₦airaland Forum

tmoneyluvsu:
Good day all ,thanks a lot for your helpful response.
I printed my account statement last week, waiting for some documentation to commence the visa process.
Pls I'll like to know, is there a duration of time my account statement is valid for and when it becomes invalid.
Thankss

Keep all dated documents, especially bank account statements, within one month of visa application

Phoenix77:
Good eveningeveryone, I'm sorry but I need your help with a little bit of advice and guide pls. I am preparing my application for a uk spousal visa...and I don't know if you can pls help out with certain tips on presenting a strong application. Thanks

Y not paste your questions on the spousal visa section, you would definitely get more responses there.

KemBee86:
Thanks a lot Bro, please ow Long is she permitted to stay at a stretch by law with this 6 months visa. I think it’s 3 months but not so sure.

I thought u said two weeks.

Solatium:
You do not need to SUB, I was the one who made that statement and I won't deny it.there is difference between making clarification and telling unnecessary stories about how things went down.I have read so many funny things here like people asking the applicants to tell their life history and things that are unrelated to their application..A visit Visa application DOES not entails telling us your life history,telling it does not guarantee issuance of visa.I always implore applicants to stay within limit of what is reasonable and relevant for their application....In migrants VISA,yes,because those information will be used not only for security vetting but to also established your genuine relationship.QED

Bros we are not arguing. I referred to a statement I read in passing, didn't recall it was from u. If u read my submission with tact u wouldn't have gone back to talk any further.

klifeomg:
@Solatium and Brightingsus
Morning guys,
Please I need your advice on what to do next as I applied for my Moms visa since July 19th and just got a reply Oct 23rd and the following conditions were stated
*You state that you are employed primary school teacher with pay of 150K/month
*You state that you do no have any additional paid jobs or occupations
*You have presented a bank statement with a closing balance of N1.96 million
*You have presented a GT Bank statement with closing balance of 650K.However I note that in addition to your salary entering the account there are also a number of transfers.The documents you have showed do not demonstrate the origin of the transfers.
*Therefore I am not satisfied that the funds in your account are genuinely available to you for your exclusive use and do not accurately reflect your financial situation in Nigeria
*Any future UK visas applications you make will be considered on their individual merits, however you are likely to be refused unless the circumstances of your application changes.

Your mum failed to explain her application to the best she could. Contrary to the misleading info a contributor said here that an applicant does not need to explain their whole life to the ECO, actually that is what is required as long as it is geared towards explaining an applicant's personal circumstances.

You need to explain every transaction in your bank statement. Your employment payslips explain your salary entries while you have to explain other transactions, in and out, with evidence. The ECO stated that your mum confirmed she didn't have any other jobs, so the other transactions not reflected on her payslips but in her bank statements draw one to question the credibility of the application.

If your mum reapplies ensure she explains all transactions in her bank statement. If she does side business she needs to provide receipts but that would jeopardise her former entry that she has no other jobs. Just look into your mum's circumstances and post further questions here.

PreciousGemRubb:
Hello house, I am writing the cover letter (visitor's visa) for my parents. Please what will the heading be? I wrote "Application for a visitor's visa" but I think it might be wrong.

The heading does not matter. The heading is not looked at in deciding an application. The heading you have is ok.

KemBee86:
Thank you Brightingsus, my MIL got her visa. We had to held on for a while to get the documents you adviced.
Her timeline

Biometric was done October 3rd
Sponsor in the uk was called October 12th
TLS email for pick up was send October 16th
And she picked her passport today.
The passport stamped on the 13th October.

Was surprised on how fast it was because we didn’t pay for priority.

Bless you bro

Congrats to you and welcome to mama

tapinco2017:
Dear guru's in the house please kindly outline assets I can present apart from landed property that is what is holding my application. Thanks

You are not gonna be acquiring assets now. Just include what you already have... landed properties, tenancy agreements in your name with recent payment receipts; even shares and bonds are all ties...

bakeuhappy:
Hello. I appreciate all your Efforts? Plz how can one make a group appointment for visa application. ?

