Family Visit

[davos09]

Hi guys,

First of all this forum has been a god send in securing visas for my wife and baby daughter which we were issued on Friday.

Now I'm trying to book tickets.

First we stated we would arrive in the UK on 07/10/09 and depart 21/10/09. I've found a flight that would arrive in the UK at 9pm on the 6th - 3 hours before the 7th! Would this be a problem?

Also, the visas are active already. They were issued to us on Friday 04/09/09 but were active for 6 months as of 02/09/09- obviously when they printed it. I thought it would become active on the departure date we stated? Is this normal?

Finally I have a NatWest Maestro bank card. So far, trying to find an airline/website to accept this is proving to be difficult. Can anyone recommend any maestro friendly agents/websites?

Thanks in advance

[Eff1n2ret]

The visas are ok for the dates of travel you propose. They could have post-dated them to start on the date you declared which would have been a problem if you arrived before the starting date - in all probability they would have been denied boarding by the airline.

[7by7]

Unless specifically requested otherwise in the application, visas start on the date of issue.

Just as well for you. If your wife arrived at UK immigration before the visa was valid then she could very well be refused entry, although doubtful if it's only a matter of hours. However, because of this risk the airline could refuse to carry her.

Wont be a problem, though, as the visa is already valid.

Sorry, I don't know of any Maestro friendly airlines or ticket agents.

[Mercury]

If a Thai company, then surely your missus has a Thai bank account and you could just use that or even an ATM.

Get out cash and change into Baht ?

Your Maestro card must be usable somewhere.

[davos09]

As per my first post, in my wife and daughter's application we stated we would be visiting for 2 weeks (07.10.09-21.10.09).

Are there any consequences if we stayed a maximum of three weeks? Would this be seen as an overstay? Or is overstay only staying longer than the expiry date on the visa?

The visas are active now and run until March.

I'm happy to just stay 2 weeks but I have more holiday than I was initially told by my school. It means I could stay in the UK for 18 days.

I'm in a position to purchase air tickets now so would like some advice please.

14 days or 18 days?

Thanks

[Eff1n2ret]

As per my first post, in my wife and daughter's application we stated we would be visiting for 2 weeks (07.10.09-21.10.09).

Are there any consequences if we stayed a maximum of three weeks? Would this be seen as an overstay? Or is overstay only staying longer than the expiry date on the visa?

The visas are active now and run until March.

3 weeks instead of 2? No consequences whatsoever.

Go for it.