Getting a visa can be a herculean task because you can be rejected for a very little thing. There are people I know who have tried getting visa to different countries and have failed. There are those who were later successful after appealing the visa rejection, and there are many more who have continued to fail because they do not know how to rightly appeal a visa rejection.
If your visa has been rejected, depending on the country you have applied to, there are different ways that you can appeal. If you do everything right the second time, you will be lucky to be accepted. However, if you are denied more than a couple of times, the possibility of being accepted, if you have another chance at appealing, depreciates.
Here are ways to appeal a visa if you have been denied
1. Check if you’re eligible to Appeal
The first thing you will want to do if your visa application is denied is to check if you are eligible to appeal. This is because not all countries allow for one to appeal a visa rejection.
While countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the EU allow for you to appeal, the United States have no structure that allows for a review, and so if you are denied, you will need to reapply.
If your visa is denied, you will need to check the immigration website and get more information about the chance of an appeal. You can also contact the visa office of the issuing country to confirm your chance of an appeal.
2. Find out why your visa was denied
The next thing you must do before trying to file an appeal is to understand why your visa was denied in the first place. This is easy to find out because the reason will be included to the rejection notice.
The reasons may be as a result of many factors which may include doubt on the reason for your seeking to leave the country and whether you have the intention of coming back. The most common reason why your visa may be denied is because of incomplete or incorrect documentation.
If you have a previous immigration violation or if you have criminal records or anything that may suggest that you are of any security concerns or health risk to your host country, your visa may be denied.
Fully understanding why your application was denied will help you in the appeal process.
3. Familiarize Yourself with the Appeal Process for That Country
Each country has a different appeal process for denied visas, while some do not allow for one to appeal. For a country like Canada, appeals can be filed through the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) or through judicial review in Federal Court for temporary visa refusals.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) handles rejected or canceled visas for Australia, and for the UK, one can file for a review through the First-tier Tribunal, depending on the type of visa.
4. Write a strong letter of appeal and attach with all necessary supporting documents
Take the time to write a letter indicating your intention to appeal the rejection of your visa application. Reference the reason for the initial rejection and provide explanation and supporting facts.
If you missed out any documents the first time, try and include it this time around. Above all, plead your cause without being emotional or dishonest.
5. Make sure to submit your appeal on time
There is a time frame within which visa appeals must be submitted. A majority of them last anything from 7 to 60 days depending on the country and visa type. The deadlines are strict and so once you miss, it is believed that you forfeit your right to appeal.
Apart from submitting on time, make sure that you also submit in through the right channel. Some may want it in person through their embassies, others may want it online, and for some countries, they may request that you mail it.
Whatever way you are appealing, ensure to keep all copies f submitted documents.
After you have followed all the processes above, you will have to wait for the outcome of your appeal before taking any further actions. Visa appeal can take a few weeks for some countries, while others can stretch to several months.
There are some countries that instead of keeping you waiting blindly, which will only add to your frustration, they allow you to track the progress of the appeal so that you know what steps you may need to take of if you can be patient and keep waiting.
Before attempting to raise a dispute over a denied visa and call for an appeal, there are cases where talking to an immigration expert before making any move may be the best course of action. This is because there are times when reapplying may be easier and faster than to seek for a redress.
In a case where you are certain that there was an error with the assessment of your documents and your application in general, an appeal may be better. However, if you were denied because you left out some information or you didn’t meet some requirements, reapplying may be better most especially if your circumstances have changed and you now have all the needed documents available.
Conclusion
Being denied a visa is a very frustrating experience but the good news is that it is ot the end of your journey as someone who wants to Jappa from Nigeria.
You can still appeal the denial after going through the process and seeing that something went wrong. If that is not possible you will have one more window; to reapply.
Keep it in mind that while some visas can be appealed without limits, some countries do not allow for unending appeals. Importantly, with each appeal, it is expected that you add something new to your evidence.