You can do that when you have paid the visa application fee for each of the participants in the group. Then go to TLS site to make the group appointment. The group appointment booked on the TLS site supersedes the one done during the online application process.

See link below (note, it is under Added Value Services)...

https://uk.tlscontact.com/ng/lgv/page.php?pid=added_value_services#group

Hbaba:
Good afternoon good people. Please I filled a family visit visa. After making the payments and printing out, I realized there was a mistake in what I filled for one of the children

Mistake: she is using her 2nd passport but I chose the option that that was her first passport.

I have already made the application payment and ready for submission tomorow.
Please how can I address this issue before tomorow? Do I need to make a new application for her and pay again? Or how do I go about this?

Other sibling applications are correct except for hers. And we need to submit together tomorow

@Ekpotek
@justwise
@inphoenix
@brightingus

Thanks in anticipation

I hope u included the birth certificates of all those kids, it's very important as that's a tie the ECO would be interested in. You have to write a cover letter (or amend the one you already have) and explain explicitly to the ECO that you made a genuine error on the online application form for your child (mention the child's name, date of birth and application GWF ref no) and include a copy of your child's first passport alongside other documents. Make bold the explanation to catch the ECO's attention.

Let's look at an example wording...

May I kindly point you to a genuine error in completing the online application form for my daughter, Miss *********. ********, date of birth **/**/19** with application ref GWF******. It was an oversight as it was indicated that she had only one current passport while she had a previous passport. Attached alongside other documents is a copy of her old passport for clarification. May this note indicate that it was a genuine mistake and not a misrepresentation of my daughter's true identity.

If there is a cover letter each for your daughters, then the said daughter must personalise the explanation and use the first person pronoun.

babygirl91:
Sorry to bother you again please. What about where the ECO talked about my monthly spend. Is he trying to say it's too small? I need clarification on that part

The ECO did not say your monthly spend was too little nor extravagant. The ECO, while refusing an application, would normally reiterate the important factors of an application such that they and the applicant are on the same page. They would hit the main points of an application before going ahead to emphasise their concerns.

babygirl91:
Good morning naira famly please help me review and advice me i just got a refual yesterday with just two reasons being that the uk person inviting me did not attach the evidence of sorce of money transferred to my accout which he now promised to attach and that the 300 pounds i planned for the trip was too small for me and my daughter which i think is true but i was naive feelinng the forn. please guide me on what to do because i want to reapply asap an bring the money to 1200 pounds hope i am safe or what shoul i doo
cc Justwise
cc Ekpotek
cc Brightingus
cc nairalanders

It's same thing we keep hammering about origin of funds. It's not all about loading one's account with funds. It's more important to explain the origin with evidence. I know sponsors in the UK would rather prefer to use international money transfer agents which give a better rate than banks and standard bureau de change. Same applies to me. But when a sponsor makes money transfer they must keep the receipts. The receipts would naturally bear the name and registered address of the agent, the name and address of the sender, the name and bank account of the beneficiary, the amount transferred in pounds and the value in naira and also the exchange rate as well as the date of the transaction. The agent is not an individual but an international money transfer company/outlet. I save all my receipts should I need them later. Even when I invited my mother inlaw who was not working and never worked, I included all receipts for monies sent to her from me. My bank statements showed withdrawal of the said sum. The receipts showed same figures being transferred to Nigeria. The same figures also reflected in her bank statements as deposits. So the money could be traced every step of the way. I explained all deposits in her account.

Find out if your sponsor has proof that they sent the money to you. Take the advise @Ekpotek gave on the budget for your trip.

damola1:
Tickets wasted. Didn't go

Tickets wouldn't completely go to waste. If you still plan to travel, you can claim 'no show', and pay some cash and get on another flight...

ujugirl88:
Hi all, pls what's the cheapest means of getting to Edinburgh from London? What's the best sim card to buy interms of data? Garri, beans, stockfish,Maggi, crayfish, dry pepper and pepper soup spices, pls are the above foodstuff allowed. What's the best affordable clothing stores to shop in London or Scotland. Pls I need answers my beloved nairaland Family

Avoid palm oil albeit you haven't mentioned it...

fatima04:
Good morning E-fam

@justwise et al please do you know or have anyone that can clarify if I will need to create separate applications for depedent of a tier 2 visa alongside the main applicant, i am getting conflicting responses.

