Complaint Review: UK Consulate General NY - New York Internet

You have probably read Bikozulu’s famous ‘Visa Denied’ article,http://bikozulu.co.ke/visa-denied/ and you are already familiar with what may befall you if you are an African trying to apply for a UK visa. I will try to be more civilised than the UK consular officials, and stick to the facts of the matter regarding my UK visa application. I’ll explain why, at the end.

First, my home leave is on -the only time my employer pays for me to go and bond with family and friends, after every two years of service- and I should have flown out of New York on December 1, 2014. As I write, I have no idea when I’ll be able to fly out – having cancelled my flight – because I have no passport, thanks to the UK Consulate in New York!

I normally plan my things fairly early. This is especially true with all my leave days or vacations, which I start planning for as soon as I finish one. This year, things happened to work against me a bit because,

1. My passport needed to be renewed. The condition for renewal was that I could do it if I had 6 months left to the expiration date. That left me with no option but to send my passport to our embassy in DC for renewal in October, as the old one would be expiring in April next year. I must say, our embassy’s service was exceptional, as within 3 working days, a new passport was on its way back to me in New York.

2. I knew I would be going home somewhere after November 26 when my home leave was due. This, I thought, was a perfect opportunity for me to stop in London for a few days to see my best friend and my BBC family: a mix of lovely Brits and Africans, and warm people from other regions of the world that I worked with in one way or another for 6 years.

I submitted my documents to the UK Consular General in New York on the 30th of October. I was working on a precedent: I had been granted a UK visa in Kampala within 5 days of submitting my application in 2010. If that was my first visa application to the UK (I had only ever been to Slovakia, beyond the borders of East Africa, then) and I got it within 5 days, I thought, a visa application now should take an even shorter time. But I didn’t want to take any chances, so I made sure that I submitted my application in good time, on the 30th of November: at least 22 working days before my departure date- 7 days more than the maximum number of days required to process a UK visa application in New York. Also, their website says applications are assessed on a case by case basis, and the more checks, the longer it may take. I thought, since I’m clearly not the Mediterranean Sea boat-crossing kind of African that might seek to melt into the UK, mine would be an easy ride. I was very wrong.

I received an email notification on the 5th of November, informing me that my application had been opened and prepared by a consular assistant for visa processing. The following information was included:

As an organisation, UK Visas and Immigration endeavours to process 100% of applications (other than Settlement/Family Migration applications) within 15 business days.  The British Consulate General in New York aims to meet the 15 business day target and exceed it when possible.

Our average processing times for visa applications submitted to the British Consulate General in New York as of week commencing  3 November 2014 are:

- Non-settlement applications…………………………………… 13 working days

- Current and forecasted delays to our service………………… None to report

If your application is considered to be complex and we project that we cannot process your application within the 15 business day target, we will inform you by email.

Once a decision has been made, you will receive an email advising you of the outcome of your application.

That, I thought, meant that I would have my visa and passport within a few days, as I didn’t expect to be denied a visa for any reason on earth (I have a stable job, an annual income that dwarfs that of many British nationals back in the UK, and a substantial amount of money on my account). I was right re the visa, but dead wrong on the temporal front. As I write today, December 2, I have neither a visa nor my passport back.

To get a clearer picture of what has been happening, I am sharing excerpts of my correspondence with the UK visa officials here:

First, I wrote to them on the 19th of November, to enquire about my application. On the 20th of November, I received the email below:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

Thank you for contacting the UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry

Service.

Could you tell me the visa application ID (GWF) and your date of birth,

please?

Though we try our best to complete the visa application process in 15

working days, each application is subject to an individual assessment and

processing times may vary, hence applicants are requested to be patient and

wait for the processing to be completed. You can check how long you’ll

have to wait for a decision on your visa application in your country (if

you applied from outside the UK) by entering your details at the following

link: https://www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times. Please note that the actual

processing times may vary depending on a range of factors.

Kind regards,

Inthiratreelar Y.

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service

I provided the details they had asked for immediately, and on the 21st of November, I received the following email:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

….We understand that you would like to know about the current status of your

visa application. I have tracked the status and found that the application

has been processed and a decision was made and it should be with you in the

next few days…. The visa application centre will be in contact with you regarding the collection or delivery.

Kind regards,

Apeksha

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service.

I expected this to happen sooner, based on this information in their November 5 email: “Once a decision has been made, you will receive an email advising you of the outcome of your application.” But after a few days, I wrote again to ask when I would get my passport back, as I had paid for an overnight courier service. I received no answer, so I went to the UK Consulate in New York at 2:00PM, hoping to speak to someone. On reaching there, I was told they had closed and that they would be opening on Monday, December 1. On the 27th of November, I received the email below:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

… . We understand that you would like to know about the current status of your visa application. I have tracked the status (((Redacted))) and found that the application has been processed and your documents should be with you in the next few days. … You will be contacted regarding the delivery.

Kind regards,

Okan

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service

I wrote back to state categorically that I did not want to read generic emails from them, and that someone had to write to me to explain what was going on. I also stated that if my visa had not been processed, my passport should be sent back to me. Indeed, someone wrote back:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

Thank you for contacting the UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry

Service.

I am afraid we do not have a system to track your return documents. If you

would like us to track for you, we will need to escalate your case.

Could you send me the following information as per below, please?

1. GWF:

2. Date of birth:

3. Visa type:

4. Name of the applicant:

5. Nationality:

6. Passport Number:

7. Country where applying:

8. Location of your Visa Application Centre:

9. Date of biometric:

Kind regards,

Inthiratreelar Y.

