Visitor Visas Granted After Previous Refusals
We are delighted to share another successful outcome for our clients, a Ukrainian mother and her daughter, who have both been granted entry clearance as Standard Visitors to the United Kingdom.
Both had been refused visitor visas before. A previous refusal is one of the harder positions to apply from, because once a decision maker has a concern about an applicant’s account, everything else in the application tends to be read in that light.
The Background
Our client is a Ukrainian national who has run her own business in Ukraine for around ten years. She wanted to bring her daughter to the United Kingdom for a short visit to spend time with her sister, who lives here permanently, and to see something of the country while they were here.
The plan was a modest one. A week or so in the summer, before her daughter returned to school in Ukraine, staying at the aunt’s home and paid for by our client from her own resources.
The Difficulty
The earlier applications had been prepared with the help of an unregulated travel agent rather than a qualified adviser. We are instructed that they did not set out the family’s circumstances accurately or include all the relevant evidence.
They had also not mentioned that the daughter previously held permission to be in the United Kingdom under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, having come here after the invasion and then returned to Ukraine of her own accord to resume her schooling. We are instructed that the family had been told this was not relevant to a visitor application.
Nothing in that history was damaging in itself. A child who came here under the Ukraine Scheme and chose to go home is, if anything, evidence of a family that returns when it says it will. It was the gap in the account that needed addressing, not the fact behind it.
Our Approach
Our approach was to put the whole picture in front of the Entry Clearance Officer rather than hope the earlier applications would be overlooked.
In this matter our team:
- Disclosed the previous refusals and the earlier permission under the Ukraine Scheme in full, and explained openly how the omission had come about
- Set out that the daughter had returned to Ukraine voluntarily and resumed full time education there, confirmed by a letter from her school
- Evidenced our client’s continuing business in Ukraine through her registration, tax declaration, current supply agreements, recent invoices and her lease agreements as a commercial landlord
- Evidenced her property ownership and her established home and daily life in Ukraine, where her parents and wider family also live
- Showed that she had ample funds of her own to cover the trip for both applicants
- Confirmed the arrangements here, including the sponsor’s ownership of the property and her lawful status in the United Kingdom
The Outcome
Both applications were granted, and our clients were able to make the visit they had been trying to arrange for some time.
Why This Matters
A previous refusal is not the end of the road. What changes the outcome is a complete and candid account of what has gone before, put alongside evidence strong enough to answer the concern behind the earlier decision. An application that says less than the last one will not fare better than the last one.
It is also worth saying plainly that immigration advice from someone unqualified to give it can be expensive. An adviser who tells an applicant that part of their history does not matter is not saving them trouble. They are creating a problem that takes far more work to undo than it would have taken to get right at the start.
Speak to Our Immigration Team
If you have been refused a visitor visa, or you are unsure how to deal with a refusal or something else in your immigration history, take proper advice before applying again. A second application prepared on the same basis as the first will usually meet the same fate.
At Sterling Law we support clients at every stage, from that first conversation through to full preparation of the application, making sure the case is put clearly, accurately and effectively.