Also, suggestions on affordable accommodation option in scotland and any general tips in living in that part. Thank you.

Each applicant should have their application, I think. You can then pay for group TLS appointment and have the biometrics etc as a group; same date and time

funmido:
URGENT URGENT

Hello house!
@justwise, Solatium, bright, epotek and all
Kindly advise

I am lagos based, being trying to book my appointment date but only Abuja shows on the drop down

Kindly help

Thank you

Did you choose Abuja at any point in the application process before appointment page? Check again.

castiello:
Why can't someone answer my question please help is it possible to only get decision email from tls and not Sheffield and visa approved, I am applying for a renewal

Dear Sir/Madam,

Sheffield does not really send a decision email. TLS mostly does. To know if Sheffield has made a decision on your application, you would have to use your GWF no and track it on their website. Tracking shows decision made before TLS sends out the decision email. So expect no decision mail from Sheffield anymore. Once TLS sends you collection email, which is usually within/after 24 hours of decision mail, go with your credentials.. Finish.

dan147:
Pls gurus I will need your help, we intend to apply for visa as a family (family of 4).....I have read on this trend were family apply for visit visa, the approve husband's visa and deny wife/kids or the other way round..... My question is why is it so.

Even though a family can apply as a group, however each applicant's application is treated on individual merits. Between a man and his wife, one may have more ties to their home country or a better travel history. In fact the possible reasons are endless.

Tinybabs:
Good Day Everyone.
Pardon me if I posted this enquiry wrongly, just getting used to NL.
Please I will want to enquire email address or how does a candidate banned in UK visa application write to the embassy to plea or make his explanation, after expiration of his ban.
kindly send the email if there is any or advise on way to go about it.
All responses will be appreciated house.
thank you

If the ban period has expired, why do you want to make a case

feranmi84:
Good morning house, thank you all for selfless support. Please help check this out and advc on what to do as the refusal letter says no right to appeal and administrative review.

Note: I did not make nor receive deposit/s that total sum of 410,000 in my account between 27/07/17 and 24/08/17 as claimed by the ECO.

I only received 66,523.72 and 88,992.65

Thank you.

Kaiiiii... I have seen what the mistake is. This is ECO error. The ECO summed up your outflows and thought it was money received. Do the math yourself. Calculate all the figures, between 27th July and 24th Aug Under withdrawals, it totals 410k. This is pure ECO error. If you reapply point this error to the ECO.

ijeshaoflondon:
After 65 days dhl delivered my parcel this afternoon but to my utmost surprise my application was refused . refusal note attached . I cant figure what the heck is wrong with these long nose kids, please advise what to do.

The refusal letter is clear. Inasmuch as you are genuine, your application does not depict true reflection of your circumstances. I don't know if you quoted your plan and budget here prior to your application, am sure we would have corrected a few things with the money bit.

The only problem, from the refusal, is your budget. you quoted to spend £1450 for a 6 day visit to the UK. Given your current NGN200k salary, your current closing bank balance is 7 times your monthly salary. You might be a super saver but you needed to explain your livelihood in the application. I mean as part of the body of your cover letter.

It's not possible to save all your salary every month for 7 months to get to your balance. You would have had outgoings. This is why the ECO mentioned it that there was no other sources of funds should you be living off the other sources. However, given that you have been with your employer for about 4 years, you would have saved up the balance over a much longer period. Let's say for eg, you were saving half of your monthly salary every month, it would have taken you 14 months to save up your bank balance. If you were saving a quarter of your monehtly salary, it would have taken you 28 months to save up the balance. These are approximates though. If you are a super saver, you should have indicated, with evidence, how you have been such a good saver; perhaps you could have things subsidised like housing, feeding, utilities, transportation, and general expenditures.

Now, let's say you have been saving up for a while, you want to burn almost half of your bank balance, which you saved up over a long period of time, in just 6 days?? Then you would go back to the eternal savings?? You see why the ECO doubts the credibility of your application

Flourishtemi:
Thank you @Brightingsus.

