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I am a current Tier 4 student in the UK, studying at a higher education institution (HEI). I decided to take a placement year last year,so I will have to apply for extension to complete my final year.

I had a visitor visa refusal in May 2005. I didn't mention this in my previous Tier 4 application, made in August 2015, because they were only asking for refusals in past 10 years.

But now, in the new visa application form, it asks if I ever had any refusals from the UK. I am confused whether or not I should mention my 2005 refusal.

Would they refuse the application on the grounds of a 13-year-old refusal or will it affect my extension application at all?

Also at the time of refusal, I was only 8 years old. I don’t even know the reason for refusal and my parents don’t have any documentation for it. The only thing I have is a refusal stamp on my old passport with the refusal date and location.

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    If they think you are deceptive they will refuse the visa and possibly ban future applications. If they didn't ask and you didn't tell in previous applications, and they ask now, tell the truth.
    – o.m.
    Jul 29, 2018 at 17:08
  • Thanks a lot for your response. I will definitely mention the refusal on my application.
    – anant115
    Jul 29, 2018 at 17:46
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    Lying (or appearing to lie), even by omission, is a very very bad idea. Scrupulous, meticulous honesty is really the only way to go. If you tell the truth you may be denied a visa but it should end there. If you lie you are very likely to be discovered, you are very likely to then be denied a visa in consequence of the lie, even if you wouldn't have been denied if you'd told the truth, and it may get a lot worse than that if you then get a nice ban
    – Au101
    Jul 29, 2018 at 19:18
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    @QuoraFeans: In case you missed it, the visa was refused to an 8 year old, who might not even be aware of the refusal. Of course WE know now that THIS particular 8 year old was aware of the refusal, but the UK in general can't assume that every minor is aware of past refusals. How far back do you need to know? I know I got my first visa at age 3.
    – MSalters
    Jul 30, 2018 at 9:20
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    @QuoraFeans: obviously, not everyone can. We've got a name for those who can't; we call them orphans.
    – MSalters
    Jul 30, 2018 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

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Yes, Do mention that refusal.

On your last application you replied honestly. Now the question has changed and you should again reply honestly to the new question. They will know the difference between their questions and there is no reason for them to consider that you used deception last time because of that. They would know what they asked back then.

That old refusal was when you were an 8 year old child, and now you already hold a Tier 4 visa and are in the UK and you are looking for another Tier 4 to complete your studies. That old refusal won’t have much of an impact on your subsequent applications.

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    “They will know the difference between their questions” — unfortunately I don’t think this optimism is necessarily warranted. You’d think that bureaucracies know their internal procedures but in my experience this isn’t always the case and, if such a related question changed between subsequent applications this might not even be coded correctly on their internal system. (I’ve no personal experience of this with immigration but something similar has happened to me when applying for University).
    – Konrad Rudolph
    Jul 30, 2018 at 13:09
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    To extend @Konrad's comment, if there is anywhere to put a "supporting statement", I would explicitly draw attention to the fact that the previous application only asked about refusals "in the previous ten years". I would also explicitly draw attention to the fact that the previous refusal was of an 8 year old, so was really a refusal of the parents rather than the applicant.
    – Martin Bonner supports Monica
    Jul 30, 2018 at 14:24
  • This is fascinating, you actually believe government employees are competent.
    – Davor
    Jul 30, 2018 at 15:30
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    My opinion on government servants doesn’t matter. What matters is that one should try to answer questions honestly if they hope to maintain a good immigration history.
    – Hanky Panky
    Jul 30, 2018 at 15:56
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    I mentioned the refusal on the application and I have got my new visa without any problems.
    – anant115
    Aug 7, 2018 at 16:23

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