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Four people having valid documents for an MRCP examination were refused on different grounds and for us these grounds are not enough justifiable.

Can you tell me, is there any policy change about Muslims entering the UK?

Will they be rejected no matter what?

If it is a policy then we should be preparing otherwise. It will be helpful if anyone has any idea about it. Because I think no one will try hard for two years to pass the first two parts of a reputed degree and then enter the UK for any terrorist activities or stay for an indefinite period without valid visa.

If, in the second visa application statement, issues are solved, what is the chance of getting the visa in this case?

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  • 12
    Generally, we need to know your citizenship, and exact quotes from the letters of refusal. Jan 10, 2016 at 17:36
  • 5
    I can't support my claim with evidence but there is no discrimination against Muslims in The UK system. We are smarter than that.
    – Ulkoma
    Jan 10, 2016 at 17:38
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    Paris attacks and ISIS had no effect on the way the system treat Muslims. Maybe the system became smarter in catching those who want to come work illegally in The UK.
    – Ulkoma
    Jan 10, 2016 at 18:01
  • 8
    "the ECO is not enough convinced that the transaction in my bank was not directly from my fathers account which enables him to think the money is not readily available for my use" -> recent lump transactions are apparently a huge red flag that the ECO will look for. Jan 11, 2016 at 1:13
  • 3
    No, but at present there are lot of people from counties with lots of Muslims trying to use whatever methods possible to get into the UK. Therefore more checks are made on people from these countries. And as most of these people are Muslins, it looks like the checks are being made because they are Muslins. (I don't think a Muslin that is a citizen of the USA would get problems with a UK visa.) Jan 11, 2016 at 17:06

2 Answers 2

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I see from the comments that you're from Bangladesh. As there is a centre in Bangladesh where you can take the exam with three sittings this year, it would seem likely you've not convinced the visa official why you need to enter the UK.

If what you're actually taking is PACES, while you can't take that in Bangladesh there are other centres closer to you - you probably haven't justified why you can't take it in a closer location to you, such as India

No need to look for any anti-Muslim policy - there just seems to be no good reason to travel to the UK from Bangladesh to take that exam.

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  • I have appeared in 1st 2 parts of this exam from bangladesh as there is a centre here. But for the final part called PACES,there is no centre in bangladesh. The nearest centre is in INDIA. I had applied twice for seats in july and november. Both got rejected as there is crisis of seat for overseas candidate , selection is based on random lottery. Out of despair, I had applied for UK & my application got accepted this time. That is the reason y i have taken the hardest path of getting the Uk visa and flying to uk from bangladesh.Rather, I would feel lucky if I had a chance not to fly to the UK.
    – Farah
    Jan 11, 2016 at 20:26
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    Sorry, the answer was submitted before I'd finished. It seems you have three options then - (1) persuade the UK officials to issue a visa. I image they hear the story about being unable to sit PACES elsewhere quite regularly. (2) sit it in another country - PACES looks to be available in 13 countries outside the UK (mrcpuk.org/mrcpuk-examinations/paces/uk-international-centres). Try one where you are more likely to get a visa. (3) Accept you won't get this UK qualification, which can't be essential for practise in Bangladesh, and move on.
    – rhialto
    Jan 11, 2016 at 20:49
  • Thanks. I have tried the 1st option in my 2nd application. 2nd option will always be an uncertain one as the authority refers to seat crisis . 3rd option i liked, I agree to ur point . I am hoping for the best thing to happen to me in any way :)
    – Farah
    Jan 11, 2016 at 20:56
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Update 3 August 2017

Extracted from comments to this answer and moved into the answer body itself to assure their visibility and preservation...

Thank u so much everyone. This has been a wonderful experience to consult my issues with u. I got my Short term student visa for 6 months. I officially withdraw my allegation of judging the application over religion issues .. I was probably too frustrated to be judgemental like this. Take care guys. Thanks for ur help :(



Original Answer

You might be referring to a Ministerial Authorisation issued on 10 February 2011, part of which says...

The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green): I have made an authorisation under paragraph 17(4)(a) of schedule 3 to the Equality Act 2010, to enable the UK Border Agency to give greater scrutiny or priority to particular nationalities in carrying out entry clearance, border control and removals functions.

