Having a “green” read : Pakistani passport and being a travel buff unfortunately doesn’t go well together in today’s word. Visa policies are getting stricter by the day, and one has to be really careful during the application process.
I have heard from many that getting a UK visa is one of the most difficult. Having said that, I believe that it’s not as impossible as it seems. If you read the visa rules carefully, you can easily get a six month multiple tourist visa – even if you are visiting UK for the first time
Here are some of the most common mistakes people make during the UK visa application process.
1)Showing too much (or too little) bank balance.
It is a complete MYTH that you need show tons of money in your saving account in order to get a tourist visa. A very large sum ( over 1-2 million PKR for example) will raise questions as to where this income came from and if you do not have the documentation to justify it, there is little chance your application will get cleared. Similarly, if your balance is too low i.e below 100,000 PKR, it will raise questions as to how you are being able to fund your trip.
Solution: Whatever bank balance show; make sure you have the supporting documentation to show EXACTLY where the money came from. This is the easiest for salaried accounts where your company salary slip can match the money being deposited into your account.
2)Not showing a reasonable break out of the amount you intend to spend on your trip.
There is a section in the UK visa form which asks for a breakup of the amount you intend to spend on food, accommodation, transport and so on. Make sure you write your actual calculated amount here and that your bank balance shows enough money to cover for all of it.
For example, if your trip is for 10 days and your accommodation is 70 pounds per day, and food is 30 pounds a day, write exactly 700 pounds in the accommodation column, 300 in the food column and so on, and finally when you add them up, make sure that your bank balance which you have shown covers these costs.
3)Not showing a valid ( and reasonable) hotel/hostel booking with your application form
Showing proof of accommodation is a must for any visa application. This can easily be done via making bookings from any online hotel site such as Agoda or Booking.com. ( Do make sure that the booking is cancellable free of charge else you will be subject to a cancellation fee in case you need to ever cancel the booking prior to travel)
Free of cost bookings are available for a various range of accommodation sites from backpacker hostels to five stars at Mayfair.
Mostly people book tentative hotels before they get the visa and then make the final choice once the visa is granted. My advice is even with the tentative (free of cost) booking you need to makes sure that the hotel type is within your given budget which you have written in your form. i.e if you are intending to do a low cost backpacker trip do NOT show a booking at the Ritz.
4)Not giving clarity on what you do (Profession/Student/Dependent)
Your UK application must have proof of what you are doing. If you are an employee of an organization then make sure you have a signed and stamped letter from your company verifying that you are an employee and you are going on a vacation with their consent as part of your annual leaves. If you are a student you need a letter from your college/school/institution stating that you are studying there and are going on a break; and so on. If you are neither of the above and are a dependent on someone you are going along with then make sure the person in question has all relevant documents and you have sufficient proof of your relationship to that person. i.e an FRC ( Family registration certificate in case of siblings/parents/spouse etc) – FRC can easily be made from any Nadra office.
These 4 are the major issues which tend to come up when you are applying. Be mindful of these and hopefully you should be easily on your way to your next U.K vacation!
