Visit visa only 6 months in any 12 month period restrictio

[InUkOnHsmp]

Hi Forum,

I was of the opinion that though you could get a visit visa for the UK, for 6 months, 1 year and 2 years, the underlying rule was that a person on a visit visa cannot stay in the UK for more than 6 months, in any 12 month period.

Now I am sure I read this somewhere on the forum, but now cannot find any link on the UKBA website supporting this rule.

Can senior members please clarify and if possible point me to the right page?

Regards

[geriatrix]

How long can I stay in the UK as a visitor?


regards

[InUkOnHsmp]

Thanks a lot for your response sushdmehta.

A friend of mine told me this is just a guideline and his parents have been coming over around 9 months in a year. There is no mention of this rule on any of the UK BA pages, so I was wondering if this restriction has been withdrawn.

Anyways, now I can take an informed decision.

Other members of the forum, any comments or first hand experiences?

[Mr Rusty]

Thanks a lot for your response sushdmehta.

A friend of mine told me this is just a guideline and his parents have been coming over around 9 months in a year.
Other members of the forum, any comments or first hand experiences?

Said parents are taking a risk either of being arrested as overstayers (perhaps a small risk depending on their the circumstances), or of being questioned on their departure from the UK and being obliged to fess up to the duration of their "visit". Either scenario could lead to the cancellation of their visas, and no more visits to the UK.

[InUkOnHsmp]

Hi Mr Rusty,

Thanks for your response.

So it looks like hes been lucky, and its clearly against the law to visit more than 6 months in any 12 month period, no matter how many visits you split this duration in.

Thanks for your input, I think I would rather not get on the wrong side of the law.

Regards

[INSIDER]

Thanks a lot for your response sushdmehta.

A friend of mine told me this is just a guideline and his parents have been coming over around 9 months in a year.
Other members of the forum, any comments or first hand experiences?

Said parents are taking a risk either of being arrested as overstayers (perhaps a small risk depending on their the circumstances), or of being questioned on their departure from the UK and being obliged to fess up to the duration of their "visit". Either scenario could lead to the cancellation of their visas, and no more visits to the UK.

They would only be overstayers if they spent more than 6 months during a single visit.If they split the visits up then technically they would not be in breach of their conditions. I think this is what the poster meant.

Yes the six in twelve rule is actually only a guideline. In my experience It all depends on individaul circumstances as to whether it is enforced or not.

Elderly retired parents spending more than six in twelve would probbaly not have much of a problem but a young person staying with a boy/girlfriend might have.

[InUkOnHsmp]

Thanks INSIDER.

Thats what I heard too, that if you apply for a new 6 months visa, its ok to not follow the 6 months in any 12 months guideline.

After all, you do mention in the form that you have been to the UK in the last 12 months, and there are stamps on your passport too. So in light of this if you still get the visa, indicates that they do not see a problem with this.

Still in two minds as to what to do in my case though, my visitors fall under the category of "elderly retired parents".

[MPH80]

The risk is that if they do get found and have their visa cancelled - it can be very hard to ever get another visitor visa as the ECOs will always see the cancellation and think they are just trying to repeat the circumstances. You'll have to produce some very solid "we are definately returning" evidence and start with very short visits (2-3 weeks/a month or two).

Personally - I don't think it's worth the risk.

M.

[InUkOnHsmp]

Thanks for the input MPH80.

The real issue is I cannot find any official rule on this on the UKBA site. Now surely if this is just a guideline, they cannot cancel someone's visa based on it!

[MPH80]

They can cancel the visa if they feel the person is using the visa for a purpose other than which it was intended.

Therefore the guideline is that a geuine visitor wouldn't stay more than 6 months in 12.

So - if the ECO feels that the person isn't visiting, but is in fact settled here - they can cancel the visa. They'll use the guideline as part of this decision. It won't be the only factor, but it'll be a big part.

Hence how a guideline can translate into a cancellation.

M.