PepsiChic

Im sorry if this is in the wrong place or not allowed, feel free to delete or move if so.

Im just curious if anyone else here has had the experience of using Global Visas to help with there application?

Its probably my own fault but I've had the worst time possible with this company in helping me and considering I've paid them £2000 im kind of upset how I've been treated.

It took them 10 months to get the I-129F form ready, and its beginning to dawn on me that isn't right.

The case worker assigned to me has never once contacted me, no matter how many times I call I only get to speak to the assistant.

The assistant then stopped contact for about 4 months in which time I began to do many of the K1 forms myself.

When the assistant finally got back in touch (after I had left many voicemails on his phone and numerous emails from myself and my USC fiance) he had no explanation for why he hadnt been in touch.

When we finally sent the forms off to the embassy and got given an interview date he once again did his vanishing trick and I cannot get hold of him, nor the actual caseworker, and no-one seems to answer the phones in their UK office.

When i try to log onto my account on their website it says I have an outstanding balance of £75 and to email the accounts team at my convince to make the payment...I've emailed them twice about this now and still no response. I dont even know what that extra charge is for!

Needless to say Im pretty upset about this, I've lost £2000 to a company thats done a whole lot of nothing.

Have I been taken for a ride? Has anyone used Global Visa before?

Is there anything I can do? Or anyway to get the money back?

any help appriciated

yorkieuk

You've had your interview now though haven't you? I thought you were just waiting on the visa?

Does the £2000 include all the filing fees, visa fees, medical fees etc or is that just extra?

It sounds a bit dodgy, me and my fiancé did the I-129f ourselves and it took about 4 days to prepare, 10 months seems extreme. Do they have a customer service/complaints department?

PepsiChic

Yes I've had the interview but majority of the paperwork for it I've done myself.

No the price didnt include the medical or anything, it was just for their services.

I havent heard from them since just before the interview which was 6th April, despite numerous calls, voicemails and emails.

My caseworker has done this numerous times now and its so frustrating, Im going to try and contact the Citizens advice bureau or trading standers or watchdog or something I guess.

I generally dont get angry as a person but now im pretty pissed off with it all.

Im upset as well, with myself mainly. I did a bit of reasearch on the company heard they were one of the best and went with them. I obviously didnt dig deep enough to uncover a lot of the horror stories i have recently.

This forum has been a lifeline for me helping with the numerous forms when my caseworker "vanished"

Rete

Sorry you had to experience this, PC. It is not the first time we have seen complaints from people who have used online visa service groups and I'm sure it will not be the last. You said yours was based in the UK. Is there an organization within the UK that you can file a complaint with about them? Do they have a street address/office? If not, you are SOL.

The old timers here tend to steer people away from online groups such as these. People have had problems of the same nature with local immigration attorneys or immigration attorneys who have been retained through online contact. But those instances are fewer and further between.

Glad to hear that you were successful in your K-1 and when you have arrived and are married, come here for a review of our collective knowledge on filing for AOS.

PepsiChic

Thanks Rete,

As for the K1 itself I still dont have that in hand...i had to have a psychatric review after having found another I-134, but the knightsbridge doctors said the review was in good order and has forwarded it to the embassy. I should hear from them soon i hope as i want to fly out this sunday!

As for global....they have a UK address in London, they also have an office in the US apparently. Going to be spending a lot of time reasearching this....it may take months. but im stubborn....in my mind thats £2000 that could of gone towards flying my sister over for the wedding which she cant come to because of money

eastender

In the meantime leave some feedback online on Google or Yelp or somewhere. I always try to scope out reviews and feedback for online services I haven't used before and it could help others from getting fleeced in the future.

Definitely contact your local CAB to find out your rights.

Just Jenney

Oh. My. God. I'm honestly floored.

This company sounds like a total scam, a bunch of con artists!!! Based on what you've described, how could that POSSIBLY add up to £2000's worth of services??? How could it even add up to £200?

Please, please, PLEASE don't let this go! File complaints against these people everywhere you possibly can. Personally, I would actually consider filing a lawsuit as well. It's pretty obvious that they deserve it!

