UK visit visa when applicant has Right of Abode in the UK

[Tony M]

Further to my Pinned post above of  November 2, 2014 .

 

UKVI have just issued updated guidance to ECOs on visit visa applications, and the matter of applicants who have the Right of Abode in the UK is specifically dealt with. The guidance states :

 

Persons who British citizens or who have right of abode

A person who is a British citizen, or who has right of abode in the UK cannot be given leave to enter or remain under the Immigration Rules. This is because under section 1(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 a person with right of abode is not subject to immigration control.

 

If a person who has right of abode applies for a visit visa and you are satisfied that they have right of abode, they should be advised that their application cannot be considered, the application will lapse, and that they may want to apply for a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode or a British passport instead. The application fee will not be refunded.

If you believe the person may have right of abode in the UK, but they cannot establish their claim, you can issue a visit visa provided the applicant meets the Immigration Rules, and provided you are satisfied that they have made genuine and reasonable attempts to obtain the relevant documents. Where you are not satisfied that they meet the Rules, they can be refused a visa in line with the Rules (for example, that they are not a genuine visitor).

 

There are other minor changes in the new guidance, including :

 

Example of when an applicant may be considered to have few or no ties to their home country  (see page 12 of the guidance attached). 

 

There is often discussion in the forum, and in other forums, of the now defunct "6 months in 12 months" rule.  There is no such rule, and the guidance may be useful. It hasn't been updated,as the "rule" ended some time ago, and this has been the guidance to ECOs for some time (my bold emphasis below) :

 

You should look at:

 

• the purpose of the visit and intended length of stay stated
•  the number of visits made over the past 12 months, including the length of stay on each occasion, the time elapsed since the last visit, and if this amounts to the individual spending more time in the UK than in their home country
•  the purpose of return trips to the visitor’s home country and if this is used only to seek re-entry to the UK
•  the links they have with their home country - consider especially any long term commitments and where the applicant is registered for tax purposes
•  evidence the UK is their main place of residence, for example
•  if they have registered with a general practitioner (GP)
•  send their children to UK schools

       • the history of previous applications, for example if the visitor has previously been refused under the family rules and subsequently wants to enter as a visitor you must assess if they are using                  the visitor route to avoid the rules in place for family migrants joining British or settled persons in the UK

        There is no specified maximum period which an individual can spend in the UK in any period such as ‘6 months in 12 months’. However, if it is clear from an individual’s travel history that they are         making the UK their home you should refuse their application.

 

The guidance , in full, is here :

 

Visitors-v5_0.pdf

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2017 by Tony M

[7by7]

Thanks for the update, Tony.

 

 

[theoldgit]

Thanks for the update Tony, as always I'm very grateful.

 

Following the suggestion of 7by7, I've included  your updated information in your original pinned topic.

 

Thanks again

[globalThailand]

That is interesting, thanks for the update.   I had some hassle a year or so back on our first UK visit with my son.  We booked the tickets way in advance but when I started looking into getting him a passport, 3 months before travel date, I realised immediately that I'd left it too late to get his UK passport sorted.  It was at least an 8 week wait when applying overseas, a lot of my important docs (my long form birth certificate) were all in the UK, and I knew no other UK citizen in Thailand that could countersign the photos.  We ended up traveling on his Thai passport with a visa and sorting the UK passport out while in the UK.  I certainly wouldn't recommend doing it that way.  I did have some advice from the online UKVI 'help center' that said he could travel on his Thai passport - pretty sure that advice was not right though given the above.

 

The thing I'd like to know though is how could this be 'policed'?  At border control if presented with a valid visa and passport (from a foreign country), how can they then know the person entering the UK actually technically has right of abode / citizenship?

 

[7by7]

3 hours ago, globalThailand said:

The thing I'd like to know though is how could this be 'policed'?  At border control if presented with a valid visa and passport (from a foreign country), how can they then know the person entering the UK actually technically has right of abode / citizenship?

 

 

I think the simple answer is that they can't; unless the person applying for the visa or seeking entry at a UK port tells them!

 

For example, when applying for the visa they supply supporting documents which indicates that they are a British citizen or do have the right of abode.