How long can a visitor stay in the UK? 6 months from each entry? In a year? In a calendar year?
Visitors can come to the UK for purposes of
tourism, visiting friends, business visits and similar.
Visitors can stay for maximum 6 months in each 12 months.
Not 6 months from each entry to the UK. Even if your visitor visa is for 5 or 10 years you can still stay for maximum 180 days in each of those years.
How to count ‘6 months in 12 months’?
A 12 months period starts from ‘now’, date in question or date of entry etc and you need to count backwards (not a calendar year).
If you stayed in the UK for the whole 6 months then you have to stay away for the whole 6 months. If you come and go several times during a year then the total must be 180 days cumulatively in the last 12 months.
Visitor rules are the same for all. Visitor visa rules aren’t.
Visitor rules include: purpose of visits, no right to work, no right to use the NHS, no right to use the public funds (benefits), no right to switch to more serious visas inside the UK, ie no right to switch to a Spouse or work visa.
Visitor visa rules relate to applying for a ‘visa stamp in the passport’ before travel. Some nationals need to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to the UK, such as Indian, Chinese, South African, Russian , Nigerian and many other nationals.
Some other nationals do not need to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to the UK. Examples include American, Australian, Brazilian and other nationals. These nationals do not need to apply for a ‘visa stamp’ before travelling, they can just come here, explain their purpose of visit at the border control, prove they have enough funds to support themselves, possibly show a return ticket. Then they would get a stamp in the passport with the date, airport/port name and an endorsement saying he/she is admitted for 6 months without a right to work. This is what people call ‘travelling without a visa’.
Those who need to have a visitor visa have to apply at the British Embassy (or now usually a visa centre, such as VFS Global or WorldBridge), get a visa stamp in the passport, then travel to the UK. Upon arrival at the border control they would face the same questioning (purpose, proving they can support themselves etc) and get an airport stamp on the visa.
For more advice please email info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com
If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our CDP training website: www.1st4immigration.com/training
Visitors can stay for maximum 6 months in each 12 months.
Not 6 months from each entry to the UK. Even if your visitor visa is for 5 or 10 years you can still stay for maximum 180 days in each of those years.
How to count ‘6 months in 12 months’?
A 12 months period starts from ‘now’, date in question or date of entry etc and you need to count backwards (not a calendar year).
If you stayed in the UK for the whole 6 months then you have to stay away for the whole 6 months. If you come and go several times during a year then the total must be 180 days cumulatively in the last 12 months.
Visitor rules are the same for all. Visitor visa rules aren’t.
Visitor rules include: purpose of visits, no right to work, no right to use the NHS, no right to use the public funds (benefits), no right to switch to more serious visas inside the UK, ie no right to switch to a Spouse or work visa.
Visitor visa rules relate to applying for a ‘visa stamp in the passport’ before travel. Some nationals need to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to the UK, such as Indian, Chinese, South African, Russian , Nigerian and many other nationals.
Some other nationals do not need to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to the UK. Examples include American, Australian, Brazilian and other nationals. These nationals do not need to apply for a ‘visa stamp’ before travelling, they can just come here, explain their purpose of visit at the border control, prove they have enough funds to support themselves, possibly show a return ticket. Then they would get a stamp in the passport with the date, airport/port name and an endorsement saying he/she is admitted for 6 months without a right to work. This is what people call ‘travelling without a visa’.
Those who need to have a visitor visa have to apply at the British Embassy (or now usually a visa centre, such as VFS Global or WorldBridge), get a visa stamp in the passport, then travel to the UK. Upon arrival at the border control they would face the same questioning (purpose, proving they can support themselves etc) and get an airport stamp on the visa.
For more advice please email info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com
If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our CDP training website: www.1st4immigration.com/training
