OVERSTAYED 180 DAYS IN IN 12 MONTHS RULE IN UK

[ozii]

mum has a 2 years visitors visa valid till 09-2012. her first entry to UK on the visa sept. 2010 was 178 days afterwhich she left and tried coming back after 3 weeks. to be honest we did not know about 180 days in 12 months until she got to UK border. she was almost refused entry but after series of investigations and questioning, she was granted entry with 'W' written on the stamp. I dont know what that means but my question now is, having made aware to us by border control officer of the fact that she has spent 6 months already and should have waited for another 6 months before coming back, but yet granted her entry, how long she is allowed or expected to stay? the border control officer when asked said she should use her disgression. Please any such experience and advice will be most appreciated.

[joh118]

mum has a 2 years visitors visa valid till 09-2012. her first entry to UK on the visa sept. 2010 was 178 days afterwhich she left and tried coming back after 3 weeks. to be honest we did not know about 180 days in 12 months until she got to UK border. she was almost refused entry but after series of investigations and questioning, she was granted entry with 'W' written on the stamp. I dont know what that means but my question now is, having made aware to us by border control officer of the fact that she has spent 6 months already and should have waited for another 6 months before coming back, but yet granted her entry, how long she is allowed or expected to stay? the border control officer when asked said she should use her disgression. Please any such experience and advice will be most appreciated.

Getting a 'W' is not good. It is a Warning. Her passport has been signalled so in the future she should expect very heavy scrutiny and questioning and she should have a very good damn reason for visitng the UK.

Normally a warning stamp indicates that the traveler was ineligible for entry, but was allowed to enter by the Immigration Officer due to lack of evidenct etc... I would recommend her to get entry clearance as a visitor in her home country in the future even though she may have a passport that does not require a visa to visit the UK.

[Mr Rusty]

Getting a 'W' is not good. It is a Warning. Her passport has been signalled so in the future she should expect very heavy scrutiny and questioning and she should have a very good damn reason for visitng the UK.

Normally a warning stamp indicates that the traveler was ineligible for entry, but was allowed to enter by the Immigration Officer due to lack of evidenct etc... I would recommend her to get entry clearance as a visitor in her home country in the future even though she may have a passport that does not require a visa to visit the UK.

The 'W' is a warning, but it shows to IO's who interview her in the future that she has been told what the score is, so she can't say next time that she didn't know. Clearly the IO this time decided to err on the side of leniency as presumably the lady is of an older generation and did not otherwise appear to present an immigration threat.

The advice to get an entry clearance is otiose as it's clearly stated that she already has one. Really it's up to her how long she stays this time. If she were to stay for another 6 months, then objections might be raised if she subsequently attempted another visit much before the expiry of the visa. If she were to stay for just a month or two and then return in March or April next year for another 4 or 5 months visit she'll probably be fine.