24 Oct What is the maximum length of stay for a Visitor?
As a Standard Visitor visa holder, you can visit the UK for tourism, business, study (courses up to 6 months or 11 months for English language) and other permitted activities. Visitors are allowed to remain in the UK for up to 6 months on any one stay. If you have permission to be in the UK for less than 6 months, then you might be allowed to extend to a total of 6 months.
Please note that the 6 months’ period is a fixed term without the limitation of a year. However, to avoid any abuse of the Immigration Rules, the UK Border Control has the right to check on entry the purpose of your travel notwithstanding the fact that you do hold entry clearance if you are a visa-national.
According to the Appendix V: Visitor
V 4.2. The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor, which means the applicant:
(a) will leave the UK at the end of their visit; and
(b) will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home; and
(c) is genuinely seeking entry or stay for a purpose that is permitted under the Visitor route as set out in Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities and at V 13.3; and
(d) will not undertake any of the prohibited activities set out in V 4.4. to V 4.6; and
(e) must have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to their visit without working or accessing public funds, including the cost of the return or onward journey, any costs relating to their dependants, and the cost of planned activities such as private medical treatment. The applicant must show that any funds they rely upon are held in a financial institution permitted under FIN 2.1 in Appendix Finance.
The authority will scrutinise your intention and assess whether to grant entry in line with the rules. This means that there is discretion and flexibility for the officer to make an assessment on a case-by-case basis.
In certain circumstances, applicants could apply to stay for longer than 6 months according to V 17.2., in the following situations:
(i) a Visitor who is coming to the UK for private medical treatment may be granted entry clearance for up to 11 months;
(ii) an academic (or the accompanying partner or child of such an academic), who is employed by an overseas institution and is carrying out the specific permitted activities at paragraph PA.11.2., may be granted entry clearance for up to 12 months;
PA 11.2. Academics may:
(a) take part in formal exchange arrangements with UK counterparts (including doctors); and
(b) carry out research for their own purposes if they are on sabbatical leave from their home institution; and
(c) if they are an eminent senior doctor or dentist, take part in research, teaching or clinical practice provided this does not amount to filling a permanent teaching post.
V 17.3. Permission to stay will be granted for the following periods:
(a) a Standard Visitor or a Marriage/Civil Partnership Visitor, who was granted permission for less than 6 months may be granted permission to stay for a period which results in the total period they can remain in the UK (including both the original grant and the extension) not exceeding 6 months; and
(b) a Standard Visitor who is in the UK for private medical treatment may be granted permission to stay as a Visitor for a further 6 months, provided the purpose is for private medical treatment;
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For expert advice regarding any aspect of the UK visa application, please contact our immigration team on 0203 384 3075.
