Help/Critique: - UK 2yr Visitor Visa (China - Super priority application)

Question

I (the sponsor) am hoping I may be able to get fresh perspectives/opinions on this application.

An initial application was also made however it was cancelled and refunded does this count/show up on record?

(All application pages, translation copies included comes out to around 48 pages long?)

- Trip info -

• First time UK 2 year visitor visa (for tourism and visiting/staying with me at parents home).
• Ideal length is 3 months, (1st week stay in London together, then at home with days out).
• Online only relationship since March 2021 (COVID), (proof of daily imessages/facetimes, emails, photos/receipts of postal gifts and imessages with my mother).
• Sponsored by my parents (accommodation/funds).
• Sponsored by their own parents (flights/funds).
• Estimated max cost of £5k all costs considered (to try and give a realistic cap, although I don't believe it would be that).

- Documentation -

• Sponsor cover letter written by me and invitation on behalf of my parents
• Sponsor letter from my parents
• My passport
• Letter of my PIP benefit (to show we will have more time together)
• Sponsorship undertaking form (is it overkill?)
• Fathers passport
• Land registry
• Bank statements Aug-Oct around 90k (savings from retirement pension account used for household)
• Itinerary of first weeks plan in London
• Contact details and address

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• Applicant cover letter
• Sponsor letter from mother
• Possible reasons of dismissal
• Passport (travel history of Japan, Thailand, South Korea)
• Chinese ID of applicant and mother (with translations)
• Apartment rental lease contract
• Letter of employment and no objection certificate (does not explicitly state duration)
• Medical letter stating they can have post op surgery soon if so chosen (with translation)
• Family household registration document (with translations)
• Bank statement page Dec 2021 - Nov 2022 (investments and property savings) (with translation)
• WeChat money transfer receipts (domestic parental support in China) (with translations)
• Itinerary of first weeks plan in London
• Contact details and address

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• Proof of relationship document
• Photos and logs of (proof of daily imessages/facetimes, emails, photos/receipts of postal gifts and imessages with my mother)

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An applicant bank statement was not included due to the the fact of having two sponsors and the profile being less than satisfactory, although being stable in showing a connection/ties to the country, there are not saved/many funds.

I would be happy to provide any redacted copies of proposed letters etc.

This application is ideally going to be a super priority application and so I would like it to be as watertight as possible.

I am aware of:

UK visa refusal on V 4.2 a + c (and sometimes 'e')

Should I submit bank statements when applying for a UK Visa? What do they say about me?

As well as document checking services such as migrate, freemovement, ias, jmw etc.

However it is costly and I wanted to take every avenue of opportunity to assess this.

Answer 1

While only an ECO can give a definitive answer on the contents of your application (especially as we don't see all the documents), we can raise a few possible issues:

• Applying to join a girlfriend or boyfriend can be tricky, as this triggers the "oh they want to come join their partner and stay in the UK indefinitely" reflex, especially if there's a large difference in income.

  So either this is actually the intention and then it's probably not the right visa, or it's not the intention and then you need to provide good evidence of reasons to go back to China in time (so-called strong ties). The best evidence is usually a stable well-paid job, "well-paid" being in comparison to what they could try to get in the UK, not locally. They need to show they have to go back or have a strong incentive to do so.

• A 3-month visit can also trigger quite a few alarm bells. If one can stay away for 3 months, do they really need to go back? Do they really have a job to return to? How are they going to support themselves during this time? If someone else is paying for it (the person in the UK), then why would they not try to stay indefinitely?

• Applying for a 2-year long-term Standard Visitor visa right away may reinforce that sentiment. Remember that the applicant must "not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK [their] main home".

• Is the £5K estimated max cost a sensible figure compared to the available income of the applicant and sponsors, or is this outlandish?

• "savings from retirement pension account used for household" does ring many many alarm bells (not just for the visa). For the visa it raises at least the issue of whether these funds are actually available.

• Not sure I understand what "Possible reasons of dismissal" are?

• Ditto for "Medical letter stating they can have post op surgery soon if so chosen".

  If they are coming to the UK for anything medical, then requirements may be different.

• Is there any reason which would make an asylum claim likely? Maybe I'm reading a bit too much between the lines, but if I do, an ECO may as well.

• I believe that even in the presence of sponsors you have to provide the applicant's bank statements, and those not being very favourable may be an issue.

Again, I'm playing devil's advocate here. I very clearly don't have a full picture about the situation, and it could all sail through easily. But you're asking for feedback, so there you have it.