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I had recently applied for UK visitor visa with all the supporting documents but my visa was refused on the grounds that I have not submitted the confirmation paper of online booking I made for the hotel. They require to see the confirmation of booking I made at the hotel even though I submitted my hotel booking which I saved from booking.com.

Besides which they refused me on the ground that if I am working in an organization why does my ID mention my fathers name as my sponsor instead of my company and why I have not regularized my stay in the country where I am a foreign resident.

Here's refusal letter .

I have refused your application for a visit visa because I am not satisfied that you meet requirements v4.2 appendix v because you have submitted a hotel booking from booking.com to confirm your intended stay at -- hotel however this booking does not contain details of online confirmation and therefore I can not be satisfied that you intend to stay where you have proposed.

You have submitted an employment letter from -- to confirm your employment in ksa. However I not that you reside in ksa under the sponsorship of your father it is not clear from your application why you have regularized your stay in ksa

And as such I cannot be satisfied that your circumstances are as claimed or that you are traveling for period and purpose as stated . Any future application you make will be considered on their individual merits however you are likely to be refused unless you provide compelling new evidence with your next application . In relation to this decision there is no right of appeal or right to administrative review.

I am currently working as doctor in KSA as per rules in KSA my residence permit should be under my employee name and since I have been living with my family as I was born in KSA so my current residence permit is under my father name. As such I wonder why should that be an issue for a UK visitor visa. Could you please also shed some light on what they mean by online confirmation of booking as I submitted the print out of booking.com page.

I am planning to reapply but I can't understand how I can sort these issues.
Is it possible for me to request for a different entry clearance officer to review my application the next time I apply for a visa? Will it anyway have an adverse effect on the outcome of my application ?

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    What was the exact text given in the refusal letter?
    – Gagravarr
    Jul 4, 2015 at 12:50
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    Consider editing the question to add that letter as extra info
    – blackbird
    Jul 4, 2015 at 13:39
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    Any one can please also clarify what they mean why you have regularized your stay in ksa
    – Ahmed
    Jul 4, 2015 at 15:00
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    @Ahmed, you put part of the text of your refusal letter. Can you put the remaining paragraphs? Having the exact text helps us map back to the ECO's speed codes, but ALL of it is needed in order to get the a good answer. Also a bit more info about your status in KSA. A visitor app from an applicant who has regularised is unusual.
    – Gayot Fow
    Jul 4, 2015 at 15:17
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    @Ahmed, whatever you do, don't reapply just yet.
    – Gayot Fow
    Jul 4, 2015 at 15:18

2 Answers 2

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You were refused under Paragraph 4.2 of the rules which means they do not believe you are a genuine visitor.

The paragraph having to do with booking.com is their way of saying that you did not study the guidance and hence possibly do not understand the rules. And by extension, people who do not understand the rules are likely to violate them. The assistant who examined your application most likely would have flagged your application as lower quality and so the other things you provided were examined as reduced quality when it was placed before the ECO.

The guidance is really clear that hotel confirmations are NOT part of the decision-making process unless they explicitly ask for them; and they hardly ever ask for them because their are too many ways to game the internet and confirmations do not establish intent to abide the rules. Also, they do not have the resources to verify those kind of things.

To fix that, you need to study the guidance and align your evidence accordingly.

The second reason is more interesting. Based upon everything you wrote, you apparently regularised in a country outside of your own country and under the legal aegis of your father. "Regularised" means you went from a temporary status (including an illegal status) to a more permanent status like a residence permit. So they conceded that you are legal in Saudi Arabia (that's a good thing).

The part about 'sponsorship of your father' means your status in Saudi Arabia is tied to his status and hence you have no status there as an independent person. If you add in the fact that you are living outside your own country, they can conclude that you have no ties to your home country and no tenable ties to Saudi Arabia. What this means is that you have no ties anywhere. That condition, by itself, is a show-stopper.

That type of situation requires extra diligence along with a high quality application. Knowing all of this makes it easy to understand your refusal. On the plus side, they did not make any imputations affecting your credibility; also they did not challenge your financial capacity.

To fix that part, you should probably regularise in Saudi Arabia as an independent person and make this really clear to them. This may help to establish ties. The other evidence needs to be high quality. You also need to make it clear that your evidence is informed by their guidance.

The part about 'no appeal' is telling you that you need to start from square 1 with a fresh application (including new biometrics). Understand that we are not the Tribunal and whatever defence or explanations you have will not change this answer or help you make a better application.

The rules are at Appendix V.

The guidance is at Supporting Documents Guide

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  • .Thanks for your reply . So besides getting a new residence permit in name of my current employee so as to establish my independent status , what other kind of evidence ( cover letter , letter from employee outlining my status etc) would you be suggesting that I should submit , such that there are less chances of rejection . And regarding the hotel booking I have had other friends who submitted the same for their application and they had no issues with their application because I am not sure about how to approach my next application .
    – Ahmed
    Jul 4, 2015 at 18:09
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    I do believe that KSA is Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
    – Michael Hampton
    Jul 4, 2015 at 21:08
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    @Ahmed if your other friends submitted hotel confirmations and got visas, there are 2 ways to reconcile that with what Gayot Fow says: either they were asked to provide them, or, more likely, they had strong enough applications to get visas even though they did not follow the guidance. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't follow the guidance. Follow it.
    – phoog
    Jul 5, 2015 at 7:50
  • @phoog . So in my new application I won't be submitting my hotel booking confirmation .Do you think it will help my application if I submitted a cover letter on my behalf and letter from my employee outling my situation and a letter from gmc UK as I am planning to attend their identity check needed for registration
    – Ahmed
    Jul 5, 2015 at 13:33
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    @Ahmed you seem to be using "employee" consistently when you mean "employer"; you should probably make sure you understand the distinction before you apply again. I do not have enough experience to comment on the helpfulness of specific letters, and I do not understand the bit about the gmc UK identity check. All I can say is that every piece of evidence you submit should both (1) clearly support some fact about you and (2) not be something that the guidance tells you not to submit. And I can add this: listen to Gyot Fow.
    – phoog
    Jul 5, 2015 at 16:42
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Applying for a visa for GMC ID Check is frequently rejected unless you satisfy UKVI officer regarding the purpose of your GMC Registration (and that is not easy). Since getting a job offer (for a doctor) in the UK does not need GMC registration, I would advise you to start applying for jobs and to do the ID check once you reach UK with a work-permit (TIER2) visa, and since you are only left with the ID check to finish GMC registration.

You can also omit mentioning the GMC ID check part and omit mentioning your employer and your job (since your sponsor in your residence permit is your father) and apply for a tourism visa bringing a bank statement from your father's account and a support letter from him to clarify that he is willing to support you for your trip.

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  • I have already made an application with the information that I am an employee and I have provided them with the salary letter from my employer and bank statements from my account . If I apply the next time with a different set of information ,won't it create a problem for me ? And just out of curiosity ,why would an application for visa be rejected if there's a valid intent of visit like gmc Id check and why are they so bothered about my status in Saudi Arabia
    – Ahmed
    Jul 12, 2015 at 14:21

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