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I need some advice. The attached images are the refusal letter from my mother's visa application last year July. I'm thinking of applying again and was wondering what are her chances this time.

  1. My mother submitted the wrong bank statement, so that was her error.
  2. The ECO didn't take into account the available balance of my current account which I had submitted.

Circumstances have now changed and my wife and I will be her joint sponsors. We have over £5000 in separate savings accounts. My worry is my mother's account is showing a low balance, not enough to pay her travel etc. Even though I'll be paying for her travel and accommodation and looking after her needs for the two weeks, will they refused her on her own circumstances?

She works full time. We're joint owners on the property where she lives. I send her money every month to pay the mortgage, bills etc. My adult sister lives with her. She has sisters, brothers, nieces and nephew that live in the country.

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  • You could send her the money, as I dare say UKVI would look a lot more favourably on her having the money than you. Make sure the balance in the accounts is both available and listed; UKVI will want to see where the money came from and check it isn't a temporary credit. No-one can tell you whether you will be refused, the only way to find out is to apply again.
    – jacoman891
    Jul 11, 2017 at 12:18
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    Thanks for replying. Sending the money seems like a no go due to reading other posts on here regarding "Funds Parking".
    – JahJah
    Jul 11, 2017 at 12:31
  • I have already someone from my extended family refused entry due to funds parking. There might be ways around that but it takes time (sending monthly small ammounts over time, for instance). Given how already the process is messed up, have you considered to wait a year or two? Jul 11, 2017 at 15:16

1 Answer 1

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This is not great news. They got her on V 4.2 and V 4.3, which means they challenged your credibility as a sponsor. We don't see these grounds very often, but they arise when...

  • the applicant has no chance of qualifying on their own; AND
  • they don't believe the sponsor really has the capacity for sponsorship

For the first item, you can get some tangentially related background from Should I submit bank statements when applying for a UK Visa? What do they say about me?.

They also refer to a prior refusal in 2006; that's 11 years ago which means it must have uncovered something significant for them bring it up after such a long time. It suggests that your mother's circumstances have not actually changed and the possibility of a lingering credibility issue. They like to point out that successive applications are examined under the assumption of fresh circumstances, but if the circumstances have not changed or if the applicant has established that they are not a bona fide visitor, they will keep bringing it up.

Jamaican applications are decided at the British Consulate General in NYC, and you would already be aware that Jamaican applicants face additional difficulties owing to long-standing performance issues. OK, that's not your mother's fault, but it's part of WHAT IS, and should be accepted at face value.


Your questions...

Circumstances have now changed and I and my wife will be joint sponsors.

Adding sponsors does not change the circumstances. You can read UK visa refusal on V 4.2 a + c (and sometimes 'e') for a somewhat related discussion about sponsorship and circumstances.

Even though I'll be paying for her travel and accommodation and looking after her needs for the two weeks, will they refused her on her own circumstances?

Yes, it is the applicant's circumstances that are paramount in assessing an application. This remains true regardless of the sponsor's capacity; it's a common misconception that an applicant is relieved of their onus because of adequate sponsorship and we have literally dozens of refusals in the archives here where ECO's have pointed out that the applicant is never relieved of their onus.

She works full time. We're joint owners on the property where she lives. I send her money every month to pay the mortgage, bills etc. My sister lives with her and she's a adult. She has sisters, brothers, nieces and nephew that live in the country.

These things are great for establishing that you and your mother have a durable and tenable connection, especially your remittances. These should be offered as primary evidence if your mother wants to apply again (which I would NOT endorse by the way).


I'm thinking of applying again and was wondering what are her chances this time.

We don't take bets.

Your best option at this point is to instruct a UK based solicitor with an established practice area in family visit refusals (especially Jamaican nationals) to represent the next application. You can use the search engine at ILPA (the trade association and a registered charity) to help get a referral. But take note that the bulk of them are fee-earners and there is no legal aide support for visitor applications (and we're talking some serious coinage here).

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  • Thank you. At this point I don't really know what to do. They mention a 3rd party can sponsor you blah blah blah and the next they're refusing applications. It all too crazy to comprehend. Sigh!
    – JahJah
    Jul 11, 2017 at 14:11
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    @JahJah the UK has no legal ability to force sponsors to pay for the costs of the stay, which has resulted in more than a few cases where a sponsored visitor was left without any ability to pay for themselves, becoming a concern for the government and public funds (even though your visa states "no recourse to public funds"...). That is why the applicants own situation is taken into consideration - if they cant support themselves while in the UK, there is no legal way to force the sponsor to fulfil their obligations, so its better that the visitor isn't permitted entry.
    – user29788
    Jul 11, 2017 at 23:24
  • I hear you, cheers.
    – JahJah
    Jul 13, 2017 at 8:25

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