So I attached a sponsors statement- who is my fiancee, who was to provide 300k as his support....that was not mentioned.

I was to visit my older sister who is a uk citizen, she provided her payslips and her savings account. She supposed to provide accomodation and feeding.

I am COMPANY SECRETARY at my job as well as head of admin. Thats why i submitted the cac documents.

As per the payments into my account- my salary account reflected my monthly salaries. I only just got a review to that amount 3 months before.
My account receives a lot of cash, mostly payments for company incorporation which i do as a side hustle.
I am a lawyer, so I have legal consultancy i provide to friends and family.
I did not know i should have explained the source of funds.

Do you think i should reapply correcting all these bearing in mind that this application took 3 months and i have my salary dropping into my salary account.
I included another account before i have my savings in another account, as at date I have a savings account with about 700k balance. And i will still have my fiancee co sponsor the trip.

Whats your opinion...
quote author=Brightingsus post=61136435]


I have some observations...

I was wondering why you included CAC documents. CAC documents are for people that own businesses or self employed with a company registration. For a visit visa applicant who is an employee whose name is on a company's payroll, you do not need CAC. Too many documents that are irrelevant to an individual's application can be disastrous especially if they open new avenues for the ECO to seek verification.

I do not know why you included two bank statements. You said one is for salary account and the other for your previous earnings. While you changed your job, did you change your bank account as well?

Do you have an additional job or source of income apart from your employment which started in 2015? I think you confused the ECO. Remember it's not enough to just lump up documents and expect the ECO to figure which is which. It's on you to explain everything. I do not know to which extent you were able to do this. The refusal stated there were deposits in your account other than your salary. When you use bank statements, you must explain in writing; especially under 'additional comments' section of the application form, all transactions that do not reflect on your payslip. You must also provide the source, e.g. If it's gift from family or payment for services you rendered.

Let me shock you. The ECOs do not take time to study applications. It's on you to explain everything explicitly like you are talking to a 5 year old. If you expect an ECO to understand what you wanted to communicate, they will always assume the negative.

Also, your closing balance was N600k+ and you quoted to spend N300k; half of your closing balance Now, the ECO would weigh this against the importance of the visit to the UK. You quoted to see family and for tourism. You would have benefitted from saving up more before making the application.

More so, you did not provide enough ties to Nigeria. You being a young adult, I mean in active employment, must provide ties to Nigeria more than ties to the UK. If you provide more ties to the UK and less to Nigeria the ECO would doubt you. I do not know if you are married. If you are you wshoukd have included your marriage certificate.

No, do not reapply now. If you have a sponsor in the UK who is not married to you, try not to bring them in. The ECO expects you as a visitor to be able to sponsor your trip if you are of working age or in active employment. They rarely overlook this. A holiday is not a compulsory experience. The ECO expects you to be able to meet up with what UK holiday brings. Your reasons for wishing to travel which are to see your sister who is a British citizen and tour the country are not as important as requiring sponsorship or part-sponsorship from someone else. This is what UKVI expects.

When you do transactions outsdide of your employment, don't you have evidence? Don't you issue receipts or confirmation of deals or invoices where you have copies? Pardon my being nosy, but it's to help me guide you... if you receive N300k monthly as salary and you have a lot of deposits in your account from other sources, how come your balance is just over N600k. I guess there are inflows and outflows alike. The ECO needs clarification on this.

If you can't provide evidence of all sources of inflows in your account, then you shouldn't be thinking of applying for a UK visa. This is to avoid repeated refusals. I would advise you take out time to correct anomalies in your circumstances before applying again.

