@GayotFow Are the scammers refusing people's applications with credible-sounding refusal notices?

@phoog Yes, of course it's all on stationery and using the formulae. Where they make the money in the scam is all of the appeals. Appeal after appeal and all of the fees go right into the pocket of the scammer.

@MarkMayo I waited for 12 hours to give anyone a chance and nobody took the shot, so I'll jump in. I think that's fair given that the bounty has been running for 2+ days.

@GayotFow no need to wait, always grab a bounty if you can, gives people the opportunity to answer other stuff instead ;)

and I can't award the bounty in the first 24 hours, so if someone else answers and gets more upvotes, I can always give it to them ;)

@AndrewGrimm because once the first close vote is cast, it appears in the review queue for others to consider, so generally it's more likely to come to the attention of users

@ZachLipton You appear to be unaware of: meta.travel.stackexchange.com/a/3399/4995

@GayotFow Hi Gayot, sorry for my terribly late response - I lost the link to the chat room and couldn't find any other way to access it. Managed to recover the link on my work computer though so here I am again. Wondering if you are still able to give some advice or if that ship has sailed? Thanks!

@Rosie Sorry the two of you seem to have the knack of missing one another. @Gayot was on site less than an hour ago - he will return and the ship will not sail until you release it :)

@pnuts thanks for your message! Dear dear, hopefully we will manage to speak soon! The more research I do the more daunting the whole application process becomes

You have about the best pilot there is to guide you through this - once the two of you can manage to be in the same place at the same time (soon).

@Rosie I'm around but recovering from a one day in-and-out to the Caribbean, I'll around on chat this week, but we may be having a time shifted chat.

@gayo

@GayotFow blimey! Rest up. Is there a way I can message you privately so as not to disturb other people? that way if/when we miss each other we wont have trouble finding the messages. Let me know

@Rosie, if you click his nick on the left hand side, you can create a room with him and yourself

@Rosie the menu looks like pix.toile-libre.org/upload/original/1481002162.png this

Excellent concept but might require 100 rep.

@GayotFow - you might be aware of someone who could find the answer to this?

it's our longest outstanding question and has had several bounties over time, and attempts, but no luck

@Rosie you can set up a private chat, but feel free to ask in here, never know, others may have tips or ideas :)

abc2news.com/lifestyle/travel/…

United wants a separate charge for using the overhead bins

which sounds pretty much equivalent to "carrying a big carry-on will cost extra"

@MarkMayo honestly, I fail to see how that question is remotely useful. Yeah, there might be a form, but would one really have difficulties filling it out?

And would a country in the middle of a huge war really care about how accurate you've filled it out?

@MarkMayo I think it is not answerable. Reason: the governing authority for this state is not reachable and hence it can only be answered by direct in-person contact. Plus the answer cannot be confirmed and it's too volatile to be of enduring use anyway. So sod it.

@Rosie where did we leave off? Where are you geographically so we know when is daytime for you.

[application-status] seems an odd choice to me here: travel.stackexchange.com/questions/83851/…

re Rosie: 7 days ago "currently living in Bali, Indonesia"

@pnuts She is having post-submission anxiety which goes under 'application-status' IMHO, but you can remove or roll back, it's fine.

@pnuts Right so @Rosie wants an SVV for her friend and I thought the premise was too weak and possibly a show-stopper. So we were going to come to chat and try to help with the premise and other issues like that OR... or tell her not to apply because it's a waste of time, right?

@GayotFow Seems to me not anxiety about the application (Usage guide includes not yet returned to the applicant) but about IO's reaction to the visa.

@GayotFow I've no idea which way to call it, just that if (as seems to be the case!) time difference is a problem Rosie being GMT+8 seems a fair guess.

@pnuts It's very easy to be wrong about tags, feel free. @Rosie what is your premise, remember that ECO's are trained to think about it and if the premise is weak they will think up any crap excuse to refuse. And I think yours is weak, but there wasn't a lot of info. Can you give us more info? Here in chat is fine because everybody can weigh in.

@GayotFow You are so right. I have been trying for some 'rationalisation' but it is an uphill struggle, mostly unaided and against some amazing resistance!

5 days until the world's longest train tunnel opens! Great for travel times but less scenic.

didn't the Gotthard Base Tunnel open in June?

what's in five days?