Permission to Visit - Goldilocks and the Three Bank Statements | Immigration Law Blog

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From UKVI’s published statistics on immigration applications, in the most recent reported quarter (March to June 2025) UKVI received 938,527 visit visa applications – the highest ever reported in at least the last 20 years. In that quarter, UKVI also refused 156,659 visit visa applications (and issued 790,708 visas), unsurprisingly, also the highest number reported. The refusal rate for this quarter (which will not cover all applications received) was just shy of 20%.

There’s a lot at play behind the numbers. As other immigration categories are closed and bars raised, invariably the pressure to seek out ways to travel to the UK has driven up applications to other categories, especially the visitor category. The permitted activities that visitors can undertake are restrictively drafted so that applicants who do not fall within these are considered to require work authorisation (which they might not be eligible to obtain). Nationalities which previously did not need to apply for visit visas have started to increase the number of applications as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) refusals are driving people into the arms of UKVI’s visa process.

All of these factors are compounded by the absence (in most situations) of a right to appeal before a court and with limited grounds for an administrative review (which is in effect an appeal to UKVI itself). Applicants can easily get stuck bashing their heads against the same process over and over, as they seek to rectify alleged shortcomings in previous applications, and with caseworkers reluctant to wipe the slate clean and genuinely consider an application afresh, without their judgment coloured by previous decisions.

Explaining yourself to UKVI

Visit visa applicants must explain themselves in a large amount of detail. An important consideration for UKVI is often money – how the travel is being funded and who is paying.

When it comes to showing funds there appears to be a Goldilocks problem – not to have too little but also not too much. Applicants with too low a level of savings, will be at risk of being accused of not having adequate funds or can face questions around the intention of their travel. At the same time applicants who hold substantial cash funds, far greater than their income, risk raising doubts as to the source of their wealth.

Furthermore, if family and friends transfer money into your bank account, UKVI can also cite this as it raises questions as to the nature of your wealth.

Nit-picking over payments into bank accounts and other relatively trivial issues that are very onerous and difficult to clarify seems to be a deliberate strategy in frustrating applications. It can be prohibitively expensive to provide translations of bank statements and other financial documents which exacerbates the issues with explaining and clarifying incomes and payments.

As UKVI’s capabilities grow to process larger volumes of data with technological advances and improved data sharing, the prospects of applications hitting snags might only increase.

One approach for some nationalities, another approach for others

The main determining factor for the outcome of a visitor application appears to be the nationality of the applicant. The UK does not yet operate a policy with blanket bans on certain nationalities. However, UKVI’s consideration of applications appears to set higher standards and requirements for certain nationalities, such as Indian or Pakistani nationals. The Home Office has also been known to use an algorithm to stream visa applications.

For those lumped with a refusal either for a visa or an ETA, it is important to take stock of the grounds for UKVI’s decision before rushing into making another immigration application, otherwise individuals can get stuck in a cycle of applications that have very low prospects of success.

further information

If you have any queries in relation to the issues above or any other immigration matter, please contact a member of the immigration team.

about the author

Robert has extensive experience of assisting individuals and organisations with their UK immigration and nationality matters. His experience covers all kinds of immigration and nationality applications but with a particular emphasis on corporate immigration matters and complex immigration issues faced by individuals.

Radhika assists with a range of applications including Skilled Worker, indefinite leave to remain, naturalisation and sponsor licence applications.

We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.

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