Flourishtemi:
@justwise @brightinhus and everyone, good afternoon everyone.
I became an avid reader of nairaland on this wave of uk visa decision delay.....so after waiting for over 64 working days, i got a refusal.
.
My application history is as follows
In 2009 while waiting admission to law school, i applied and was denied based on insufficient economic ties
In 2010 after completing law school, before my call to bar, i applied and was refused again due to the above reason
I chilled till 2015, when i had started earning salary and applied but was refused again for insufficient funds
In the last quarter of 2015, i got a better job with about 3times what i was earning at my last refusal and waited till July this year when I had gotten 2 salary reviews . My last salary review was to 301k .
I applied and here is the refusal document, please note that i submitted letter from employer, payslips, employment letter, and 2 salary review letters, I also attached 2 bank statements, 1 for salary account while the other was to shiw my previos earning.
The refusal stated that
1. I said i was "self employed "
2. That I did not show proof of my salary and additional income
3.that i did not prove evidence of other family members
P.S
I clearly stated my employment with my employer with all neccesary letters, i even attached cac documents as the company secretary to 3 companies which are our affiliates
I dont know what other documents i should have attached.
I think i want to reapply because the ECO was unfair. Please assist or refer me to particular posts that have similar outcomes

I have some observations...

I was wondering why you included CAC documents. CAC documents are for people that own businesses or self employed with a company registration. For a visit visa applicant who is an employee whose name is on a company's payroll, you do not need CAC. Too many documents that are irrelevant to an individual's application can be disastrous especially if they open new avenues for the ECO to seek verification.

I do not know why you included two bank statements. You said one is for salary account and the other for your previous earnings. While you changed your job, did you change your bank account as well?

Do you have an additional job or source of income apart from your employment which started in 2015? I think you confused the ECO. Remember it's not enough to just lump up documents and expect the ECO to figure which is which. It's on you to explain everything. I do not know to which extent you were able to do this. The refusal stated there were deposits in your account other than your salary. When you use bank statements, you must explain in writing; especially under 'additional comments' section of the application form, all transactions that do not reflect on your payslip. You must also provide the source, e.g. If it's gift from family or payment for services you rendered.

Let me shock you. The ECOs do not take time to study applications. It's on you to explain everything explicitly like you are talking to a 5 year old. If you expect an ECO to understand what you wanted to communicate, they will always assume the negative.

Also, your closing balance was N600k+ and you quoted to spend N300k; half of your closing balance Now, the ECO would weigh this against the importance of the visit to the UK. You quoted to see family and for tourism. You would have benefitted from saving up more before making the application.

More so, you did not provide enough ties to Nigeria. You being a young adult, I mean in active employment, must provide ties to Nigeria more than ties to the UK. If you provide more ties to the UK and less to Nigeria the ECO would doubt you. I do not know if you are married. If you are you wshoukd have included your marriage certificate.

hohia:
I don't think I insulted anyone but I said the fact and out of experience. I am currently hosting someone here now on a six month visa but applied with 3 weeks. This is not the 1st, 2nd or 3rd successful invitation application and renewal. Don't say firmly based on isolated cases you heard without knowing the root cause. There is nothing wrong with staying one month in the UK no matter what you stated in your application my dear.

Guy you are Lord argue. What about the people that have been denied visas because they stayed longer than they quoted on their application form for previous visas without overstaying the visa itself? It's possible to stay longer than quoted but the ECO will consider other factors to ascertain if you are a genuine visitor. You might have solid documents in other areas, so you could avoid being seen as not genuine. However do not come here and say that no matter what you quoted in the application you can stay for 6 months. It is misleading. What might have worked for your friends might not work for someone else.

This is a forum to guide people and warn them based on
1. Personal experiences
2. Others' experiences
3. Home Office Publications

hohia:
Guys, some of the responses here are absolutely misleading and ridiculous and you guys give it as an authority instead of as a suggestion. There is nothing bad in keeping quiet when a question you are not confident about is asked so others can contribute.

If you put 3 weeks in an application and you are given 6 months means you are free to stay up to six months but not more than six months. Of course because of income consideration and cost of holidays and limited salary its better to put 2 or 3 weeks but you can stay more than that as long as you have a place to stay or prove you can pay hotel for the period you want to stay.

Again about filling London in the form and planning to stay in Edinburgh makes no difference. It is a UK visa. Of course people come to Heathrow on coach from 'Edinburgh to travel to other parts of the world because it is cheaper. Same applies if you fly to London first from Nigeria. That wouldn't raise an eyebrow.

