprised that this is the first case of its kind to an ECO in Nigeria who will likely use the native law, custom, tradition and culture to assess the civil partnership situation. Now, imagine what the outcome would be if the ECO has grudges against gay people, or is not satisfied that a Nigerian can genuinly declare being a gay.
Anyway, goodluck

a

phuket:

a

Vicjustice:

   Honourable, i Salute you!

   You just said my mind. You see, homosexual is not something commonly practiced in Nigeria, so, it might be hard for the subject to get through all these especially as there are other complications. You won't be surprised that this is the first case of its kind to an ECO in Nigeria who will likely use the native law, custom, tradition and culture to assess the civil partnership situation. Now, imagine what the outcome would be if the ECO has grudges against gay people, or is not satisfied that a Nigerian can genuinly declare being a gay.
   Anyway, goodluck

Vic am not sure any ECO will have grudges against gay people and incase any ECO does, He/she has to keep the grudges in his pocket ,in the job contract an ECO signed stated clearly he/she must not allow whatever grudges (sexuality , religion, cultural background. e.t.c)  as  to affect his decisions towards applications.

ECO works with guidelines so there is no case that it might be the first type of application they are receiving , all the ECO needs to do is use the same guidelines and rules that will be used in a country where being gay is allowed  to make decision on his application .

Being gay as nothing to do with nationality , a lot of nigerians i know that  have been granted asylum with the story that they are gay and back home they will be stoned to death .

Hello all.
I am new here and readin' thru this tread, whao! its 49 pages of mother lode on UK visa issues. Y'all doin' a great job here.
To also seek your advice on UK visa issue, my partner is self-employed as a consultant in education management and handles a lot of twinnin' on the global scale.
Around this period in the previous year (2008), he applied for a business visitor visa to attend a fully sponsored ( I mean accommodation, feeding and transport will be handled by the host in the UK & all he needs to do is get a return ticket) school evaluation trip in the Birmingham region organized by the HELSA group of schools and the ECO refused the entry clearance by statin' that the amount he claimed as earnings ($4800) was higher than what his account balance ($2800+) was at that time (he claimed the ECO perjured his application entry cuz he wrote $1800 and not $4800). The ECO also said that since he was been sponsored, why is he providin' source of funds (I am clearly unclear about what that means though).
His right of appeal was said to be limited but he still went ahead to appeal using the premise of the fact that the ECO discriminated his financial status. The appeal was also denied.
He applied again later in the year to attend two (2) other related conferences in the UK and the visas were refused by the ECOs that they are not sure why he is representin' his own company.
Apparently very confused, he passed off other business opportunities to visit the UK in 2008.
This year again, he was invited by the same group of schools that invited him in the previous year and the ECO repeated the same thin', why is he representing his company.
Advised to re-apply and state that he owns the company as a sole proprietor, he did just that and again the visa was refused and this time the reason was that he did not include the sponsor financial details (the invitation letter was well composed and the umbrella organization for the group of schools works with and are certified by VisitBritain and the British Council and when he confirmed from them, they told him the BDHC did not contact them to verify).
My Qs -
Which one of the sponsor's is supposed to send financial documents as proof? The universities or the umbrella organization? and they told him they cannot do that cuz they are already known and well regarded by the UK govt.
Do y'all think the ECOs are bein' petty and discriminatin'?
Advice, not castigation pls.

darkroll:


There is no where in the law that state the last page of the passport is to be used for BHC only , as long as you are honest with them that you have been refused before no worries regarding that. My brother had the same issue as yours , he erased the refusal stamp of BHC , lagos and he when he applied here in Seychelles he simply stated it in a letter to them that  due to ignorance he erased the stamp. he was granted the visa under 2days .

As for your own case it is really complicated but if you are intelligent ( and it seems  to me you are ) , you can beat the ECO on the DOB stuff . My own opinion is write a letter and clearly state to them that when the error was made by the Nigerian immigration you never put much attention to it  , but after you realized that the error could affect you in the nearest future you decided to go to the NIgerian immigration and rectify it .

