Refund a cancelled application

[adalimina]

Hi,

Thanks to the wonderful moderators on this forum, I got the advice I needed and got an extension on my visa. However, before doing that, I filled in the wrong form, and am now thinking whether it's impossible to get a refund or not.

I was trying to find a visa category that applied to me, and used the gov.uk questionnaire form that was supposed to tell me which type to use. Based on the short guidelines they provided in the description, I was perfectly eligible. I googled for a PDF guideline document (like they used to have before changing the system), found nothing, and thought that it must be a simplified process then.

I applied on the SET(O) form, 5 year route, only to get a refusal. So I applied for the second time. Using the questionnaire form again, I was directed to a SET(M) form, which I filled in, paid for, and started gathering the missing documents. After a day I got suspicious of whether it was the right one, went to the immigrationboards, and found out that indeed, I wouldn't have been eligible for it.

Obviously at that point I learnt that I can't get a refund if I applied from within the UK. Even if I haven't submitted my biometrics.

I'm not trying to be cheeky, but I do think that the mistake could've been avoided if the short description and eligibility sections led to the full guidelines document (or at least mentioned that), and if the questionnaire provided visitors with the right option.

So is it possible to try and stand my point and ask for a refund anyway? At the very least, for the priority service that I had no way of getting because I couldn't attend it (cancelled my application). I would also love to know why the refunds are possible for those applying from abroad, whilst UK applications are non-refundable - maybe I'm being a smartass and missing something.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!