ScottishJay

Hi All,
Under a lot of stress at the moment with gran in hospital, other personal issues and issues with my girlfriends visa... Currently off work due to stress - looking to put my mind at rest with either reassurance or solutions if her visa is rejected.

My American girlfriend of 6 months has applied for a general visa to visit the UK for a fortnight. The reason she has applied for this visa is that a few years ago she had another British boyfriend, who was unemployed. She flew to Manchester airport, was detained, and deported on the same day as they deemed that she did not have enough money to support herself during her stay, and her boyfriend could not sponsor her due to being on government benefits. This was about 4 years ago.

She submitted her application for approval last week and received this email;

On this application, I have included 6 months of bank statements, 6 months of payslips, a contract of employment, a contract of tenancy with a private agency, a photocopy of my passport and letter of invitation. I currently earn £25k + per year. She has included proof of her employment, itinerary of what she plans to do while she's here, passport and birth certificate. She currently lives at home with her parents. We have also included a photo of ourselves while we were in New York a few months ago.


I am extremely worried that they are going to reject her application on the grounds that she's previously tried to enter to see a different British boyfriend. This was to be a trial run for a fortnight, if things went well we were going to increase the visit time next time to a few months, and then get married if all went well after that and continued to go well...

So, how likely is it that her visa gets rejected, and if her visa is rejected, what options do we have? If we got married in the US, would we be able to apply for a spouse visa at a later date?

Moving to the US isn't out of the question for me - though I do have a career and home here which makes it slightly more difficult. On an upside, I work for a multinational company so there might be an opportunity for me to move.

Thank you all in advance.

BritInParis

Sounds like your girlfriend was previously refused entry rather than deported. In any case there was no need for her to apply for a visa. As a US citizen she is not required to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK as a visitor for less than six months. Also having a visitor visa is no guarantee she will be allowed into the UK - the Immigration Officer at the border retains the right to refuse entry.

If she was previously refused entry as she could not prove that she could support herself why do you think her visa will be refused because she is now visiting a different person four years later? If she can demonstrate she has enough funds to cover her visit, that she will comply with the conditions of that visa (i.e. not work or study) and will return to the US at the end of her visit then there is no reason for her visa to be refused other than on character or national security grounds which seem unlikely.

SanDiegogirl

Has SHE proved she can fund her stay in the UK? From the sounds of it it is YOU who is funding the stay.

ScottishJay

Thanks for this! We decided to go down the visa route to feel a bit safer - it was recommended to us by someone as she had been refused entry that once, so when she goes to the airport they'll see her passport is marked with this and will likely question her. Although the approval does not necessarily guarantee entrance like you said, would she be able to still come over in some way if it was rejected? (Though as you point out, it's likely to be approved)

She personally does not have the required funds - I am funding her. On deeper research into the general visa its possible to be sponsored by someone else ;
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...cant-form-su07

Now that both of you have highlighted this issue, I guess that's maybe its not a standard application and which is why it may take longer?


Thank you both for your replies. We really appreciate the support.

BritInParis

A visa refusal doesn't lead to a ban on reapplying (or just flying to the UK as a non-visa national) unless it was refused under Paragraph 320 - "an applicant has overstayed, breached a condition attached to their leave, accepted a conditional caution, was an illegal entrant or used deception in an entry clearance, leave to enter or remain application (whether successful or not)".

formula

There are quite a few US citizens who have been refused entry to visit their UK boy/girlfriend, appearing on the the uk-yankee site. Here is a recent thread with the advice given. Refusal of Entry clearance UK border and EEA unmarried partner. please HELP!
Flick back on the visa section on that site and you will find more threads for this.
The poster on that site called ksand, is very good with tourist, marriage and partner visas.

not2old

+1

Although its not always doable, so its take your chance on anything she may do within the legal visa/immigration framework

On the post in that link (thanks formula) there is something there that folks need to read between the lines.

"Unfortunately, to visit the UK, he needs to prove he has no intention of living in the UK or of staying in the UK long-term and that he has a life back in the US that he MUST return to at the end of his trip.

So, the most important things that he needs to show in order to get a visitor visa are:

- evidence of a job to return to in the US (via letter from his employer stating that he works for them and will return to work on a certain date)

- evidence of a home he is maintaining in the US that he must return to (rental agreement, evidence of homeownership, bill and mortgage payments etc.)

- evidence of enough money to support himself for the length of the trip without working

As he has already been refused two visas recently - one to visit and one to move here, it's extremely unlikely he will be granted a visitor visa now. He's already shown an intention to move to the UK, so without a job or an available home to go back to in the US, they are unlikely to believe he will leave the UK within 6 months and won't try to stay there illegally.

As geeta said, your best option would be to meet up in a different European country and holiday there together rather than try to get him back into the UK again"

from that you have a few options available

- send your GF enough money for the two weeks that on arrival in the UK she would be in evidence on landing to show the IO (passport control) that will ask & see the funds, that she has a return ticket, specific accommodation details arranged with you, a phone numbert etc.

- As mentioned in that link c&p, an option to fly to another EU country first, then you both make your way to the mainland. Or through the 'common travel area'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area

rebeccajo

Some of the advice in the yankee thread is good.

But some isn't applicable to our poster as that situation was far more complex. His girl (our original poster's) essentially has one 'turn around'.

They've done the right thing in applying for a visitor visa. His bank statements were submitted with her application (he can 'sponsor' her - she doesn't have to have her own funds).

ScottishJay

Thanks for the replies all;

She did include evidence of her having to return in the form of a collage acceptance letter.


We are still awaiting a reply from the UK Visas and immigration ... Is there no way to contact them to find what the hold up is? I fear my payslips and bank statements will now be out of date...