Family visitor long stay and visa overlap?

[harikora]

I have 2 question about family visitor visa.

My parents want to stay with us for Jan to May next year in UK. They have been in UK twice before without any problem.

Then they are planning to visit Paris in early June from UK and come back to you UK and stay with us for Olympic and till end of September.

I have two question:
my mother have two year multiple visa which expires in June . can she apply for 5 year multiple entry visitor visa in January before travelling so she doesn't have to travel all the way back to India to reapply in June for new visa.

Although My parents single stay will be not be more than six months as allowed by family visitor visa, but their long stay will be only separated by few days in between, is it a problem? technically it is legal, what do you say?

will it create any problem for them while travelling from or back to UK?
have you heard anyone going through this before or can you share your experiences?


many thanks for all your help!!!

[geriatrix]

VAT1.5 Frequency and duration of visits

[harikora]

what about applying for 5 year family visitor while they still have 3 months left on previous 2 visa? is it a problem?