InApr1999,MsAattendedaseminarhostedbyxxxGirlsHighSchoolandusinZhengzhou,Henan.SheandherparentswerelaterinterviewedbyMrsxxx,theDeputyPrincipalofxxxGirls.ShewascoideredasuitablestudentandwasgivenaLetterofOffer..Heralicationwaslodgedon29Apr1999andwasgivenanalicationreferencenumberxxx.Herrequestwasrefusedon16Jul1999andthereasofortherefusal

wasgivenas:

"Althoughyouhaveprovidedfundsinsuortofyouralication,basedonyourfamily\"scombinedincome,itiscoideredthatyouhaveiufficientmeatomaintainlongtermstudiesinNewZealand."

Hersecondalicationwaslodgedon14Sep1999andwasgivenanalicationreferencenumberxxx.ThealicationwasagainrefusedandSchedule14Acontaitheofficialreasointhesecondrefusal.Ascanbeseen,thereasogivenwerenon-ecificandtheletterwascouchedingeneralterms.Schedule15AisthecopyoftheDecisionNotesthatyouwerekindenoughtoprovidemeinoursuequentmeetings.

AccordingtotheNotes,thevisaofficerbasedherdecisiononthefollowingpoints:

(1)Resultofhertelephoneenquiryindicatedthattheparentsdidnotgotoworkatthefurniturestoreregularly.

(2)Thewagesfigurecontainedinthebalancesheetprovidedbythefatherwerenotcoistentwiththesalarysheets.Shethereforecametotheconclusionthatoneofthetwodocumentsmusthavebeenfalsified.

(3)Namecardsofthefather\"spartnersandpricelistssubmittedwerecoideredirrelevanttothecase.Thevisaofficerindicatedthattheparentsdidnotproducetheirownnamecardsandtheemployer\"sletterwasnotwrittenonproperletterheads.Thevisaofficercoideredthatthebankdepositbooksshouldbestampedbytwoemployeesfromthebank,butonebookhadonlyonestamp.

TheofficeralsodiscoveredthatapersonbythenameofBwhoissuosedtoworkatthebankwasonthelistofemployeesofthecompany.

[B]OURpIEFREPLY

Goingthroughthevariousdocumentscontainedinthefileandlookingatthesecondvisaofficer\"srejection,Ihavetoadmitthatthedocumentationproducedtogetherwithsomeofthefindingsofthevisaofficer,doleadonetoconcludethattherearecertainaectsofdoubtfulcircumstances.

Wewouldhowever,liketoaddrethevariouspointsraisedbythevisaofficertoclarifymattersandtodemotratethatourclientsatisfiesthepresentrequirementsandshouldbeeligiblefortheiueofastudentvisa.Weshallnowproceedtodealwiththevariouspointsonebyoneasfollows.

[C]THECASEOFTHEAENTBO

Inreplytothequeryfromthevisaofficerhandlingourfirstalication,wehadsubmittedanOrganisationChartofthefather\"sbusineacopyisenclosedatSchedule4A.Ascanbeseen,thefurniturestoreistheretailarmofthetradingcompanyofwhichthefatheristheLegalRepresentative.Apartfromthefurniturebusinethecompanyisalsoinvolvedinothertradingactivities.Asthefurniturebusinehasbeenreasonabl

ywellestablished,thefatherdoesnotreporttotheretailstoreonadailybasis.

Therearequiteanumberofsalespersoelintheretailstoreandgiventherelativelyquickstaffturnover,whichisthenormofthesalesindustryandthedifferenceinage,sex,culturalstandardsandinpidualpersonalitiesofthestaff,itispoiblethatthetelephoneenquirywasreceivedbyarelativelynewmemberwhodidnotknowtoomuchabouttheorganisationalstructureofthecompanyandwhowasnotaproperpersontoawersuchanenquiry.

Wedoadmitthatthefatherdoesnotgototheretailshopeveryday,butthatdoesnotmeanthatheisnotinvolvedwiththebusine.Inthisregard,wehavealreadygivenyouacopyofthecompany\"sTradingLiceeconfirmingthatthefatheristheLegalRepresentativeoftheorganization.

[D]THECASEOFFALSIFIEDINFORMATION

Schedule5Acontaicopiesofbalancesheetsofthecompany,whichyouwerekindenoughtoprovidewhenIvisitedyouroffice.Accordingtothevisaofficer,thewagesfigurefor1997and1998were$31,000and$48,000reectivelybuttheywereatvariancewithsalariesrecordsbecausetherewere13employeesandtheamountsindicatedinthebalancesheetsweremuchtoolow.Iamafraiditisabitembarraingformetosaythis,butIbelievethevisaofficerhaslittleaccountingtrainingbecauseonedoesnotextractexpeesfromBalanceSheets.OnelooksforexpeesinProfitandLoStatements.Thefiguresgiveninthebalancesheetswereaccrualinotherwords,theywereamountsoutstandingatthedateofthebalancesheetsasuaidwages.Theyarenottotalamountofwagesfortheyear.Iamaprofeionalaccountant,aqualifiedCPAinAustraliaandIwouldrequestthatyouacceptmyexplanatio.