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service

At this point, I was getting really agitated, as my travel date was approaching, and someone was still asking for details that I expected to be found on record with the help of my GWF number. I firmly made them aware of this concern, but still provided those details.

The following day, I received another email:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

…

With the information you have provided, we have now escalated this case to

the relevant department who will investigate your case and will be back in

contact as soon as possible. …

Kind regards,

Malcolm Scott

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service

By Monday, December 1st, I had not received any information re my visa application. I decided to go to the UK Consulate in New York, hoping to speak to someone, and to ask that they physically give my passport back to me. I had sufficient identification documents, including a UN passport bearing the same names and photo as was in my national passport. First, the security lady (with a Caribbean accent) told me they wouldn’t let me in, and that she could only call to ask on my behalf. The consular official on the other end of the line instructed her to ask me to come back after one hour, as they tried to find my passport. When I returned after an hour, the security lady called the consular official, who told her to inform me that my visa had not been processed, and that if I no longer wanted the visa, they were mailing back my passport that day. I asked politely that they give me my passport in person because I had a flight that evening. They refused, and insisted on mailing it back. I firmly demanded my passport back. They asked me to go online and submit a withdrawal request, which I did upon opening this link https://www.gov.uk/cancel-visa which led me to this: https://ukvi-international.faq-help.com/ .

I had asked if I could speak to a consular official, but the guard had told me that consular officials do not speak to anyone, except British nationals. Helpless, I tried to call a number on the website of the UK Consulate in New York, and dialled the extension reserved for UK nationals. This was my only hope of speaking to someone. I explained my case to the official, who told me she couldn’t help me, and that she had no access to the visa section. She gave me a number to call instead: the same Customer Service Centre number that I had been calling several times last week, with no answer.

To call that number, you need to have your credit or debit card details ready, as you cannot speak to the service centre officials for free. So, in addition to your telephone carrier charges, you pay £1.37 per minute of every oxygen molecule and the time which that service centre person expends talking to you. I decided that I was going to call again, because I needed to speak to someone and tell them that I had paid for a service, and that because that service had not been rendered, I was no longer interested in it. The lady on the line (with an Asian accent) tried to rush the conversation, wanting to do more of the talking than I was doing, reminding me to be quick because the call was costing me money. I reminded her that she needn’t worry, as I was paying for every minute of her oxygen and her listening to me. She acknowledged that there had been unnecessary delays, and that she was going to refer the complaint to the Home Office, as this was a serious matter. I emphasized that I had submitted a withdrawal request, and that all I wanted was my passport because I no longer wanted to go to London. She asked me to give her my details, and to be patient a bit, at which point I informed her that my patience had been stretched to the limit already.

I waited to the end of the day, but there was no word. I wrote again, with the following words: “Please, just send my passport back. If you can’t, I want to be able to pick it up in person.”

Today, December 2, 2014; at 12:51 AM, I received the following email:

Dear Mr Joshua Mmali,

Thank you for contacting the UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry

Service.

Please kindly be informed that applicants are unable to visit British

Consulate General to collect their passports.

We are very sorry that you are having stressful time, we already escalated

your case on 29 November to the relevant department for investigation and

it can take a few working days. I will assure them that it is an urgent

matter. Please await to be contacted. We very much appreciate your patience

during this process. …

Kind regards,

Miyuki Y.

On December 2, 2014; at 10:18 AM, I received the following email:

Your UK visa has been issued – Please do not respond to this e-mail (((Redacted)))

[email protected] Tuesday, December 02, 2014 10:18AM

To: (((Redacted)))

Packages normally ship within one working day of receipt of this email and may be tracked on your preferred mail providers website some time afterwards.

Not signed.

So this was 13 days (9 working days) from the day the decision was made!

Strangely, more than 4 hours after being informed that a visa had been issued to me, I received this bizarre email, at 2:41PM:

Dear Joshua Mmali,

Thank you for contacting the UK Visas and Immigrations international

enquiry services.

As per the information we can retrieve from the system, a decision has been

made regarding the application and you soon shall be contacted by the VAC

about the outcome. We, at the UKVI, inform and decide upon visas and immigrations issues, processes and applications. All the other ancillary services fall outside our scope.

After the decision was made we will not be able to track the physical

location of the documentation.

Also, please be advised that your case has been now escalated to the New

York British General Consulate. We are now waiting for a feedback and you

will be duly informed about the response we receive immediately after we

get it.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a timeframe for this to happen. It can take up

to 5 working days.

Hopefully it won’t take that long.

Contact # 379776

We hope that this has answered your query. For any further details, or

should you contact us again, please refer to our website at

https://ukvi-international.faq-help.com/

Best regards,

Frederico Lopes

UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service

I went to Twitter, and searched for @UKinNewYork. After tweeting about my experience, I finally heard from someone in the mighty UK Consulate in New York:

(((Redacted))) Sorry to hear about your frustrating situation. Withdrawing and returning an application already in progress can take a few days.

— British Consulate NY (((Redacted))) December 2, 2014

And this:

(((Redacted))) Make sure to send the withdrawal email to [email protected]. Include your reference no. & name in the subject. — British Consulate NY (((Redacted))) December 2, 2014

Now I realise there is a direct email that one could write to. But it can only be given out if you go to Twitter and expose the arrogance and the ill treatment of visa applicants by the UK consulate in New York.

I know that most people who have had similar excruciating experiences might resort to collectively lashing out at all British people and saying all kinds of unpleasant things about them. Granted, in your fury, you may say that, but what would be the difference between you and that ignorant consular official who thinks all Africans must really, really be dying to move to the UK, even if illegally?

To be updated when I have received my passport