Visitor visa for Vietnamese national

[Gilliwolfe]

My son has been living and working in Vietnam for nearly three years. He has a long standing Vietnamese girlfriend. He is returning to the UK for four months this summer and wants his girlfriend to visit for two weeks.
I wrote a letter sponsoring her visit, saying she would stay with us and I'd undertake to ensure she returns. It has been refused on the grounds that her bank statements don't support her income claims and they don't believe she has the capital that she states (not true).
As such, they don't believe she can support herself here, which is a) nonsense and b) irrelevant as she'd be supported by us whilst here anyway.
She has been working for the same company for three years.
It seems to have become very hard for Vietnamese nationals to get even visitor visas.
Any advice welcome...

[Casa]

It's become challenging for anyone to succeed with a visitor visa application (not just Vietnamese nationals), due to the high number of overstayers and the tightening of the Immigration Rules for adult dependant relatives in July 2012.

It's imperative for the applicant to submit documented evidence of financial self-sufficiency and strong ties to their home country. The fact that you are able to cover her costs during her visit is secondary when meeting the requirements.

[Gilliwolfe]

It seems I've annoyed you but as I've never used a forum before I'm not aware of the etiquette. I did look through other posts but couldn't find anything relating to this. Thanks for the clarification anyway...

[Casa]

It seems I've annoyed you but as I've never used a forum before I'm not aware of the etiquette. I did look through other posts but couldn't find anything relating to this. Thanks for the clarification anyway...

No, not at all. I was simply trying to explain how difficult the Home Office have made it for genuine visitors to obtain a visa. I know this I'm afraid from personal experience when my Mother-in-Law (Moroccan) was refused a 3 week visit, despite have strong family ties in her home country.