Extending stay period for my Mom's visitor visa

[irfan khan]

Hi folks,


My Mom has came to UK on 6 months visitor visa last year on 20 Dec,2019. In the application the time period we mentioned was from 20 Dec, 2019 to 3 Feb ,2020. However now my mom is planning is to stay a bit longer till 22nd of Feb (the visa will be still valid).

In order to make sure that the above stay extension will have an no negative impact on the future application , can you please advise what action to take? Is there any email where i can inform Home office about the change in plan?

Early reply will be highly appreciated.

Regards
Irfan

[secret.simon]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

[irfan khan]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

[iwolga]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

The law prohibits the abuse of visits visas. Basically, if someone is seen as staying too long as it is almost living in UK, this someone is considered to be not a genuine visitor.

I don’t think there’s an email or procedure to inform that your mum is going to be staying longer. At this point of time they care that she leaves within validity of her visa. I’m sure if you get a reply from HO it will be about this.

However, there’s an increased risk of future applications should your mum not leave within time suggested in visa application. If these are 2-3 days, no one cares. But you are thinking of increasing her stay by - what - 80%?

[AmazonianX]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

Your mom still has a valid visa which will still be even at the time she departs UK. She is staying beyond the number of days she filled in the application form (or landing card) but her stay not exceeding validity of her visa.
She is still perfectly within her visa conditions and no requirement to inform HO.

[AmazonianX]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

Your mom still has a valid visa which will still be even at the time she departs UK. She is staying beyond the number of days she filled in the application form (or landing card) but her stay not exceeding validity of her visa.
She is still perfectly within her visa conditions and no requirement to inform HO.

It is after a short while of her departure and she attempts coming back to UK, apply for another visit visa and end up staying longer in UK than her home country it becomes staying in UK under guise of visit.

[irfan khan]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

The law prohibits the abuse of visits visas. Basically, if someone is seen as staying too long as it is almost living in UK, this someone is considered to be not a genuine visitor.

I don’t think there’s an email or procedure to inform that your mum is going to be staying longer. At this point of time they care that she leaves within validity of her visa. I’m sure if you get a reply from HO it will be about this.

However, there’s an increased risk of future applications should your mum not leave within time suggested in visa application. If these are 2-3 days, no one cares. But you are thinking of increasing her stay by - what - 80%?

Thanks for reply. She will be staying 19-20 days more than original 45 days stated which is just around 40%. I am still not sure how it can be seen as abuse of visits visa. I agree if she was staying for 3 months or more that could have raised an alarm but I personally doubt that 20 days will be an issue. Do you know any cases where the subsequent application has been refused just because someone has stayed 2-3 week more than originally planned.

[iwolga]

Why does she wish to extend her stay?

Keep in mind that any future application will likely see this as her being economical with the truth at the time of application and therefore may increase the chances of a subsequent refusal.

Also, the Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa. The ECO in subsequent visa applications may judge that she did precisely that.

So the reason is quite important.

Thanks for the prompt reply. She want to spend some more time with her newly born grandchild. And we want to inform home office in advance about the intentions . Although I am not sure which email address to send email to.
Regarding your last statement "The Immigration Rules explicitly forbid residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa", I am not sure if i properly understand it. She has a valid visit visa (validity : May, 2020) and she just want to stay few more days than originally planned.

Regards

The law prohibits the abuse of visits visas. Basically, if someone is seen as staying too long as it is almost living in UK, this someone is considered to be not a genuine visitor.

I don’t think there’s an email or procedure to inform that your mum is going to be staying longer. At this point of time they care that she leaves within validity of her visa. I’m sure if you get a reply from HO it will be about this.

However, there’s an increased risk of future applications should your mum not leave within time suggested in visa application. If these are 2-3 days, no one cares. But you are thinking of increasing her stay by - what - 80%?

Thanks for reply. She will be staying 19-20 days more than original 45 days stated which is just around 40%. I am still not sure how it can be seen as abuse of visits visa. I agree if she was staying for 3 months or more that could have raised an alarm but I personally doubt that 20 days will be an issue. Do you know any cases where the subsequent application has been refused just because someone has stayed 2-3 week more than originally planned.

Not really, no. But what I do know from this forum, that some of the subsequent applications were refused based on “you are not a genuine visitor” argument.

The whole application process doesn’t seem to be an exact science, so it’s hard to advise. The conclusion on applicant case is done on “balance of probabilities”. If for the rest your mum have a strong position (ie good bank balance/proof of ties to home country), maybe it’s worth the risk.

What I would do (and did with my mum), is to leave on time and then travel once again back for 2-3 weeks within the validity of visa. But, well, my mum lives closer to me.

I personally think that you are right and this is far from general sense. But, unfortunately, there are so many cases of people abusing the system that genuine visitors are scrutinized and penalized for that

[THO]

If you have a valid visa, I am fairly certain that as long as you leave before it expires, no one will take a blind bit of notice. How could future applications be affected because you obeyed the visa?

People's travel plans can change and wanting to stay longer to be with a grandchild is a perfectly reasonable reason.

Maybe you could / should ask an immigration solicitor for a quick piece of advice, rather than rely on unqualified people (like myself) and their (like mine) opinion? Phone a few, I am sure you would be able to get the answer.

[iwolga]

If you have a valid visa, I am fairly certain that as long as you leave before it expires, no one will take a blind bit of notice. How could future applications be affected because you obeyed the visa?

People's travel plans can change and wanting to stay longer to be with a grandchild is a perfectly reasonable reason.

Maybe you could / should ask an immigration solicitor for a quick piece of advice, rather than rely on unqualified people (like myself) and their (like mine) opinion? Phone a few, I am sure you would be able to get the answer.

Far from being a qualified solicitor myself, I totally agree with you: plans change. As long as this is within the validity of visa and not significantly over initial dates, there shall be no problems with current visit. I also believe there shall be no problems with further applications unless something else isn't right (ie no savings for the applicant, no property to show etc).

My point was, no one can really tell when this devious "balance of probabilities" turns into a "no" decision. There are a few stories here when nothing appeared to have changed, parents were leaving on time but subsequent visas were still refused.

I also doubt any of the immigration lawyers will take the responsibility to advise something concrete on the consequences. Most of them are going to say "it shouldn't be a problem" or "in light of the info available to myself".

If that would be very important to me, I would probably take a risk adding 1-2 weeks. I doubt it'll be seen as a problem.