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A clerical error during one student’s application process resulted in them being denied a visa: they had applied to study in the UK whilst they were living in Japan and were mistakenly noted as a Japanese applicant. Their visa letter from Goldsmiths contained this error so they were unable to arrive in the country with a student visa but instead travelled on a tourist visa. They were then unable to enrol on their course at Goldsmiths because they did not have a student visa and have been forced to return to New Zealand and to wait another year before enrolling.
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One student is still battling with the UK Border Agency after administrators didn’t believe that her father was really her father. This has led to a time consuming, draining and costly legal battle. While still trying to study, this student has had to try and obtain information about her file from UKBA officials. One of the more ludicrous aspects of this is that she has been forced to phone the immigration hotline for information on her file at a toll of £1 per minute. Despite these attempts she has had to represent herself in court to have her situation re-considered and now has had to hire a lawyer to defend her in her next court appearance.
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One student who had been offered a place at Goldsmiths and had enough money in their account to live in London for a year (as per the requirements) was told that her savings account was not recognised. They recognised that the student did have sufficient funds to qualify for the ‘points’ under the system but wouldn’t acknowledge it because of the type of account the student held. They have a list of account types that are not recognised online, but this student’s account was not one of them. Now, this student has a stamp on their passport indicating ‘visa denied’.
