Uk Holiday Visa Dilemma

[killblues]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me what the likely outcome would be if my g/f was to stay in the uk for longer than she stated on her application?

Her boss has very kindly told her that he will keep her job open for up to six months which is great BUT if she asks for a six month holiday the application will be rejected (which is what happened with her first application).

What would happen if she were to state in the app that she was only visiting for two weeks but then stay on in the uk longer as the visa would be valid for up to six months anyway?

Would this "upset" the embassy and jeapordise any future applications?

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[lor]

When she arrives in the UK she will be given a stamp in her passport saying when she has to leave the country. It will probably be for 6 months. If you ask in the UK about how long she can stay you will be told 6 months. They do not care what the embassy in Bangkok say! It is up to the entry clearance officer to decide how long to allow.

However, if your girlfriend ever requests another visitors visa from the British Embassy they will be very annoyed that (in their opinion) she overstayed and will make it as hard as possible to get another visa.

The exact same thing happened to me. When we tried to get another visa I was interogated at the embassy for over 1 hour. I had to keep repeating why she stayed the full 6 months in the UK. I kept giving the reasons and they said they understood but then asked the same questions again. In the end I blurted out "Look I'm sorry!" Suddenly there was all smiles and the officer said "That's all I wanted to hear" He then issued the new visa.

Chris

[7by7]

Almost right.

The person who checks passports, visas etc at a UK port of entry is an Immigration Officer. Unless they have evidence that the visa was obtained by deception or the holder's circumstances have significantly changed since it was issued they have no power to refuse entry to a visa holder or change the conditions, including the term, of the visa.

The Entry Clearance Officer is based at the embassy and is the person who issues the visa. This will normally valid for 6 months, unless the ECO has a strong reason to make it shorter. (This is currently under review.) This 6 months starts on the date the visa is issued, unless the applicant asks for it to be post dated, not the date the holder enters the UK.

As long as the holder leaves the UK on or before the expiry date then they will not be in breach of the immigration rules, no matter how long they said they meant to stay on the application. However, as Lor says, when/if she applies again she should explain why she stayed longer than she originally said.

[Eff1n2ret]

When she arrives in the UK she will be given a stamp in her passport saying when she has to leave the country. It will probably be for 6 months.

Not any more - the dates of the visit are endorsed on the visa when it's issued, and that's that - it nearly always says 6 months, whatever the length of visit requested.

If she stays for 6 months, they will look closely at the next application to ensure that she's not spending more time in the UK than in her own country, but if she's complied with the previous visit and they've no evidence that she broke any laws while she was in the UK, they haven't any real reason to refuse.

[snuggzzz]

I wonder why the Visa was refused before; the Visa, like any other is for a 6 month period. I would presume that the 'refused' Visa will throw up on records as to why it was refused, it is not a good idea to mislead about your g/f 's length of stay; make sure your application is correctly filled out with plenty of evidence of your relationship, length of time, photos etc., plus where she'll live, and most importantly, that she will not be dependent on Public funds.

To this end,it's best to show your bank statements showing adequate funds to support her, plus if she shows money in her account it will indicate that she has sufficient funds to return home.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

A lot of people stay longer than they applied for, the visa is valid for 6 months travel.

If you want a longer stay ask for it in the application.

[CharlieB]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me what the likely outcome would be if my g/f was to stay in the uk for longer than she stated on her application?

Her boss has very kindly told her that he will keep her job open for up to six months which is great BUT if she asks for a six month holiday the application will be rejected (which is what happened with her first application).

What would happen if she were to state in the app that she was only visiting for two weeks but then stay on in the uk longer as the visa would be valid for up to six months anyway?

Would this "upset" the embassy and jeapordise any future applications?

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Firstly, with the next application you will have to address the specific reason the first one was rejected. They don't give random reasons out, so you must give proof to overturn the reason for the rejection.

Secondly, as others have said, there is nothing to stop you staying longer than you initially say, but saying you are only going for 2 weeks and then staying 6 months isn't going to look very good on her record if she applies for more visas in the future.

Applying for a visit for the full 6 months is obviously not out of the question, but you'd have to have rock solid evidence to support all areas of the application and it would be les slikely to be given if it was a first visa.

If the reason for the first applications failure was asking for afull six month visit and you then ask for say a 3 week one, but stay the full 6 months, you are not really going to endear yourself to anyone at the embassy.

Edited July 24, 2009 by CharlieB

[killblues]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.

Carl.

