Visa expiring

[Tigermei]

Hi,

My tier 5 visa expires on the 28th of August 2015. I then want to go and travel outside of the UK before returning on a visitors visa and then leaving to go back to Australia on the 1st of November. I am wondering if I need to leave the UK on or before the 28th of August, or whether I can leave a few days later? Obviously I will only be working up until the 27th/28th August, however flights out are cheaper early September, so I'd prefer to do that. Some guidance on this would be appreciated.

[The Station Agent]

I would never advise anyone to overstay, even by 2 days. It can make all the difference when you are trying to re-enter as a tourist. An overstay is a red flag.

[CR001]

Agree with The Station Agent, particular as they are now doing exit checks when you leave the UK.

[ratface123]

This is exactly the situation I am in. I am looking forward to hearing responses, as I heard there was maybe some leniency that you could leave several days after your visa expires.

What date is your visa stamped from when you first arrived? Mine is 2 weeks after the expiry date on my actual visa. Maybe this allows us some leniency depending on what date they look at?

And - is it definite that you can re-enter the UK for up to 3 months as a tourist?

[wf]

Agree with The Station Agent, particular as they are now doing exit checks when you leave the UK.

Where is this occuring? Are you referring to the sporadic checks at Heathrow that have been happening for some time?

I flew out of Gatwick a couple of weeks ago and there was certainly none there.

[wf]

This is exactly the situation I am in. I am looking forward to hearing responses, as I heard there was maybe some leniency that you could leave several days after your visa expires.

Under the current rules, when applying (in advance) for a visa, previous overstays of 90 days or less are disregarded. However, in reality an overstay should be avoided if at all possible as if detected it would likley strongly influence rejection of any future visa on arrival visits.

Additionaly the rules around citizenship have recently being tightened and if there is any previous overstay it will be refused. While this may not apply to you, it is an indication that other future rule changes may make the overstay a lot more of a problem than it looks now.

What date is your visa stamped from when you first arrived? Mine is 2 weeks after the expiry date on my actual visa. Maybe this allows us some leniency depending on what date they look at?

Has no bearing whatsoever - you need to leave by the expirey date on the visa.

And - is it definite that you can re-enter the UK for up to 3 months as a tourist?

Nope, not at all - it depends on your circumstances and the IO's interpration of them. Re-entering immediately after a T5/YMS is not looked upon favourably. FWIW the standard UK tourist visa is 6 months.