Guest Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:53 am
Hello Teenz
The answer to your question is 'no', I did not know Gemsgirl and never had any dealings with her whatsoever. I live near to the West Midlands area, in fact, when the OISC (The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) first came into being back in 1999, I attended one of their introductory courses on the Hagley Road in Birmingham. (By the way, the OISC does not provide immigration advice or recommend or endorse a specific adviser, however, it will prosecute those who operate outside of the law and it REGULATES immigration advisers rather like the Legal Services Commission regulates and audits legal advice in whichever category a client is seeking advice).
It therefore beggars belief that Gemsgirl managed to get away with all the bad advice she gave out without being prosecuted, some of the weekly disposable income figures she quoted TL members I think she made up as she went along, they were more guesstimates. I did notice towards to end a 'Disclaimer' was placed on the Visa Forum on TL on the lines that any advice is not to be taken as a replacement for seeking professional legal advice from an Immigration Solicitor.
From what I gather, Gemsgirl claimed to have offices in or near to Birmingham and a team of people working for her, I did a search and never came up with any such office simply because it did not exist, it was a figment of her imagination.
As I have said before, any advice I give cannot replace that of an Immigration Solicitor and I do not charge. The rules relating to UK Immigration Advice in Turkey are totally different, and therefore, the advice given there was on the basis that the first interview was free because 9/10 potential UK visa seekers were non starters and I did not want to waste my time or their time giving them false hope. Best to be honest and tell them what the odds are, then it is up to them to decide whether they want to go ahead or not. In order to make a successful application, it needs to be absolutely perfect, as if the ECO throws it out, then you either have to go through the whole application again and address the issues as to why it was refused, or appeal. Both options are extremely stressful. My advice to anyone applying for a Visa which is a stressful enough process, is to get it right first time around.
Ruby