You have a good case phuket , if you can back up all what you stated in your post ( your partner's  investment , and him buying a house in thailand and you are living there ) , do you  have any letter addresse your name sent to that house ?

BHC  handles civil partnership case with extreme care especially if applicant is from a country where being gay is not legalized , they will treat your case with the highest discretion and i can assure that they wont judge you on  the basis that you gay and you are a nigerian , you are absolute right that what you do on bed as nothing to do with your nationality .

I agree.
Phunket, should go ahead and do just that (attaching his brithcertificate as well, prefarably the original)

darkroll:

am not sure any ECO will have grudges against gay people and incase the ECO does he has to keep the grudges in his pocket ,in the job contract an ECO signed stated clearly he/she must not allow whatever grudges (sexuality , religion, cultural background. e.t.v) as to affect his decisions towards applications.

ECO works with guidelines so there is no case that it might be the first type of application they are receiving , all the ECO needs to do use the same guidelines and rules that will be used in a country where being gay is allowed to make decision on his application .

Being gay as nothing to do with nationality , a lot of nigerians i know that have been granted asylum with the story that they are gay and back home they will be stoned to death .

You are right. Everyone is entitled to his or her sexual preference and the ECO has no reason to use that as a basis of refusal. As long as the phunket can prove beyond all reasonable doubt his relationship with his partner, this he should get the visa.

darkroll:

@ funkebaby , How u dey ?

I am fine, thanks. You?

phuket:

Funky dont lets us go into the "I just did not want to believe a nigerian man will be involved in such, " issue . just address my case with a openmind,  lol

lol. alright

~Saruman~:

Hello all.
I am new here and readin' thru this tread, whao! its 49 pages of mother lode on UK visa issues. Y'all doin' a great job here.
To also seek your advice on UK visa issue, my partner is self-employed as a consultant in education management and handles a lot of twinnin' on the global scale.
Around this period in the previous year (2008), he applied for a business visitor visa to attend a fully sponsored ( I mean accommodation, feeding and transport will be handled by the host in the UK & all he needs to do is get a return ticket) school evaluation trip in the Birmingham region organized by the HELSA group of schools and the ECO refused the entry clearance by statin' that the amount he claimed as earnings ($4800) was higher than what his account balance ($2800+) was at that time (he claimed the ECO perjured his application entry cuz he wrote $1800 and not $4800). The ECO also said that since he was been sponsored, why is he providin' source of funds (I am clearly unclear about what that means though).
His right of appeal was said to be limited but he still went ahead to appeal using the premise of the fact that the ECO discriminated his financial status. The appeal was also denied.
He applied again later in the year to attend two (2) other related conferences in the UK and the visas were refused by the ECOs that they are not sure why he is representin' his own company.
Apparently very confused, he passed off other business opportunities to visit the UK in 2008.
This year again, he was invited by the same group of schools that invited him in the previous year and the ECO repeated the same thin', why is he representing his company.
Advised to re-apply and state that he owns the company as a sole proprietor, he did just that and again the visa was refused and this time the reason was that he did not include the sponsor financial details (the invitation letter was well composed and the umbrella organization for the group of schools works with and are certified by VisitBritain and the British Council and when he confirmed from them, they told him the BDHC did not contact them to verify).
My Qs -
Which one of the sponsor's is supposed to send financial documents as proof? The universities or the umbrella organization? and they told him they cannot do that cuz they are already known and well regarded by the UK govt.
Do y'all think the ECOs are bein' petty and discriminatin'?
Advice, not castigation pls.

thats a total of four business visitor visit refusals in about one year 

your partner must obviously be missing some necessary information out in his visa applications

why re-apply again when he is yet to address the reasons for the refusal as stated in the refusal notice. it will certainly result in another refusal 

in your case, i think its best you upload a copy of the refusal notice and edit all personal information in it
lets read what the ECO stated word for word as the reasons for the most recent refusal

Funke,

My wife and I want to travel to UK for vacation. can you assist with necessary tips to ensure the visa is granted?? my e-mail is coololu33@yahoo.com.