UK Visitor Visa

[BabyButton]

Hi everyone

I am hoping somebody on here can give me some advice as I think I may have made a bit of an error.

I am a British Citizen and my partner is Thai. We have been living in Thailand for the past 3 years together. Summer of 2013 he was granted a tourist visa and we stayed for just short of 4 months together in England, and returned back to Thailand.

No problems with that visa.

I left Thailand at the end of November and am currently back in the UK as we are expecting our first child in two weeks. My partner is due to fly in next week on a second tourist visa for around 4/5 weeks to ensure he will be here for the birth. The visa was pretty straight forward to obtain and like the past one we haven't had any problems.

On the visa application he has stated he will stay 4 or 5 weeks and has a letter from his employer to grant this leave. Whilst in the UK he will stay with me at my parents and they have acted as sponsors also.

I have booked his return flight as 22nd March and NOT 22nd February, I now cannot cancel or change that booking, without losing all the money.

This means his 4/5 weeks is more like 9 weeks. When he arrives at Heathrow do you think this will be a problem when he shows them his return ticket, or would you suggest I just book another for the correct date in February?

I cannot believe I have done that! I'm driving myself crazy at the thought he may encounter problems at the border and within only one week before our son is due to be born we will be left with no other real option.

Thank you for any suggestions!!

[7by7]

Firstly, there is no requirement for him to show immigration his return ticket; unless they ask him to.

But it is unlikely that they will do so unless they have reason to think his circumstances have significantly changed since the visa was issued such that the reason for issuing the visa is no longer valid.

As the reason for his visit is to be with you for the birth of your child, his reason for the visit hasn't changed.

Immigration will have access to what he said in his application, so if he is asked to show his return ticket and then is asked about the date difference then an explanation of the error in booking the ticket should suffice. It may help if he has your phone number on him so immigration can phone you for confirmation if required.

But I think any of that is unlikely, especially as he has visited the UK before and, presumably, complied with the conditions of his visa on that occasion. Most visitors simply show their passport and visa, if one is required, and simply get stamped in.

His visa is valid for 6 months (unless he ECO had a good reason for limiting the validity) so staying longer than originally stated is not a breach of his visa conditions.

However, in any future application he should explain why he stayed longer than stated in his application this time and how he was able to do so; especially as he will be away from work for about twice the leave his employer has granted him.

Edited January 9, 2014 by 7by7

[BabyButton]

Thank you so much for your reply!

That makes me feel much better, as spending more money on another ticket would have been quite annoying.

He has already informed his employer of the error and seen as it is also a good friend of ours it isnt a problem that he stays a few extra weeks and that will all be accounted for next time he makes a visa application.

Thank you again!!

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