A visa refusal is usually very painful. And what are most pitiable are the attendant losses. For starters, you spend a lot of energy, money and time and they all just go down the sewers once you get refused.
So if you had been refused a visa request, this could cost you a lot. It could mean more than the inability to go on a trip that you have most anticipated. But how much exactly? Read on to find out.
**Refusal may affect subsequent applications at other embassies**
Generally, most embassies would not like to entrust you with their visa when another one had denied you. Embassies are not equipped with enough resources (especially time) to investigate why another embassy had refused you. So, a visa officer would rather deny your visa request than grant you one based on this factor alone.
Again, seeing a refusal stamp on your passport could send wrong signals to the embassy that you are applying at. For instance, the **French embassy** (which also handles Netherlands and Lithuania visa applications) stamps your passport when they refuse your visa application. They put a red ‘C’ stamp on it. The **Italian embassy** also does this. And many would agree that this tarnishes the profile of an applicant.
Previous refusal field on Canada visa application form
**Refusal may affect subsequent applications to same embassy**
Getting refusal from some embassies could make getting the same visa difficult for you in the future. Sometimes, it is more convenient for the visa officer to deny you a visa than grant you one because of your previous visa refusal from the same embassy.
Some embassies take your previous denial seriously and would like to know why you were previously refused by their embassy.
The **U.S embassy** is a classic example of such embassies who are interested in your previous refusal from their embassy. They also ask specifically why you were previously refused.
Previous refusal field on U.S visa application form
**Visa application refusal may not affect future applications**
However, there are certain embassies that do not pay attention to previous refusals from them or from other embassies. The **embassy of South Africa** is a good example of this one. They neither ask if they had denied you a visa before or if any other embassies had in the past.
Even when they refuse your visa application, the embassy of South Africa would not stamp your visa. Thereby, not leaving any traces of previous refusals on your visa application.
**Moving on from a visa refusal**
Visa denial could cost you your **visa fee**, your time and your energy. It may also cost you a memorable trip to the proposed country of visit. But, at the end of the day, these could be all you lose.
When applying for visa later, ensure you have improved on your weaknesses. For instance, you should improve on your social status – single to married, not having children to having children. You should also improve on your financial status – better closing balance and proof of investments. If possible, ensure that you have improved your travel history too.
If you had just been recently refused visa by the U.S embassy, you should desist from applying immediately after. Take time to get visas from other embassies, garner some travel history or experience and reapply later.
Most times, some embassies would look at your present status and forget about your previous refusal. The **embassy of the United Kingdom** does this every time!
Sheriff Adeniyi
Author