180 days in a calendar year?

[BabyButton]

Hi

I am sure this has been answered somewhere before but I just cannot seem to find the information, so if someone could either answer or point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

For a UK visitor visa is the visitor allowed only 180 days in a calendar year or is that 180 days from the date they very first entered the UK?

Many thanks and sorry for asking something you have all probably been asked and answered before!

[theoldgit]

The clock ticks when the visa holder enters the country, bare in mind that the visa is valid from the date of issue, unless you ask for the visa to be post dated and the applicant has to leave the UK on or before the expiry date of the visa.

[BabyButton]

Thanks very much!! I thought that was probably the case! Since he arrived in the UK on May 8th 2013 and stayed for 110 days and has just recently returned back to the UK for a second visit I wanted to be sure he only had maximum of 70 days left and not a full 180 days again since it is now a new year.

Thanks

[theoldgit]

What was the length of the visa?

[BabyButton]

Both times they have been 6 months visa.

This current one expires on May 1st but if he was to stay until then he would have been in the UK for than 180 days in the year.

[theoldgit]

Are you saying that this is a second visa?

The six months in twelve months rule is a convention rather than a hard and fast rule, the Immigration Officer at the UK Border will need to be satisfied that the traveller isn't using successive visas to live in the UK.

[Basil B]

6 months, 180 or 183 days, this is a grey area, as TOG says it is a convention rather than rule.

8/5/13 + 110 = 26/8/13

in theory If the person was to return 26/2/14 then they would not exceed 6 months in the UK until 28/8/13, but it does depend on the IO and how they interpret 6 months out of 12

[BabyButton]

Okay thanks for the info!

He left on 26/08/2013 like you said and he then returned on 16/02/2014 so I believed he had to leave before he stayed another 70 days. If this depends on the IO and how they see it then I guess he would be best to leave just incase he encounters any problems.

[Basil B]

Okay thanks for the info!

He left on 26/08/2013 like you said and he then returned on 16/02/2014 so I believed he had to leave before he stayed another 70 days. If this depends on the IO and how they see it then I guess he would be best to leave just incase he encounters any problems.

If he returns on the 16/2/14 and is "landed" into the UK then technically he can stay until his visa expires as long as it does not exceed 6 months.

But he may have problems at port of entry and refused entry if they suspect he intends not to leave before the end of April, and or have difficulty getting another, all for ten days.

[Jay Sata]

If this starts to become a regular pattern you could face problems with his visa application in the future.