Incorrectly answered 'No' to "Any previous visa refusals..." on a UK Standard Visitor visa application. How can I fix my mistake?

Question

I'm from Lebanon and I've been working in Saudi Arabia for nine years. In 2012, I put the money that I collected from my job as a teacher in my father's Lebanese account since I didn't have one in Lebanon. During the interview, my interviewer told me that my application will be rejected because I don't have proof that this money is mine and clearance officer will think someone else gave me the money. I didn't know that I had to bring with me from Saudi Arabia an employment letter and bank statements to prove that this money is mine and I earned it by working in Saudi Arabia. Anyways, my visa did get refused as my interviewer had told me it would be.

Last May, I was granted a US visitor visa Multi Entry for 5 years. I wanted to visit the US in August for 10 days but my mom entered the hospital so I had to postpone it. Now I'm applying for a teacher training program in the UK. I received an invitation letter from Brighton University and so I applied for a UK Standard Visitor visa. After I paid and printed the application, I realized that I answered the question Any previous visa rejections ... with "NO" and I don't know how should I fix this.

Please note that I still didn't give my biometrics, I still didn't use my US visa which I received on May 2016, I paid for my application so I can't amend it online. I'm supposed to give my biometrics and submit my documents this Monday.

If I don't say anything will they check it and refuse me?

Will my US visa be an advantage and they will disregard the previous rejection or should I correct it when I submit my documents this Monday?

Answer 1

Briefly, you checked 'no' on a sensitive field. It's a bad situation and in the archives here we have one or two 10 year bans from doing that. Everybody makes up some excuse like they forgot or they were absent-minded or whatever. The point being that Entry Clearance Officers do not react favourably to excuses, instead they refuse (and possibly ban the applicant).

Your payment has already cleared so it's too late to tell the bank to block it. Blocking the payment is the 'golden solution'.

You are at the biometric enrolment stage. At that stage the application is 'frozen' into their database and there's nothing you can do about it.

Also at that stage, the applicant prints out the application and enrols their biometrics at one of UKVI's commercial partners.

You will have to make a pen and ink correction to your application. They will permit a small change to a single item. So cross out the 'no' and check the 'yes' and then add the date and other reference info.

Since the ECO works entirely off of Proviso and very rarely sees the paper application (or anything paper for that matter), you will need to tell the VFS to mark your application as 'modified'. When it gets to the mail room they can enter the change into Proviso and the ECO will not get you for deception.