visitor visa question

[UK_BR5]

Dear all,

my father has a visitor visa that will expire on 02/10/2009.
he is planning to come on 19/09/2009 and for a period of 1 month.
will that be ok ? or does he need to leave on the expiry date of his visa ?

[Mr Rusty]

He must leave by the date the visa expires.

[UK_BR5]

He must leave by the date the visa expires.

thank you very much for your reply Mr.Rusty.

i always thought that expiry date of the visa only matters when you are attempting to enter the country , i was under the impression that even if your visa will end tomorrow you can enter the country today and stay up to six months as a visitor.

i will really appreciate it if you can guide me to any official documentation on HO website or so explaining this issue.

[Mr Rusty]

What you describe is the system as it used to be - the visa authorised the holder to travel to the UK within a certain period, and it was the Immigration Officer who granted leave to enter for the appropriate period and purpose, starting from the date of arrival.
However, all that was changed by legislation about 10 years ago. The visa itself is now "Leave to Enter", valid only for the dates shown on the visa. The only function the Immigration Officer now performs when a passenger holding a visa arrives in the UK is to check that the documentation is correct, and date-stamp the arrival. If he has some reason to believe that there has been a change of circumstances or deception employed to get the visa, he has the power to make enquiries and cancel the visa, but he can't extend it.
The enabling legislation was the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999.

Of course, non-visa nationals can be granted 6 months as a visitor by the Immigration Officer on each arrival. But if your father travels on a visa granted by an Entry Clearance post abroad, my comments are as above. People sometimes confuse "visa" with "entry stamp"

[vinny]

If he has some reason to believe that there has been a change of circumstances or deception employed to get the visa, he has the power to make enquiries and cancel the visa, but he can't extend it.

It seems that an Immigration Officer can extend leave (31A), but is not obliged to do so.