Monday 25 June 2007

Visa jobsworths

One helpful applicant in Lagos, ticking the Yes box for having family or friends in the UK, added in very firm writing that he did not intend to see or spend time with them, he just wanted a quiet time and two weeks holiday.
Some of the reasons given by the British government jobsworths for refusing entry visas to potential visitors from around the world:

"We don't believe your parents would spend that much money on a language course".
"Your English isn't good enough for you to take an English course."
"Your plans are vague."
"You show no sign of having attended any English courses in Mongolia."
"You wish to go to the UK for a holiday. You have never previously undertaken any foreign travel before and I can see little reason for this trip."
"I have noted you have taken visas for other countries which are nowhere near the UK. I am, therefore, not satisfied that you have established a credible reason for your visit."
"You do not have a sufficient command of the language for the purposes of tourism."
"You plan a holiday for no particular purpose other than sightseeing."

Taken from the Annual Report of the Independent Monitor for entry clearance refusals, the conscientious Linda Costelloe Baker, whose own comments are well worth the read.

There are also examples of the civil service's horrific offences against the English language:

• I can only assess your mutual knowledge in a subjective context.
• This leads me to doubt the veracity of your assertions.
• I am led to doubt the authenticity of the documentary evidence adduced and as such cannot place reliance on it.
• You have failed to complete pivotal areas of Section 6.
• The documents appear to emanate from your daughter.
• This letter is not endowed with any evidential value and in lieu of credible corroborating evidence I am not satisfied that you are employed as claimed generating the remuneration claimed by you.
• The provenance of the funds depicted is not evidenced allied to other financial commitments.