Sumesh J Philip

Hi,

I'm an indian citizen getting married to an american citizen in a month in
the US. My aunt and 16 yr old cousin who had recently moved to London from
India applied for visitor visas to attend at the wedding, at the embassy
in London. Unfortunately, the applications were rejected due to the fact
that they didn't possess sufficient property in the UK. Although they
possess sufficient property back in India, it could not be verified at the
UK embassy. Is there anything that me/my fiancee/her family do to
strengthen their case to obtain visas ? I'd love to see them at my
wedding!

Thanks in advance for any helful hints!

Ingo Pakleppa

Unfortunately, there is not all that much that you can do here. Property
in India is irrelevant unless they would be returning to India. They need
to show strong ties to their *home* and according to what you say, this
would be London.

Basically, the consular officer's reasoning would be: OK, so they have
property in India. Is that evidence that they would be returning to India?
Obviously not, since they admit they are living in London and aren't
planning to return to India. Is it evidence that they would be returning
to London? No, because the property is not in London. It is obvious that
they could just as easily manage this property if they lived illegally in
the US.

Of course, including a wedding invitation will help to show that there is
a good purpose for the visit, but I'm sure you already did that, without
success.

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 16:40:51 -0400, Sumesh J Philip wrote:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I'm an indian citizen getting married to an american citizen in a month
    > in the US. My aunt and 16 yr old cousin who had recently moved to London
    > from India applied for visitor visas to attend at the wedding, at the
    > embassy in London. Unfortunately, the applications were rejected due to
    > the fact that they didn't possess sufficient property in the UK.
    > Although they possess sufficient property back in India, it could not be
    > verified at the UK embassy. Is there anything that me/my fiancee/her
    > family do to strengthen their case to obtain visas ? I'd love to see
    > them at my wedding!
    >
    > Thanks in advance for any helful hints!

--
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Jonathan McNeil Wong

Ingo Pakleppa wrote:
    > Unfortunately, there is not all that much that you can do here. Property
    > in India is irrelevant unless they would be returning to India. They need
    > to show strong ties to their *home* and according to what you say, this
    > would be London.
    >
    > Basically, the consular officer's reasoning would be: OK, so they have
    > property in India. Is that evidence that they would be returning to India?
    > Obviously not, since they admit they are living in London and aren't
    > planning to return to India. Is it evidence that they would be returning
    > to London? No, because the property is not in London. It is obvious that
    > they could just as easily manage this property if they lived illegally in
    > the US.
    >
    > Of course, including a wedding invitation will help to show that there is
    > a good purpose for the visit, but I'm sure you already did that, without
    > success.
    >
    > On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 16:40:51 -0400, Sumesh J Philip wrote:
    >
    >
    >>Hi,
    >>I'm an indian citizen getting married to an american citizen in a month
    >>in the US. My aunt and 16 yr old cousin who had recently moved to London
    >>from India applied for visitor visas to attend at the wedding, at the
    >>embassy in London. Unfortunately, the applications were rejected due to
    >>the fact that they didn't possess sufficient property in the UK.
    >>Although they possess sufficient property back in India, it could not be
    >>verified at the UK embassy. Is there anything that me/my fiancee/her
    >>family do to strengthen their case to obtain visas ? I'd love to see
    >>them at my wedding!
    >>Thanks in advance for any helful hints!
    >
    >

It would be useful to know if they have indefinite leave to remain or
whether they are in the UK in some other kind of status.

One other alternative to consider is having them apply in the relevant
consular district in India.

--

Above intended as general commentary, not legal advice.
Your mileage may vary.

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