How Many Times Can You Apply For A UK Visitors Visa

[vulcan903]

Reading the UK immigration web site regarding visitors visa it points out that visitors visa cannot be used successive times to keep returning to the UK.

So, if I and my TGF are happy to just be BF and GF for a few years can she come to the UK to stay with me every year for 4-6 months or will the UKBA likley to reject a VV?

She was over this summer and the plan is to apply again after 6 months expiry of her current visit visa to return next summer. Are there other options or am I reading the web site wrong?

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[theoldgit]

The biggest problem your girlfriend is going to face is convincing an ECO that she is a genuine visitor and is not using a visit visa to spend extended periods in The UK.

The more often she asks for a visit visa for the UK the more difficult it will be to prove reasons to return to Thailand, employment, business commitments etc.

All that said, there is nothing against Immigration Rules in what you are saying though she will need to convince the ECO of her reasons for visiting the UK over a prolonged period.

She will also need to bare in mind the convention that a visitor shouldn't normally spend more than six in every twelve months in the UK as a visitor.

[bobrussell]

My wife (gf then) travelled back and forth over a number of years, generally spending 3-4 months at a time then returning home. We have a house out there and our daughter was in an independent school near Bangkok.

I have to admit we were in blissful ignorance of this 'convention' but were open that this was a long-term relationship. We emphasised that her primary base was Thailand because of family etc.

Applications were never questioned! I suspect the key thing is to provide evidence that on balance home is Thailand and visits are frequent but just that - visits. We always found the ECO's perfectly reasonable!