Good evening,

 

My girlfriend is in the UK on a 6 month visitor visa. She entered the UK 2 weeks after the visa start date, and mistakenly thought that the 6 months would start from the entry date. So her flight is booked for 13 days after the visa expiry date. The only solid information on government sites I can find is that overstays over 90 days will be given a ban on future visas. There doesn't seem to be any information on repercussions for small overstays. I know we should probably fork out and change the flight, but it would be a shame to do so and then find out that border staff just wave this kind of thing through. Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

Thanks.

We managed to get dates mixed up in February and when I realised a mistake was about to be made we changed the flight. I wasn't willing to take a risk on our future knowing they can ban for an overstay. She stayed exactly 180 days across two different visit visas and we'd made the decision to get married so she went back for three weeks armed with the paperwork for a Settlement visa. She got the visa and came straight back and she is now here on her first 30 month FLR.

 

How long did you originally request for your GF's visit? If it wasn't the full six months you need to explain the reasons for staying longer in her next visa application.  

Whilst she will be classed as an overstayer, and thus in the UK illegally, it's unlikely that she would be subject to sanctions.

Regarding your point about an overstay in excess of 90 days, it's not an automatic ban it depends on the individual circumstances, including did the person leave voluntary or were they deported.  

Whilst there are no longer any embarkation controls details of passengers departures are collected by carriers and passed onto to the UKBA, so the overstay will be recorded.

Your wife should certainly declare the fact, and the reasons for the overstay in any future application.