UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

2. Mr I complains about UKVI and its refusal of a visitor visa for his partner, Ms Z, who is a foreign citizen, living in Eastern Europe and studying in Ireland. Mr I complains that after making a first application in January 2022 and this being refused, they made a second application in December because UKVI encouraged them to. This was also refused. Mr I complains that UKVI’s refusal of the application is unfair and unreasonable.

3. Mr I says he experienced upset, depression and anxiety.

4. Mr I would like a financial payment.

5. When the first application was refused, Ms Z complained to UKVI in March 2022 saying the decision was unfair and unreasonable. UKVI replied saying its decision was sound and Ms Z could submit another application addressing the reasons for the refusal. It advised that she get advice on Immigration Rules if needed before submitting another application.

6. UKVI sent a final response to the complaint on 30 July 2022 refusing Ms Z’s request for a refund of application fees and directing her to us. Mr I tells us that Ms Z submitted another application in December which was again refused. UKVI did not address the second application in its complaint responses as the application was made after the complaint was dealt with.

9. Before we decide if we should do a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not seen any signs that something has gone wrong.

10. In its complaint responses UKVI says its decision was in line with relevant Immigration Rules and Ms Z was welcome to re-apply but may benefit from getting advice about the Immigration Rules first. It said it was sorry that Ms Z felt she had been treated unfairly and its decision was correct.

11. As Ms Z is not a UK citizen and the issue did not take place while she was in the UK, under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 she is not able to bring her complaint to us. And, the complaint form was sent to us by Mr I but not signed by Ms Z meaning she did not give authority for us to look at the complaint. This means we have no authority to request the application case files from UKVI because this is Ms Z’s data.

12. To consider the complaint we looked at what Mr I told us and the complaint responses from UKVI. We asked Mr I what he thought UKVI had got wrong and he did not respond.

13. We can see from UKVI’s responses that it explains the decision to refuse Ms Z’s first application was made by a senior caseworker using the information given in the application. A review of the decision was done with the information Ms Z provided with her complaint. Mr I told us he felt UKVI had encouraged Ms Z to apply again, which she did in December 2022, and this was refused again.

14. Mr I told us the reasons for refusal given to the first application were under the Immigration Rules 4.2 (a) and (c). These say:

‘The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor, which means the applicant:

(a) will leave the UK at the end of their visit; and

(c) is genuinely seeking entry or stay for a purpose that is permitted under the Visitor route as set out in Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities and at V 13.3;’

15. We looked at our ‘Principles of Good Administration’ and these say:

‘All public bodies must comply with the law and have regard for the rights of those concerned. They should act according to their statutory powers and duties and any other rules governing the service they provide. They should follow their own policy and procedural guidance, whether published or internal.’

16. We recognise Mr I may not agree with UKVI’s reason for refusal. It is not our role to reconsider decisions UKVI have made. Whether or not to allow Ms Z a visitor visa is a discretionary decision for UKVI to make based on the evidence it is given. We cannot see any sign that UKVI got anything wrong. As noted above, we are unable to comment on the refusal reasons given for the second application as no complaint was made to UKVI at the time and Mr I has not given any explanation or reasons for this.

17. We cannot criticise UKVI for advising Ms Z that she was able to make another visitor visa application if she felt she had more evidence that would show how she met the requirements of the Immigration Rules. This was her right. We can see UKVI also correctly advised her to get legal advice if she was unsure about what to do.

18. As UKVI has reviewed its decision and given an explanation for refusing the application, we have decided there are no signs that it did anything wrong. We recognise that Mr I may be disappointed by this and hope he is reassured by our explanation.

1. We have carefully considered Mr I’s complaint about UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI). We have seen no sign that anything went seriously wrong or that it acted outside its role when refusing Mr I’s partner’s visitor visa. We have decided to take no further action on the complaint. We recognise that the refusal caused Mr I upset and anxiety and we hope he is reassured by our explanation of the decision.