Slowly becoming more and more frustrated with SFE. Initially they wanted proof that I temporarily studied abroad for a year, which I had no problem providing. At the time I didn't realise it would become such a large issue. I waited 6 weeks only for the exact same request for evidence to be sent again. I uploaded this again with an updated cover letter and now after another 6 weeks I have been sent another request for different evidence! To make it clear, initially they wanted proof of my temporary study visas, accommodation abroad, and letter from my uni abroad that I am allowed to study there. They also wanted UK bank statements that show I maintained a connection to the UK. This is all straightforward stuff that makes sense to confirm I was abroad temporarily. However after providing all of this, they now want extra evidence such as proof that my family house in the UK is owned by my family?! And proof that said properties are being upkept?! Like what on earth. I have undergone security processing and criminal background checks for jobs that accepted all the evidence I provided to SFE the first time around, as well as applied to and been accepted for bank accounts and credit using aforementioned evidence, but apparently the SFE needs more.
During all this time, the customer service has been of no help, providing me with misinformation almost every time I call. Initially they said I can ignore the second request for evidence. Then a few days later when I rang to double check that I can ignore it, they said I need to upload evidence again because the first round of evidence was rejected due to it not being in English. This is however completely incorrect, and the only part of evidence that was not in English was the >name< of the company that provided my accommodation abroad. Finally the customer support person told me that in reality they can't actually do much because they aren't connected to the people who assess the applications, and I should try and plea my case through a cover letter which is then uploaded as evidence so that the assessors can actually read it. This is ridiculous, customer service should be there to help with very issues such as this, not just read over the same information I got in an email from SFE. All at the same time I have my university asking me to pay instalments for my tuition fee, which should have been agreed and covered by SFE by now. Albeit my university have been much more understanding and nice about the situation.