If they did this to you, they've done it to others and will continue to basically steal money from others as well. Go on immigration forums like this one and post about your experience and include the company's name and contact info -- and urge others NOT to use this service.

I'm really sorry this happened to you. At the very least, you're very close to having your K1 visa in hand. Once you get to the States, if you need help with your AOS and feel you need professional assistance, consult an AILA-affiliated immigration attorney, or ask people on here for recommendations of good immigration attorneys. Plus, we're here to help in whatever non-professional ways we can.

~ Jenney

meauxna

PC, a quick look shows the parent company listed at the bottom of their webpage as being a UK registered company. Consumer protection is probably a lot better there than in the US. If you have an advocacy group there that can help you complain, do so.

But first look through the contract carefully to see what they actually promised to do (vs what your expectation is/was).
Unfortunately, they might be just within their rights to take a long time, not return calls etc.

If you call them again, I wouldn't try to connect with your caseworker, go much further up the food chain.

I just now see Jenney's reply & I agree you should pursue it--IF there is something in the contract you can hang them with. Otherwise, it's just a high priced service that didn't deliver to your expectations.

ian-mstm

FYI...

Global Visas (either 70 North End Road, London or 28 Great Tower Street, London) is owned by Jetcrest Ltd. (either 20 St Mary at Hill, London or 66 Wigmore St., London). Address info seems a bit conflicting... which tells me that something is a bit dodgy.

Ian

Zap-Robo

I presume you got Jetcrest Ltd from the domain name ownership (for the interested, see http://who.is/whois/globalvisas.com/).

So I looked up Jetcrest Ltd and unfortunately...
http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/03118809.html

... looks like the company didn't do to well.

However, their website currently says they are Immigration Compliance Services Ltd T/A Global Visas. So, a quickie search for that company and we get...

http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/05688454.html

I would recommend any action you take against the company goes vs. Immigration Compliance Services Ltd at 28 GREAT TOWER STREET, LONDON, EC3R 5AT. This appears to be an address with a number of businesses attached to it (see here for details) so is likely a shared office building.

PepsiChic

Basically I've given them £1792.50 so far and they want approximately another £70.00...for "additional costs" (ie. posting the forms to me)

Ive got a list of websites im going to get in touch with, consumer complaint, watchdog, trading standards, and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Sadly the more i search about the bad side of the company I find im not the only one, if i can find the link again i'll post it but basically i found a rather large handful of people also out of pocket anywhere between £750-£2000 as well.

I may have a consultation with my families attorney, but he doesnt exactly specialize in these types of things so im not quite sure how id go about possibly taking them to court or the likewise.

As for the AOS....well ive got a thread somewhere of a checklist Ive put together for it, and ive started working on those forms already. It is the help and support from everyone here along with hours of the "search" function and thread reading. I really wish i had come here earlier.


Im gonna sit and read through that contract a million times with a magnifying glass if i have to so i know it word for word. I'll come back and paste whatever I might find that may be useful.

As for contacting them, the family attorney did say to write an email to the company saying i was with holding the £70 until i had been given legal advice. and to leave it at that. so i sent that email to my case worker and the accounts manager.

That is a bit strange I will do a bit of digging to find out more to do with their addresses. they have apparently a few offices. and a lot of complaints are about the UK one or the one dealing with Visas for India.

penguinbar

I googled Global Visas complaints. The list went on and on. Did you investigate them before you signed on with them?

PepsiChic

I did...but I admit complaints wasnt one of the things I checked throughly, i checked some websites and lists of good visa companys and Global always seemed to be one of the top few.

With that in mind and having very little knowledge of what i was doing, a company of supposed good reputation seemed to fit what i was looking for.

I know its my fault

meauxna

Crap happens, PC. They look legit on the surface. That's why I say you need to read carefully.. maybe they have done just what they promised. ]
Problem was, it was not what you were expecting. When you don't know how the whole process is supposed to go, you have one set of expectations, so you can't even tell from investigating that they will or won't do what you're expecting. Lingo etc.

Ray

They have come up here before with nothing good said ...
The OP had a choice ...she took it ...nothing illegal in that

But there some even worse.. but the names escapes me
at the moment