Applying 4 Weeks Uk Tourist Visa . Can She Stay 4 Months ?

[bruce2013]

Hi

I am applying for a 4 week uk tourist visa for my thai girlfriend , we have all the evidence and letters from employers etc.

I've been told that all uk tourist visa's are granted for 6 months , we are only applying for 4 weeks. So if we change our plans when she is here and she stays in the UK for 4 months, she is overstaying what we applied for but not what we have been granted.

Will this jeopardise future Uk tourist visa applications for her ?

cheers

bruce

[theoldgit]

First of all, and not wishing to sound pernickity, you are not applying for your girlfriends visa, she is, it's her that has to convince an ECO that the proposed visit is genuine, affordable and, on the balance of probabilities, she will leave the UK as originally stated.

You say that she has all the evidence, including a letter from her employer I assume stating that she is in employment and that her job is being kept open for her. I also assume that the letter indicates that she has leave for her four week trip, not four months which would be unusual.

You are right in what you have been told the visas are normally given for a six month period and will be multi entry, and she wouldn't be breaking any Immigration Laws if there was a genuine change of plans and she needed to extend her stay.

You will probably be aware that a visa doesn't give the holder automatic entry into the UK, the IO at the UK Border will still need to be satisfied that the visit is genuine and that the holder will leave the UK within the length of the visa. The IO could well ask for sight of return tickets, though she is not required to hold them when entering, she could also be asked for the reason and duration of the trip and even her ties in Thailand, if the IO believed there was a material change since the visa was applied for, or indeed the visa was obtained fraudulently, ie say she was returning to work in four weeks when she had no intention of doing so, then entry could be refused, the IO has the facility to pull up the original application. I have to say that this is a worst case scenario, but it could happen, chances are it wouldn't.

The other thing that concerns you is the possibility of extending her stay by three months might affect a future application, the short answer is yes it could. In this application your girlfriend will be supplying evidence that she is in employment and that her employer is allowing her a four week leave of absence, her holiday then extends to four months, this could well make an employers letter in a future application less credible, but she could well be ok. She would need to explain when applying for a visa for a four week trip why she needed to extend by three months.

She might well have no problem being admitted into the UK or in any future application, but she well might.

[maprao]

If she wanted 4 months then state that on the application never try and pull a fast one. I have done 3 successful ones each and every time i have been open. She never stayed longer than we stated on the application. When i say I I mean i have helped my wife's sister apply for her visa.

Edited March 10, 2013 by maprao