A visa refusal is more than just a disappointment; it is a permanent mark on your immigration record. Future applications become harder, more scrutinized, and more expensive. Surprisingly, most refusals aren’t caused by fraud or ineligibility, but by simple, avoidable administrative errors.
If you are preparing your application, read this list of common mistakes carefully to ensure you don’t fall into the same traps.
1. Failing to Meet the Financial Threshold Exactly
“Close” doesn’t count in immigration. If the requirement is £29,000 and you earn £28,950, you will be refused.
- The Mistake: Relying on overtime or bonuses that aren’t guaranteed or properly documented.
- The Fix: Calculate your income exactly as the immigration guidance specifies. Ensure your employer letter matches your payslips and your bank statements exactly. If a deposit of $2000 shows on your bank statement, your payslip must show a net pay of $2000. A penny difference can raise red flags.
2. Using “Unapproved” Translators
All documents not in the language of the destination country must be translated.
- The Mistake: Asking a bilingual friend or relative to translate your marriage certificate or bank statements.
- The Fix: You must use a certified translator. The translation must include confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document, the date of the translation, the translator’s full name and signature, and their contact details.
3. Applying Too Early or Too Late
Timing mistakes are heartbreaking because they are purely logistical.
- The Mistake: Applying for the visa 8 months before the wedding, only to have the visa granted early. Since wedding visas have a validity period (e.g., 6 months), the visa might expire before the wedding date arrives.
- The Mistake: Using bank statements that are 35 days old. Most immigration rules require financial documents to be dated within 28 days of the online application submission.
4. Insufficient Relationship Evidence
This is the “Suspicion of Sham Marriage” refusal.
- The Mistake: Submitting only posed wedding photos or photos with family, but no evidence of day-to-day communication. Alternatively, submitting thousands of pages of WhatsApp logs without curating them.
- The Fix: Quality over quantity. Submit a selection of photos from different locations and times. Submit flight boarding passes (which prove you were in the same place at the same time). Submit a manageable sample of chat logs (e.g., one screenshot per month for the duration of the relationship).
5. Not Disclosing Previous adverse Immigration History
Honesty is the absolute golden rule.
- The Mistake: You were denied a tourist visa to the USA 10 years ago, or refused entry at a border once. You think, “That was a long time ago, I won’t mention it.”
- The Consequence: This is considered “deception.” If the immigration office finds out (and they share data internationally), you can be banned from entering for 10 years. Always disclose every refusal, deportation, or criminal conviction, no matter how minor or old.
6. Ignoring the “Intent to Leave” (For Visitor Visas)
If you are applying for a Marriage Visitor Visa (where you plan to marry and then leave), the officer’s biggest fear is that you will stay illegally.
- The Mistake: Failing to provide proof of strong ties to your home country (like a job, a house, or children) that would compel you to return after the wedding.
- The Fix: Include a letter from your employer stating you are expected back at work on a specific date, or proof of property ownership in your home country.