UK visit visa refused because of 'questionable deposits'

Question

I applied for a 6 months UK visit visa which has been refused for the reasons attached.

Background:

• I'm a freelance assistant director and I mentioned 6 Lakhs as my annual income. Franky, 6 lakhs is not a fixed amount as I am a freelancer. And the bank statement that I provided is for 9 months so that it has enough payment cheques deposits mentioned - it totals around 4.7 lakhs for 9 months excluding TDS deducted.

• In the application, my dates mentioned were 15 dec to 15 feb

• I didn't provide a flight ticket
• The 'questionable deposits' they are talking about are my own deposits from my other account, fixed deposit liquidations, and some amount I borrowed from a friend.

Questions:

1. Can I appeal against this? It's not mentioned in the refusal letter that I can.
2. If I need to reapply, what evidence do I need to provide to explain these deposits?

Answer 1

I personally would not appeal; as the decision to reject was valid based on the (lack of) evidence provided at the time of your application. An appeal is also not a straightforward, immediate process and has its own procedures.

You should have provided the source of your deposits initially when applying. It could be as simple as letter addressed to the embassy noting the date and amount of deposits and the source of income. It is even better if you could provide the requisite deposit slips or other information showing the source and nature of the funds.

Frankly, having an amount that is borrowed from a friend - especially if it is for the purpose of inflating your financial position in order to secure a visa (also called funds parking) is immediately a red flag and almost always guarantees a refusal.

I don't think the absence of a flight ticket hurt your application chances (you'll note, it was not mentioned as a reason for refusal either).