Change Of Sponsor For Uk Visitor Visa?

[222patrick222]

My friend of over 2 years has a UK visitor visa but she no longer has a friendship with the sponsor.

Can I be the new sponsor without having to start the whole process again?

Sorry I may have posted in the wrong section - spot the newbie - sorry.

Edited January 28, 2009 by ubonjoe
Ubonjoe edited title to include country

[Lite Beer]

My friend of over 2 years has a visitor visa but she no longer has a friendship with the sponsor.

Can I be the new sponsor without having to start the whole process again?

Are you talking about a Thai Visa or another country?

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here

After OP edited post.

[CharlieB]

My friend of over 2 years has a UK visitor visa but she no longer has a friendship with the sponsor.

Can I be the new sponsor without having to start the whole process again?

Sorry I may have posted in the wrong section - spot the newbie - sorry.

You need to provide a bit more information, length of visa, length of stay so far etc. If it's a normal 6 month visa and she is in the middle of her stay then there is no need to re-apply as she would have to leave the country and return to Thailand to do it. She does have to abide by the rules and leave within the timespan of the visa, or any future visa applications will probably be harder to get.

[7by7]

If she is currently in the UK with a valid visit visa then she can remain until it expires.

If she has not yet travelled to the UK (or has returned home and wishes to enter the UK again while the visa is still valid) it may be different.

If in her application she said the purpose of the visit was to visit her sponsor, then as she is no longer friends with that sponsor she no longer has this reason to visit and so the visa is no longer valid. If this was discovered by the immigration officer when she arrives then she would probably be refused entry!

I think that is the situation, but you should check to be sure.

[mariner29]

Well is she now staying with you ?

[222patrick222]

Thanks for all the replies.

My situation may be useful for other people struggling to stay clear of the many ambuguities of the uk visa system.

To re-cap.

My g/f had a 6 month visitor visa and an existing sponsor.

The existing sponsor and my g/f are no longer talking to each other so,

I emailed the UK embassy in Bangkok to ask if I could be the new sponsor using her existing 6 month visa.

After many emails to the embassy in Bangkok and a 1 hour phone call to them (VFS) in an attempt to get a reply, the answer came back that she can travel on her existing arrangements.

It was rather confusing since we did not know what procedure to follow - ie, cancel the existing visa and apply for a new one with me as the new sponsor or go ahead and travel using the existing arrangements and risk being turned away at the immigration control.

Just a thought - It seems to me that UK Immigration Control have limited intelligence when checking sponsor details against visas at UK airports? I only wanted to do the right thing but it was hard work getting an answer from the UK embassy. Perhaps they had not had this situation before (I doubt it) or perhaps they didn't really know the answer themselves.

In the end I sent absolutely no documents as evidence about who I am or my personal circumstances although I did offer to send copies of my bank statements amd house deeds etc if they wanted to see them - I also offered to go to the embassy in Bangkok in person.

I am pleased to say that she has safely arrived in the UK and apart from the normal 20 questions a Thai girl can be expected to answer at UK immigration control all is fine.

Shame about the snow in England at the moment - my heating bills are about to go through the roof!

Thanks to all again.