Need guidance for application of my Dad's Visitor Visa for UK.
I am his daughter living in UK with my husband and son for last 11 years now, have got ILR in May 2021.
I have a brother who is an Irish Citizen living in Ireland with his wife and children.
Dad’s immigration Background:
He is 77 yrs old , an Indian citizen, living in India, all by himself(alone).
He had come to Ireland on visitor visa in Feb’2014 (after his wife's death).
He happened to overstay his 3 monthly Irish visitor visa (first Irish visa) by 9 months because of repetitive applications to Irish authorities to grant long-term stay to Dad. At that time, Dad was grieving for his wife's death, who died in Dec 2013.
He was repeatedly notified by Irish authorities to apply for long-term stay in Ireland, from outside Ireland and ultimately he had to leave Ireland as he was at the risk of deportation, if he did not leave Ireland. Therefore, he left Ireland in Jan 2015.
After that, we tried to get visitor visas for him, which were refused as given below:
Refused Once by UK in August 2015 and 3-4 visitor visa refusals from Ireland from 2016 till 2020
UKBA refused Visitor visa in Aug 2015, because we did not give any information in Dad's application, of why Dad overstayed in Ireland (at that time, we were unaware that we had to mention Ireland overstay reason in UK application).
Also, UKBA refused his visit to UK, as Dad has no immediate family in India to go back to, as both son and daughter are out of India.
UKBA refusal note :
I have refused your application for a visit visa because I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of Appendix V immigration rules for visitors.
You state you wish to enter the UK for a period of six months to visit your daughter.
Whilst I understand the importance of family visits under the UK immigration rules, you must show that you qualify for a visa by explaining your own circumstances and the plans you have for your visit. I acknowledge that your sponsor in the UK has offered to accommodate you during your proposed trip and I acknowledge the documents you provide from them along with your application. I also acknowledge that you submit a bank statement in your own name. However, your sponsor is only one element of the application and it is your own circumstances in India I must also take into consideration.
• Your passport is endorsed with an Irish visa issued on Janaury 2014. You subsequently entered Ireland on 4th February 2014. Your passport was endorsed with a manual stamp indicating you had permission to be in Ireland only until May 2014 and you have not submitted evidence that you had any form of visa extension during your time in Ireland. You re-entered India in Janaury 2015. It appears that you overstayed your visa in Ireland for a period of nine months.
• I note that you propose to fund your own trip and have the funds to do so, but I am obliged to consider your intentions whilst you are in the UK. I note that you are a widower and you have a son in Ireland and your daughter in the UK. Your bank statement indicates that you have an income from sources other than your children but you have not submitted any evidence of having ties or commitments, particularly social ones in India which indicate that you would leave the UK before the expiry of your visa. This is of particular importance in your case, given you previously overstayed your visa in Ireland. I am therefore not satisfied that you will leave the UK at the end of your visit.
• After having considered the above, I am not satisfied that you have shown that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit, that you are genuinely seeking entry for a purpose that is permitted by the visitor routes and that u will not undertake any of the prohibited activities set out in v4.5-v4.10 (v4.2 (a) (c) and (d)). Your application for a visit visa has been refused under paragraph v4.2 (a).
Future applications
Any future UK visa applications you make will be considered on their individual merits, but they may be refused unless:
• Your personal circumstances change significantly between now and your next application.
• You provide compelling new evidence with your next application.
In relation to this decision there is no right of appeal or right to administrative review.
Dad finally got stamp 0 permit (1 year permit) from Ireland and stayed from 4th March’20 till December’20 in Ireland.
Dad went back to India in Dec’20 and doesn't want to go back to Ireland due to differences with his son and also Dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in Aug 2019.On stamp 0 Visa in Ireland he couldn't get any investigations done for his Cancer and he also has Age related Macular Degeneration in his eyes because of which he has no vision in one eye but, good vision in another.
He managed to stay for 9 months in Ireland on Stamp 0 because he brought his cancer injections from India and those injections also worked to stop his disease progression in his eyes.
(At the time of application for Stamp 0 in March 2019,Dad didn't have Cancer so, it was only his eye problem)
But, now his Cancer treatment is stopped and he is on a very strict monitoring with a blood test every 2-3 .months and there is also risk of his disease progression in his eyes, because of Cancer treatment stopping.
