The Intricasies Involved In Appealing A British Student Visa Refusal

Hello all, I was recently denied a British student visa and was told I could appeal. I wouldn't know what the implications of appealing are. The Student Adviser at the School I applied to in the UK wants me to appeal. She believes not appealing might jeopadize my chances of getting another UK visa in the future.

But, I am confused. If I decide to appeal, does it mean for instance that I might not even be qualified for a visitor's visa until the appeal is decided since I plan visiting for Dec at least(I was last in the UK 2006 Jan)? How long does the appeal process take? What happens if I remain refused after the appeal?

Please I need advise from anyone familiar with this as I have barely 3 days left to submit my appeal. Thanks.

I don't know the answers to any of your questions but try checking out the British website esp the info on Student Visas & appeals.

But check back. I know the more knowledgable folk will be around to offer guidance.

Best wishes.

My dear, appealling a visa refusal at the british embassy is not always a good advice. The chance of success is not up to 20%. Cases of appeal is treated at their office in London and it is not a quick thing. It takes time.

@ ronke, i'll still advise you to appeal. Its better than not doing so.

Dont be put off by how long it take.

Trust me a glass cup is always half full not, half empty. Be optimistic!

see let me advice you i think you sey you be nigerian all you need is a nice white powder. just rub ham for ur face and a nice biro. the powder you go use ham snap ur passport, the biro you go just mark a place in the passport.thats all u are a winner

feel like given u the advise you need but need to kw the circumstance the refused you visa on before i can give an advice here ok., contact me on 447725869414 or monnddallars2k3@yahoo.com. or u can we can meet up online and talk about it. theres no harm in appealling but sometimes will look stupid to appeal if the are very right. you can appeal 100 times and will still be refused if the right process are not taken ok.

its not yet the end of the road.

Ronke, I went thru the same thing. I was refused a visa, and whilst I appealed, I reapplied, but in Abuja. Those wankers in Lagos are nasty. Got the visa, now in the UK, starting my programme next week.

@chxta, so you are in the UK now. I beg holla me oooooooo. I dey Manchester

guys which of the centers of the british consulates is better to apply for visa ABUJA OR LAGOS? Ihave just been denied a british visa in lagos can i reapply in abuja?or must it be in lagos?

i HAVE A FRIEND WHO WAS REFUSED AND HE APPEALED AND WAS LATER GIVEN. hE ACTUALLY MADE IT ON TIME TO START WITH THE SESSION.

But you have to look at their reasons.

Take care of the financial aspects very well I think that is the part that bothers them the most

Chxta:

Ronke, I went through the same thing. I was refused a visa, and whilst I appealed, I reapplied, but in Abuja. Those wankers in Lagos are nasty. Got the visa, now in the UK, starting my programme next week.

Chxta, that was great! But how did that happen? Did you use the same passport that u applied with in Lagos? How far has the appeal gone now? cheers!

CHOCHORI

I Just sent you a mail now using the mail address you left on your post and it was returned undelivered to my mail. pls could you give me another mail address or a land phone no if you have. thanks!

gbengaijot:

@chxta, so you are in the UK now. I beg holla me oooooooo. I dey Manchester

Email please: chxtab@gmail.com

ronkeakpe:

Chxta, that was great! But how did that happen? Did you use the same passport that u applied with in Lagos? How far has the appeal gone now? cheers!

Yes, I used the same passport. Couldn't care less how the appeal is now.

The Author beat me to this. I am about to launch a thread on something similar.


I know few things about this appeal system, i will unveil it soon.

Cheers

hi there

i'll just answer the part about applying for a holiday visa, go ahead and renew your current holiday in fact do it quickly. Since you travelled in january it would be considered a renewal not a fresh application.


why do i say? i have appealed before and it was denied. However apply for your renewal now so that you can state in the form that you have not appealed.

You can still appeal if you want or simply reapply, personally i think reapplying would be better this time check your documents and seek legal advice so u'll know if you could have something differently.

salsera

Thanks for your advise. The only problem is that I posted this topic a bit too late. Actually, I have less than 3 days left to fax my appeal to their office. And as for the Visitor's visa renewal, I need to book an appointment first before I could be called for an interview. In booking, you are not usually allocated an interview appointment until two weeks or more after you might have submitted ur application online. So the whole thing is moduled up now. I have to let go one for the other and can't do both. There isn't much time left.
But does it mean I can't apply for a renewal of my visa while the appeal is going on? Here also I need some advice!

that was the point i was making

its a renewal almost like dropbox, it shouldnt need an interview

call the their office and ask about dropbox, say you want to renew your holiday visa

if its about time just you can fax the appeal anyways just for the heck of it, but be warned that it may take awhile especially if they consider that it would be too late for you to resume school any way

in conclusion you have a good chance in reapplying but an appeal could fail

what were the reasons for refusal, in another post about student visas you'll see that UK government is less likely to give visas now than they did before.

so my dear renew your visiting visa so at least you can travel this year, later you can reapply for the next session with more info

Salsera

Thanks once again for the reply. Actually, I presently reside in Europe. There is no dropbox stuff here. You apply on-line and pick a date for the interview. The dates available for you to choose from are always two weeks or more away from when you must have submitted ur online application. So if I decide to renew my visa now, to get an interview would not happen until end of this month to early Sept. By then, the appeal deadline would have lapsed. That was what I meant when I said, I had to forfeit one for the other right now. Hope u got the gist?

