Visa enquiries from potential guests

[Helen0]

I'm in the UK (England). We're under lockdown again here for a few weeks - the local restrictions change all the time - and most people arriving from overseas are required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. It is already complicated enough advising potential guests about this - some of them seem completely unaware and some of them are flat-out asking me whether they can book on a provisional basis but get a full refund if they have to cancel at the last minute!

Has anyone else also noticed a sudden increase in booking enquiries that want to know: a) whether they can give my Airbnb property address as a residential address for a visa application and receive mail there before they arrive, b) what additional taxes or visa fees they have to pay, c) will I guarantee a full refund if their visa application is not granted.. or some other query about immigration rules that I am not qualified to answer! 

My income has been severely impacted this year so obviously I want to accept bookings where I can. Most of my guests this year have come from within the UK and are staying in my city for work reasons but this recent spate of enquiries has been mostly from students coming to take various qualifications and travelling from India, Hong Kong, Brazil - all over the place. I don't even know whether the institutions they are coming to attend will be open on the dates they are asking about, let alone what the quarantine requirements will be in e.g. February! It's a lot of pressure to keep answering such technical questions and so far none of them has resulted in an actual booking anyway.

What's going on? I have never had enquiries like this in 8+ years of hosting. Is it a scam (like the spate of Russian enquiries earlier this year claiming to need to stay to do essential medical work in my city) or are they genuine enquiries?

How are other people dealing with this? 

[Helen427]

Welcome to the club @Helen0  in the UK, some of us in New Zealand were bombarded like that with students from those foreign countries back in February.

Thankfully I was able to put a halt to some of it.

All it took was one Enquiry from a Chinaman with a Profile claiming he was based in Australia & if I would accept Chinese & next minute a bundle of enquiries including on overnight flights.

Government officials have much to be be answerable..

 It may be best to sit on answering the Potential Guest enquiries & send them a msg asking, "Why do you ask" in respect of using  your address for mail.

@Huma0started a really good topic on Mail, if you use Related Keywords in the Searchbox they should come up.

meanwhile it's time the Science Academics were held to account for screwing up World Peace & Harmony.

Since when did we give up our Sovereign Rights?

I keep up to date with UK happenings, as well as on the international arena & the senseless garbage that's bandied abt telling pple how to live their lives is toxic, a massive Power & Control imbalance.

 It's overdue some "Manned up" & stopped the disruptive toxicihty. 

[Helen427]

From memory @Helen0  it was a Gym operator in Manchester who took a case to Court & won to keep the Gym open.

Well done & good on him.

 One's overall Health & well being make up Public Health.

 I'm at a loss why Neil Ferguson / Robin Shattock "Whack a Mole" to get R1 are so fixated on the impossible & why the UK Gvt are listening to their "advice" esp with the Scaremongering   they instigated.

[Helen427]

@Helen0btw, we can see coverage what happened in Manchester overnight at the University.

Mental well being is vital for one's Health & good on the students for speaking up.

 I'm not sure why those operating & in charge of Universities are not doing more to approach Governments to address evolving issues that are arising in a sensible humane manner, however again it goes back to the initial pple who created the mess we find ourselves in & Scaremongering.

 You can always search the names of the universities / education facilities to see where they are. Ditto Guests names .

At a guess some of those students you are receiving enquiries from may be trying to escape their own countries using False documents, something ALL our Gvts should be concerned abt with their narrow minded AI / IT fixations.

[Cave0]

Certainly for residents of India, a visa is required to allow them to go abroad, and for this, the visa applicant will be required to provide information regarding where they will stay whilst abroad along with some evidence of a confirmed reservation.  So that is not unusual and whenever I've been asked to help with the visa application process, an email with the guests reservation details and the address of the accommodation has been sufficient.

Each time I have done this, the guest has always made the reservation before asking for the information required by the authorities.  You can't provide confirmed reservation information to the authorities if there's no reservation so I would suggest that if these guests are genuinely seeking assistance with obtaining a legitimate visa, they need to make the reservation first, assuming you're happy to help beyond that.

Being asked to provide a mailing address seems somewhat odd, one would have thought the visa would need to be posession of the guest, not mailed to a future destination.

[Helen3]

I live in a UK university city like you @Helen0  so can help answer your questions.

students and other tourists can use their booking confirmation to prove they have booked accommodation for visa purposes.

I don’t answer visa related questions, I don’t allow mail to be delivered to my address and if people want my listing they make a booking - if they want accommodation to be available they need to pay.

if they have visa questions let them speak to the university or embassy 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Helen0 

The 3yrs I did host, majority of my guests were international exchange students. While most guests seemed to handle visa issues/questions with the school and on their own, when I did get the occasional visa-related question, I just sent them links that would have relevant information. Of course, this was only for confirmed bookings. I would not waste time trying to answer any visa-related questions coming from a guest who doesn't even have a confirmed booking with me. 

Any guest with a confirmed booking would be allowed to use my address for visa purposes only. During the inquiry stage, I'd always ask what school/institute they will be attending while in Seoul. I am familiar with majority of the schools in the area that have an international exchange program, and I have plenty of friends and cousins and a sister who went abroad thru similar exchange programs so I have a pretty good idea of the process and am able to provide some insight, but in the end, getting a visa is their responsibility, not mine. As a host, I provide accommodations for a stay - one wouldn't expect a hotel or guesthouse to provide visa support or advice. 😀

[Helen3]

Great post @Jessica-and-Henry0 

[Shaun69]

Good advise @Jessica-and-Henry0