This authorisation came into force on 10 February 2011. It replaces the Race Relations (Immigration and Asylum) Authorisation 2004, which came into force on 12 February 2004 and has been revoked.

The authorisation allows the UK Border Agency to target its resources effectively in managing UK immigration controls. In particular, it lets entry clearance and border control staff give greater scrutiny, and staff removing immigration offenders greater priority, to particular nationalities on the basis of statistical and intelligence-based evidence of the risk they pose to those controls.

Source: Written Ministerial Statements (Hansard)

The Immigration Law Practitioners' Association issued a briefing, part of which says...

The “certain nationals”, who may be discriminated against in these ways are not identified. The UK Border Agency has said it will not make public which are the relevant nationalities. The only information about these nationalities, which is publicly available, is stated in the authorisation itself. It says that, for the Minister to specify a nationality (which may be discriminated against), he must be satisfied that there is statistical or other information available which either:

  • · “suggests that a significant number of persons of that nationality have breached or will attempt to breach the immigration laws and/or Immigration Rules” or

  • · shows a particular proportion of “UK visa refusals, adverse decisions or breaches of immigration laws and/or the Immigration
    Rules by persons of that nationality” during one of the previous
    three months

Source: Race Discrimination Authorisation Info Sheet

It's ironic that the four refusals you wrote about will feed back in to the statistics mentioned in the second dot point above. This will help keep the proportion of refusals over the threshold and keep certain countries on the list.


With these sources at hand, we can address your question(s) from an informed viewpoint...

Can you tell me, is there any policy change about muslims entering the UK?

No, muslims are not specifically targeted by the authorisation, it has to do with countries. This includes Christian countries, Buddhist countries, Hindu countries and so on. Religion is not part of the criteria. Moreover, the authorisation is derived from statistics which point to large scale abuse by certain nationalities, there is nothing about terrorism in the authorisation.

Will they be rejected no matter what?

No. There are no absolutes in applying the authorisation. There are huge numbers of muslim visitors, spouses, and work permit holders in the UK.

If in the second visa application statement issues are solved, what is the chance of getting the visa in this case?

Define 'solved'. Your definition of what constitutes solving an issue may not line up with theirs. Nobody can predict the chances of success without seeing all your stuff laid out on a table and knowing lots of personal details. If you want to improve your chances of success, retain a UK solicitor with a practice area in MRCP exams.

Is Bangladesh on the list?

Your other question is implicit, you would want to know if Bangladesh is on the list. The list is classified and exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. I would guess that it is on the list where discrimination is authorised because Bangladeshi nationals became associated with lots of abuse over a long period of time ("...suggests that a significant number of persons of that nationality have breached or will attempt to breach the immigration laws and/or Immigration Rules...”), but that's strictly a guess.

You seem to have confounded religion and nationality, probably because Bangladesh is a muslim country. Saudi Arabia is a muslim country, so is Qatar, so is the UAE and those nationals appear to be NOT on the list.


NOTE: just because I'm aware of it and can locate the various links does not mean I support the authorisation. Don't shoot the messenger.

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    From my knowledge of UK law, I would doubt that at any point during the application process was religion ever asked for.
    – Aron
    Jan 11, 2016 at 10:26
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    I wouldn't call extra scrutiny for people from countries known to be a source of mass visa violations discrimination...
    – jwenting
    Jan 11, 2016 at 14:15
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    @jwenting good point! The government does not use those words. It's ILPA and other advocacy groups that denounce the authorisation as full-on discrimination. It depends upon your place in the spectrum. But since the OP's application starts with two strikes against her for something she didn't do, she's entitled to a degree of indignation.
    – Gayot Fow
    Jan 11, 2016 at 14:41
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    @GayotFow, Why? What gives anyone a right to expect to be able to come to the UK? Jan 11, 2016 at 17:10
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    @IanRingrose the indignation of which GayotFow speaks is not based on a perceived right to enter the UK. It is based on an expectation of fair and equitable treatment (in this case, in the evaluation of applications for the privilege of entering the UK despite not being British). Most people expect not to be penalized for things they didn't do; this program effectively makes OP guilty by association. If anyone did that to me, I'd resent it, too. Wouldn't you?
    – phoog
    Jan 11, 2016 at 20:38

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