Check it and check it again – make sure your forms are correct
When completing any immigration visa form it is very easy to skim over some of the basic questions. For example, the questions such as whether you have been removed from a country before or whether you have ever had a visa refused. However, many people do not know that answering these questions correctly is vitally important.
While such an easy question may seem like an unimportant part of the application form answering it incorrectly can actually have a very drastic knock-on effect. Recently I was successful in the Immigration Protection Tribunal. One of the issues on appeal related to the fact that my client had, in error, ticked that they had not been refused a visa – However, previously immigration had declined to grant a work visa. My client had not realised that an application which had been declined was the same as a “refused” application. This simple mistake meant that he was considered to have mislead Immigration – This means his character had to be specifically assessed to see whether his application for residency could be granted. He was refused a residency as a result of this assessment. On appeal I successfully argued that the way the character assessment was done was wrong – it had not been done properly. This client therefore got a second chance as Immigration now has to consider his application again.
It is vital to get your immigration forms right from the very beginning. Getting advice at the start will make sure you do not make simple mistakes which could impact on your overall immigration position.