Should I mention my previous study visa refusals in 2019 for Canada and 2021 for an EU country in my UK study visa application form? Moreover, all of the refusals were on my old passport, which is lost now.
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5Don't lie or withhold information that they request. If they ask about previous refusals then tell them. Being with a previous passport is irrelevant (your passport isn't apply for a visa, you are)– MidavaloCommented Jul 31, 2023 at 2:11
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2Unless you wish to risk a 10 year ban for deception by replying no to the question: 'have you previously been refused a visa', you should answer all questions truthfully.– Mark JohnsonCommented Jul 31, 2023 at 2:18
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2Why were you refused? Disclose them and explain how your circumstances have changed and why the reason(s) no longer apply.– TravellerCommented Jul 31, 2023 at 6:40
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1 Answer
It is well known that the governments of many countries have data sharing agreements. For example, the UK and Canada are both a part of the "Five Eyes" alliance. The UK and the European Union apparently also have similar agreements that were a part of the Brexit deals.
However what is unknown is what is included in these agreements - which isn't surprising that given by their very nature these agreements are highly secretive.
Based on anecdotal evidence it does seem that these countries are able to access details such as immigration history, including visa applications/refusals/etc from each other, although it's not clear if this is via automated process that are carried out for each visa application, or only via manual processing.
However regardless of what they can and can't see, the simple fact is that you should never lie on a visa application. They most certainly DO have the ability to verify details such as these - even if it's just via a manual phone call to the relevant countries immigration department. If you lie on your application and you are caught out - either at the time or even at a later stage - then your visa will be denied/cancelled, and you will likely be banned from applying for a new one for at least some period of time.
So presuming your current visa application asks you to disclose any previous denials (and it does, under the 'Travel and Criminal History' section), then yes, you should absolutely disclose them.
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As far as the UK/EU portion of your answer: the opposite is true. They never has access to the VIS (Visa Information System) system and no longer have it to the SIS system. Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 5:35
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2021-03-26: Loss of access to EU policing data post-Brexit concerning, Lords Committee finds - Committees - UK Parliament ... that the UK will no longer have access to the Schengen Information System (SIS II), used extensively, pre-Brexit, by UK law enforcement agencies to obtain real-time information about the movement of criminals, missing persons and objects of interest. Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 5:36