Please guys know that this is online and people are reading from all parts of the world including the UK.

Hello there.... what do you mean? The part about someone wishing to go to Edinburgh instead is perfectly fine as Edinburgh is part of UK. However the part about applying for three weeks and staying up to 6 months is a bag of ignorance from you. I think you are the one misleading people to get into blunders. Do you know how many refusal letters we have read here where th ECO pointed out they stayed longer than they quoted in their application form even without overstaying the visa itself?

Personally I have read the document titled 'Visit Guidance' which the ECOs use to access whether an applicant is a genuine visitor or not. It says that an applicant can be seen as not genuine, though not an automatic assumption, if they stay significantly beyond the time they quoted in the application.

I would advise you to say what you know. If you apply to visit the Uk and say you would be staying for three weeks and then you spend 6 months in the UK, it is not overstaying quite alright but you would have to explain in your next application why you stayed that long and if your explanation is not convincing enough it is visa refusal. This you do not know. No one is saying that if you applied to spend three weeks in the UK, you can't stay any longer than that. However if it is significantly beyond what you quoted you would have a lot of explanation to do.

See below an excerpt from the document: VISIT GUIDANCE' published by the Home Office, on page 8... Focus on bullet point 2

Webmank:
@brightingsus&bigbus,i have 6months visa already.but on my application form i wrote 2week but now d ticket she sent 10th oct to 7th nov..maybe i should ask her to reduce the stay to 2weeks?thanks for ur responses

That's exactly what I said though....

Webmank:
on d form i filled,i fill 2weeks but d ticket my sis bought me is 4weeks,hope no issues and again d wedding anniversay am suppose to go for was done in aug?pls gurus in d house help me out

Could you rephrase your question to make it clearer.

If you mean, you applied for a two week visa albeit it would have been 6 months validity for the visa, and your sister bought you a return ticket for a 4 week stay in the UK, she has to change it to reflect what you quoted in the application. Sometimes they check the visitor's return ticket at POE and if the visitor has no ticket back to Nig after their holiday, or the return date is significantly different from what was quoted, the visitor risks being sent back to Nigeria on next available flight. If you want to spend a month in the UK then your sister can adjust the date once you are in the UK.

Baba1010:
Hi Everyone,

Just trying to put in online app for my Dad.

How do I answer "How much money are you planning to spend on your visit?"

he is not spending any amount on the trip as he's been sponsored. Should I put in the same amount the sponsor is willing to spend in this column?

Emphatically Yes. Nonetheless do not forget to indicate the sponsor would be sponsoring the trip fully.

castiello:
Please who has gotten visa approval within 3 weeks to a month here

My mother inlaw who was a first time applicant, 64 years of age and with standard application. It was in August 2017 and from time of application to passport collection was 3 weeks.

emeystan:
i submitted many documents same as my wife
its quite long to start listing all the documents

...

emeystan:
we are going together, it was an invitation from a family member that has residence permit...
my question is if my husband did not succeed in getting his own, can i still proceed without them turning me back from the airport in UK

Dear, you are asking questions with double personalities. Your initial question came with a personality of a man, now it's coming as a woman.

@Ekpotek already answered you. If a man and his wife applied for a visa and the woman got the visa while the man was refused, the woman can still make the trip. The visa does not stipulate that either partner must travel with the other even when the other's visa is refused.

Baywood:
OK.

What kind of documents will prove a relationship with myself host. We hate known for more than 10 years when her was in Nigeria.

He will be sending me his utility bill next week.

I'm coming on his invitation to have home rest in his house for my vacation. Should I opt to say in hotel when he's hosting me?

So, I should add birth certificates of myself and my brother?

Before anything else, why does your Uk friend have to host you? If your brother has all the finances to sponsor you, why not indicate you would stay in a hotel. Then where you eventually stay in the UK would be up to you. What do you have against indicating you would stay in a hotel as against being accommodated by your Uk friend?

You would have a lot of convincing to do. Many people find it hard establishing a relationship with one person. You now have to establish relationships with two people.