Salsera

^{its a renewal almost like dropbox, it shouldnt need an interview}

Actually, u apply the same way here whether renewal or fresh. My hubby recently renewed his and he had to to apply on-line to interview. It does not work like that of British embassy nigeria here.

@ronke, its really sad that you were denied. Trust me, if you already have a visiting visa on your passport and u want to change your status to a student, its very difficult. Trust me, about 5 of my friends have been nailed by the UK embassy for trying to change from a visitor to student visa.


Infact, one of them, he has a 2 years visitng on his passport, and he was refused student visa and at the same time, his 2 years was cancelled.

So if you have a visiting visa, its better to stay put with that than applying for a student on it.

Gbengaijot

Actually, my Visitor's visa lapsed in June and I turned in my student visa application in August.

gbengaijot:

@ronke, its really sad that you were denied. Trust me, if you already have a visiting visa on your passport and u want to change your status to a student, its very difficult. Trust me, about 5 of my friends have been nailed by the UK embassy for trying to change from a visitor to student visa.


Infact, one of them, he has a 2 years visitng on his passport, and he was refused student visa and at the same time, his 2 years was cancelled.

So if you have a visiting visa, its better to stay put with that than applying for a student on it.

can they really do that??

it doesnt matter if your visiting visa expired on a month before.
I still don't get their psychology, from that experience, i guess (if my quesses are right) that its better to apply for a student visa on a fresh pali.

Five denials in a go is uncalled for. THis guys use genuine documents oooooooo.

YOu know what i mean, and they were still refused. But i'll advise you appeal.

I was once denied a Holiday Visa sometimes ago as well, so i know what it feels like

get a good and strong lawyer and appeal,you have chances,my sister and friends did the same thing two years ago and they all got her visa,best of luck

You can appeal. it is not going to jeopardize you applying for a visitor visa. but i need to ask why u were rejected the first time. was it becos ur documents were not sufficient enough, No enough money in ur sponsor (s) account, or u've not paid ur fees or accommodation. if u can ans some of this questions i cld suggest an alternatives to u.

twinkledew

Great to know I could still apply for a Visitor's visa while my appeal goes on. Actually, I was refused on the ground that the statement of account I submitted here was from a Nigerian bank and they said they therefore could not accesss my local information from here. Also they wondered how I would possibly be able to fund my studies since my hubby is also a Phd student in here (Europe). Probably they forgot the fact that my hubby attends a tuition-free schl here in Europe.
And as to ur questions, no, I hadn't paid schl nor accommodation fees. I only paid the required deposit I needed to get my offer of a place confirmed.
I would be delighted to hear further advise from you soonest!

@ ron.

where did u apply from?

@ ron.

where did u apply from?

actually we re in the same boat now
it is better for u to appeaol but u need good counsel b4 u do
get a very good immigration lawyer and appeal
but it may mean that u would havre to defer ur admission to another session ike i have done

while apealing bc it takes time i will also reapply
and let them know that an appeal is in progress with the same passport as before
im very sure that it will work
Gods grace, we all need it

Hi
It looks like the British embassy are having fun denying visas,especially student visas.I was also recently denied visa for very foolish reasons,

Ronke,i dont know the procedures,

I actually appealed against such actions which i told was inimical to the growth of great britain.perharps they forgot that education by foriegn student is an income generating revenue for thier country.which invariably means that to part of what thier cheque is cut from.

Thanks for starting the thread,at least i have learnt a lot too.is there anyone who can give me good info on this too

I am about defering my admission till next year.and will need a new admission letter fro my school.

If there is anyone there please hola me

Thanks

hey girl go ahead and appeal is the best,if you have the intension of staying in u.k and have a real life student visa is the best and to my best knowledge they will first denied you to see if you are really intrested they might delay the whole magic but trust me is the best idea to appeal.

my dear, i will advise you to be a little patient and just appeal against their decision. Get a good immigration lawyer to do the job for you. My boyfriend had almost the same problem as you did, appealed against the decision, and he just the visa a year after,  Just be a lil patient. Appealing tells the UK peeps that you are serious and you are convinced of the genuinity of your application. I am not too sure about what you can do about reapplying for the visit visa but i am pretty sure about the appeal process for the student visa. So dont get discouraged. The fact is that over 70% of the people that are denied do not bother to appeal and thats the mistake they all make. Wish you luck !