UK Changes Appeals Process for UK Family Visitors
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Published by Admin on May 17th, 2012 in Ask Global Visas your immigration questions, Immigration Tips, UK immigration
Non-EU nationals who enter the UK will now not be allowed to appeal if they are refused a visa to visit a family member in the country the Home Office has stated. The new law is set to be enforced by 2014, but there will be interim measures in place from July banning cousins, aunts and uncles from appealing.
Applicants will have to reapply for a visa from when the measures come in, meaning it will cost £78 per application for a UK Visa. The reason of this change, according to the Home Office, is that there are now over 50,000 appeals each year for those hoping to visit family. Failed applicants currently make up almost four out of ten appeals.
The Home Office has claimed that 95% of fresh applications are processed within 15 days, whereas the appeals process can often take up to eight months to process.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “We are not stopping anybody visiting family in the UK. If an applicant meets the rules they will be granted a visa. However, it is grossly unfair that UK taxpayers have had to foot the huge bill for foreign nationals who, in many cases, have simply failed to provide the correct evidence to support their application.”
So what are the requirements for Family Visitor Status in the UK?
Requirements for Visiting the UK as a Family Visitor for Non-EU Nationals
To come to the UK as a family visitor you must be able to show that the person you are visiting in the UK is a family member. The following are acceptable:
- Husband, wife, father, mother, children, grandparents, grandchildren, brother, sister, nephew, niece or first cousins.
- Father, mother, brother or sister of your husband, wife or civil partner
- Step family
- An individual who has lived as an unmarried couple with an individual in the UK for 2 of the previous 3 years
- Your son or daughter’s husband, wide or civil partner
Regulations
Those coming to the UK under a Family Visitor UK visa must show they are not intending to:
- Take part in paid or unpaid employment
- Study
- Marry a person or registering a civil partnership
- Perform business, sports or entertainment activities
- Receive private medical treatment
- Over 18
- Intending to visit for no longer than 6 months
- Leaving the UK at the end of the visit
- Able to support and accommodate you without having to work. Otherwise that you are supported by relatives.
- Able to meet the return cost home
- Not travelling to a country outside the common travel area during their time here
By ensuring you meet the above requirements you should greatly increase chances of getting permission for your UK visa.
