Home Office

[sunnyp]

how can the south arfican home office take money out of your account by mistake and say it will repay you within 90 days this was last December we have the mp helping us but to no joy they just say we dealing with it,surely they cant treat us like that.

[fiction-factory]

Type Your Answer Here...You may want to give a bit more information on what happened- eg why would they have had access to your account? Did you authorise any transaction? Was it for some sort of visa?

[sunnyp]

my friend paid for a visa and they took the money twice and said sorry would refund within 90 days that was there timeline to deal with the enquiry which is disgusting she is having a nervous breakdown with all the stress she just wants her money back.

[bednobs]

well they clearly can treat you like that (evidently because they are doing so)
how much money is your friend waiting for?

[sunnyp]

its not pocket change £950.00 They know the stress they are causing even the mp is having a job of sorting this what should have been a simple refund!!! they have no right to treat people like this,cant seem to find anyone higher in the government to help !!!!

[bednobs]

the SA govt or uk govt?

[EDDIE51]

Very sorry to hear of the problem ,hope it gets sorted soon. But if an MP can't get a reply I can't see how we can help. Is this in South Africa or the South African Visa service in the London embassy?

[Peter Pedant]

well first the bad news
according to this:
http://www.vfsglobal.com/southafrica/uk/visa_fees_at_glance.html

a three month visa for UK citizens is free

even a permanent residence permit is £125

are you perhaps talking about or is your fren' talking about the repatriation deposit ?

There is a refund department on the SA high Commission site which is kinda hinky as it means there are lots around ( claims for refunds )

however you must have been told by someone that embassies and high commissions in London come under the sovereign immunity rule and so there is bugga all you can do to force their hand....



I mean your MP must have told you surely ?

and if he hasnt - then I have some extremely bad news .....

[ I mean you knew that - but you were just asking us web rats to check, werent you ? ]

so sorry about that ....
yes they can and do treat people like tha t.....

[Buenchico]

Are you sure that your friend was actually dealing with a valid South African agency, rather than a fraudulent website. (There are plenty of them out there!).

For UK applicants, South African visa applications are handled by VFS Global. (They're entirely reputable and provide visa services for several countries). Payments are made to 'VF Services UK Limited' and NOT to the South African Home Office (or anyone posing as such). The relevant government department in South Africa isn't even called the 'Home Office'; it's the 'Department of Home Affairs'.

Further, holders of UK passports are exempt from South African visa requirements for stays of up to 90 days.

Further still, even people who are required to apply for South African visas should pay nothing like £950.00. The typical cost of most visas is £35.00, plus a further £35.00 administration fee, making £70.00 in total. Even an application for a permanent residence permit only costs £125.00, plus the £35.00 admin fee, making £160.00 in total, so I simply can't see where a £950.00 charge comes from.

If your friend applied online and used any website other than this one
http://www.vfsglobal.com/southafrica/uk/
(which is the ONLY site approved by the South African government) she has been SCAMMED BY FRAUDSTERS.

[Peter Pedant]

oops didnt spot that Chris
thx

[EDDIE51]

Yes , I was just thinking the money was far too much for a genuine visa.There are loads of fraudulent sites , and they come up in a search before the real site.

[Old_Geezer]

If its scammers they don't have diplomatic immunity.
If they're still contactable then the law, if the police in the country they are in are interested, should have a lead to paying them a visit.

[EDDIE51]

If they are based in South Africa it will be hard to do anything, remember SA law is very different from UK law.

[Maydup]

Although she paid twice, didyour friend receive her VISA and was it genuine? If not and you think she might have been a victim of fraud, try this site for advice.

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk

If she has a genuine visa and it is a simple case of a duplicate transaction, then get the bank involved or claim from the credit card company if paid that way.

[sunnyp]

thanks for all your comments,its a bit of a mess isn't it,my friend applied for the visa for her south African husband to come over from sa the mp is talking to the sa home office?in Liverpool they just keep saying we dealing with it surely he would know if they were legit or not??

[EDDIE51]

Then it must be the British Home Office. That is who issue visas to come to the UK.
There are still fake sites that claim to be able to get visas for people from other countries to live in the UK though.

[fiction-factory]

Has she received one visa yet ?

[EDDIE51]

^^ Yes just checked on Google. The branch of the UK Home Office that deals with immigration visas is the one in Liverpool .

[fiction-factory]

Thanks eddie. It may still have been purchased a non-standard agency that charges over the odds for forwarding on the application to the official government office

[EDDIE51]

Here is the contact page for the UK Home Office Visa and immigration section which is in Liverpool
https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi/overview
Hope it helps.

[fiction-factory]

Hope I'm wrong but although the relevant department may now be dealing with it that may not help get back the duplicate payment if it was done through a third party website