[E]THECASEOFTHEBUSINECARDS

Thevisaofficercoideredthatproductionofbusinecardsofthefather\"spartnersandpricelistsofthecompanywereirrelevanttothealication.Wewishtoadvisethatthebusinecardsandthepricelistsweresomeoftheadditionaldocumentsrequiredbythefirstvisaofficer;Schedule16Arefers.OursubmiionmightnothaveindicatedthisandIdonotblamethesecondvisaofficerforfeelingabitpuzzleduponreceivingthosedocumentswithnoattachedexplanatio.

Thefatherofthestudent,beingtheLegalRepresentativeofthebusineisofcourseinpoeionofbusinecards.Thecompany,beingatradingcompanyinnature,alsohasitsownletterheads.Weapologizethatourpreviousdocumentsiuedbythecompanywerenotprintedonproperletterheads.Ibelievetheirofficestaffmusthavebeenabithardpreedfortimeinmeetinglodgmentdeadlineswiththeresultthatsomeofthedetailsregardingthecompanywerenotsenttoyouonpropercompanyletterheads.Iwouldventuretosuggestthatthemerefactofsuchanomiionshouldnotbeusedasareasonforrejection.

[F]THEMYSTERYOFTHETWO"BC\"s"

Imustcommendonthealertneofthevisaofficerinpickingupthefactthatthecompanybookkeeper\"snamewasBCandoneofthetwobankofficialsisalsocalledBC.

Lifeisfullofsurprisesandcoincidencesandthisiscertainlyacaseinpoint.IdonotforamomentquestionthewisdomofthevisaofficerindoubtingthatthetwoBC\"sareinfactoneandthesameperson.Thereasonisquitesimple.Therearejusttoomanycoincidences.

Admittedly,giventhelargepopulationinChinathereareboundtobenumerousexamplesofpeoplewiththesamenamesparticularlyifwearetalkingaboutpeoplewithonesurnameandonegivenname,asinourcase.Butthesurnameof"B"isquiteanuncommonone,soistheforenameof"C".Fortwopersowiththesamenamesareacoincidencebutitisnotunlikely,evenforrarenameslikeBC.

Uponinvestigatio,wenoticedthatbothladiesarelivingatthesameaddre!Nowthiswilltriggeralarmbells,butwehavebeenadvisedthattheaddreisaarentlyacompoundhousingover100people.Fortwodifferentpersowiththesamenameslivinginthesamecompoundissurelyacoincidencethatmaycreatedoubtsonthepartofasuectingvisaofficer.WehavebeenauredbyouraociatesinHenanthatthetwoladiesconcernedaretwodifferentperso,andinsuortofthisclaim,theyhaveproducedthe2ladies\"reectiveidentitycardsatSchedule7A&9A.AlsoenclosedatSchedule8A,iscopyofaletterfromthebankprovidingfurtherdetailsregardingtheirBC.

Wewouldsuggestthatourclient\"sclaimbegiventhebenefitofthedoubt.

Asregardsthequerythatonlyonestampisusedinoneofthebankbooks,wehavebeenadvisedthatwhiletherearetwocolumprintedonthebankbook,somepanchesofthebankuseonlyonecolumn.Anditisthepracticeofthatparticularpanch,whosebankbookwasquestionedbythevisaofficer,touseonlyonecolumn.

[G]OURSUBMIION

Wehopewehavedemotratedthatthroughsomemisunderstandingandcertainunusualcoincidences,ourclienthasbeenthevictimoftworejectio,whichhavesignificantlydelayedherproposeddepartureforstudiesinNewZealand.

WeencloseupdatedSummaryofDepositsoftheparentstogetherwithcopiesofbankbooksanddeposits.AscanbeseenatSchedule11Ato13A,thefamilyhasliquidfundsinexceofRMB771,600andUSD21,197.TheyoungladyisgoingtostudyinNewZealandfor51/2years.WorkingonanaverageofRMB100,000peraum,shewillrequireRMB550,000.Thefamilyisinpoeionofenoughfundsforthepurpose.

Asthisisthethirdalication,andgiventheinterestingnatureofthecase,wewouldrequestthatthestudentandherparentsbeaffordedanoortunityofaninterviewincaseyoustillrequireanyfurtherexplanatio.

[H]PREPARATIONOFTHISSUBMIION

ThissubmiionispreparedbyPrestonChow&Aociatesaftercoultationwiththeparentsandthestudent\"sfather.WehaveexplainedthecontentsofthissubmiiontothefatherinChineseandrequestedhimtosignbelowtocertifythatheagreestothevariouspointsadvancedabove.