So, what I want to convey is that, at a stretch he can only stay in UK for maximum 3 months because we can't take a risk with his Cancer and his vision in one eye.
All we want is that he is able to visit us here till he is able to move around and spend 2-3 months with us to give him some moral support.
My questions are:
1)Is there any chance of getting a UK tourist Visa for him, based on his Immigration background , a recent positive stamp of Ireland Stamp 0 , not using any Government funds or services in Ireland and returning back to India within the Visa time limit.
2)This is worrying us :
Due to recently developed eyesight related problems, I am finding it very difficult to manage my daily activities alone & I along with my family in Ireland are extremely concerned about my future. It is also very difficult for me to spend time alone in my old age away from my family so, I want to be with my family in Ireland as much as possible.
This was our extract on covering letter while applying for Stamp 0 for Ireland.
If this letter is seen by the UKBA authorities, it goes contradictory of us saying that Dad will go back within 3 months or so.
We truly don't have any intention of keeping Dad here as we won't be able to use any NHS services and we can't take any risk with his Cancer and eye.
We want guidance on how to draft the covering letter for UK tourist visa.
Also, we didn't mention anything related to Cancer in Ireland Stamp 0 application covering letter, as at the time of application around Feb 2019,he didn't have cancer and cancer was only diagnosed in Aug 2019 and Dad's application was already in process at that time.
For Dad's trip to Ireland, we purchased his cancer injections from India for a year and the injection was given by a private GP in Ireland and we were paying around 30-40 Euros every month for giving the injection to my dad. As Dad was on Cancer injections Doctors said there is very low risk of Cancer progressing and asked to do the Cancer investigations in Dec 2019 and Dad went back to India in Dec 2019.
He didn't want to come back to Ireland because of differences with his son's family.
He has lived very bravely all by himself during this Covid situation(with him being at high risk of catching covid because of age and cancer etc) till date( from Dec2019 till now i.e March 2022)
Does that not give a picture to UKBA that he is settled in India?
How do we address this point of independence and returning back to India for cancer and eye check ups to assure UKBA that he will go back within the time limit of Visa permitted?
3)What should we write in the covering letter, so that we address the below points of UKBA from last refusal letter?
Any future UK visa applications you make will be considered on their individual merits, but they may be refused unless:
• Your personal circumstances change significantly between now and your next application.
• You provide compelling new evidence with your next application.
4)We are buying our own house here in UK which is just a 2 bedroom house for me, my husband and son.
We don't have place to accomodate him on a long term basis, we just want him to visit us and spend some quality time with us. Should we mention this in the covering letter?
5)Should we write in the invitation letter that we are inviting him here for our New House Warming Ceremony to get his blessings, as a reason to invite him? Would that create a problem for future applications?
Is it compulsory to invite for an Occasion every time, Can't it be just to visit and spend some quality time with family?
6) Your bank statement indicates that you have an income from sources other than your children but you have not submitted any evidence of having ties or commitments, particularly social ones in India which indicate that you would leave the UK before the expiry of your visa. This is of particular importance in your case, given you previously overstayed your visa in Ireland. I am therefore not satisfied that you will leave the UK at the end of your visit.
This extract from Dad's last UK tourist visa refusal , what does this mean?
What is UKBA expecting us to show?
7)We do want to apply for this Visa as my Dad is not intending to go to Ireland in future and we are ready to take a chance for UK Tourist Visa.
We just want to highlight that our last UK Tourist Visa application was in Aug 2015, it's been nearly 7 years now since we applied for UK.
Such a long gap between 2 applications, Won't it work in our favour?
We have heard that around 10 years gap any past immigration mistakes are forgiven?Ours is 7 years gap, would our past mistakes be forgiven?
Just want to assure that we have no intentions of Dad staying back in UK than the Visa limit. We just want him to be able to visit us till he is able to move around.
9)Should we mention about Cancer in Covering letter and show that he needs Blood test every 3 months to check on Cancer coming back or not?
Won't UKBA think that we can do the Blood test here?
So sorry for such a long post but, really need advice for this application.
Awaiting your response.
Thanks