[learningcurve]

2 years ago I assisted a friend in gaining his g/f's visitor visa to the UK. On the application form she stated she was going to the UK for a 1 month visit. She stayed the full 6 months. At the back end of last year she applied for another visitor visa, this time requesting a full 6 months. The ECO phoned her and asked how long she stayed on her first visit and she replied 6 months. The ECO said he would grant her a 6 month visitor visa but this would be the last time she would be allowed a visitor visa, that if she applied again she would need to apply for a settlement visa.

[gregchambers]

Bear in mind that things have changed a bit and the immigration guy at UK airports now has access to how long she would have asked for when applying and will expect her return ticket to match that data. Not a huge problem if you buy a changeable six month return ticket and change it later.

I got my Thai girfriend a VV every year for five years with no hassle and always stayed longer than what we asked for - 2-3 months instead of 3-4 weeks and also did a second visit on one visa in the last two years, though only for 4-5 weeks. Last time was two years ago and it was never questioned though I suspect if we had applied for a settlement visa later they might have looked at things more closely and complained about it - but not a problem as I had no intention of getting married.

[7by7]

A standard visit visa is valid for 6 months and is multi entry.

This means that the holder can stay up to 6 months on one visit, or even leave the UK during the life of the visa and re-enter later; provided the visa is still valid, of course.

Doing so would not put them in breach of the terms of the visa nor the immigration rules; no matter how long they said they would be staying in their initial application.

ECOs make their decisions on the balance of probabilities and so, among other things, have to have faith in the applicant's credibility. If someone says in their application that they intend to stay for 1 month but then stay for the full 6 this may put their credibility in doubt should they apply again. However, people's circumstances and intentions do change; hence my earlier advice that to avoid possible questions and delay in this situation one should explain why one stayed longer than initially stated.

Having said that; any ECO who refused an application solely because the applicant previously stayed in the UK longer than they originally intended would be on very dodgy ground. Whilst reference may be made to previous applications, at the end of the day each application should be treated on it's own merits. The circumstances of any previous application would only be relevant if inconsistencies led the ECO to suspect that the applicant was being less than truthful in that application or this.

Telling an applicant "he would grant her a 6 month visitor visa but this would be the last time she would be allowed a visitor visa, that if she applied again she would need to apply for a settlement visa." as reported by learningcurve is just not on! The girl had not broken any rule, so the ECO had no grounds for telling her this. It is not up to the ECO to tell someone what visa to apply for; one should apply for the visa suited to one's purpose and if that purpose is to visit then a settlement visa is obviously the wrong one!

I know I sometimes come across as some sort of defender of ECOs, but when they are wrong I will say so. This ECO was wrong!

Finally, there is no requirement under the immigration rules for a visitor to the UK to have a return or onward ticket; though if unable to produce one when asked by an Immigration Officer they may be questioned as to their intentions and be asked to show that they have the funds to purchase one. If unable to satisfy the IO, worst case scenario is they may be refused entry.

If they have a 6 month return, but stated on their application that they would only be staying for 1 month; this would not be grounds for an IO to refuse entry.

But, due to the sanctions placed upon airlines who carry passengers who are refused entry at the other end (by most countries, not just the UK) it is unlikely that an airline would agree to carry a visit visa holder who did not have a return or onward ticket.

Sorry to have gone on for so long, I hope this is of interest to some. But I should say all the above is my opinion; if in doubt qualified advice should be sought.

[Ihopeso]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me what the likely outcome would be if my g/f was to stay in the uk for longer than she stated on her application?

Her boss has very kindly told her that he will keep her job open for up to six months which is great BUT if she asks for a six month holiday the application will be rejected (which is what happened with her first application).

What would happen if she were to state in the app that she was only visiting for two weeks but then stay on in the uk longer as the visa would be valid for up to six months anyway?

Would this "upset" the embassy and jeapordise any future applications?

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

You must remember..she is breaking the UK law by working on a holiday 6 month visa..

This alone would negate any further visas if found out by the authorities

[Will27]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me what the likely outcome would be if my g/f was to stay in the uk for longer than she stated on her application?

Her boss has very kindly told her that he will keep her job open for up to six months which is great BUT if she asks for a six month holiday the application will be rejected (which is what happened with her first application).

What would happen if she were to state in the app that she was only visiting for two weeks but then stay on in the uk longer as the visa would be valid for up to six months anyway?

Would this "upset" the embassy and jeapordise any future applications?

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

You must remember..she is breaking the UK law by working on a holiday 6 month visa..

This alone would negate any further visas if found out by the authorities

You would assume he's talking about her

job in Thailand!

Regards

Will