friend visit

[albertoro]

Hi everyone, hope i could have an advise to resolve my situaton.

I am italian living and working in London.
A female friend of mine from Kyrgyzstan, she would like to come to London to visit me for 6 months. She is not working at the moment and has no savings.

I will bear all the cost of travel and living as in fact she will be living with me.

Could anyone advise if this is possible?

[Casa]

Standard Visitor Visa https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa/overview

Although a visa may be issued with a 6 month expiry date, your friend's application is unlikely to be approved if she requests a full 6 month stay. The ECO will expect to see the intention to visit for no more than a few weeks.

Your friend's main challenge will be to submit evidence of strong ties to her home country to convince the ECO that she won't overstay. If she is unemployed, how does she support herself? Is she studying? Does she own property and/or have dependent family?

Even though you are willing to sponsor her, she will still have to submit evidence of her own financial stability.

[vinny]

Although a visa may be issued with a 6 month expiry date, your friend's application is unlikely to be approved if she requests a full 6 month stay. The ECO will expect to see the intention to visit for no more than a few weeks.

Moreover, if she stays significantly longer than requested, then she may also face future refusals.

[albertoro]

Casa, thank you for your prompt reply.

i see the problem. What if she had a fresh employment contract and together with the company decide to go to UK at her own expense to study for six months or more and then return to her country. would she need to provide contract and some letter from the employer to show that they will keep the job?

is this doable?

[Casa]

Why would an employer give her 6 months holiday before she's even started work?

Yes, if she is claiming that she has a permanent job in her home country she would have to submit the contract of employment and a letter from her employer confirming her position will remain open while she is on holiday. However, no ECO is likely to be convinced that she will be entitled to 6 months leave.

If she intends to claim her visit is for study then she will have to apply for a short-term study visa, as she won't be a genuine visitor. She will however need an offer from a college on the Home Office register of Tier 4 licensed sponsors (and afford the substantial fees). She can't study in a state school or with an unlicensed education provider.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... s-students

https://www.gov.uk/study-visit-visa/overview

[albertoro]

Casa, as she does not speak English the employer would send here to London to learn English and then return to her work. therefore i believe she could apply for a student visa for 6 months. does it make sense?

[Casa]

I may have edited my post with addition information & link while you were posting your last question.

To be honest, I don't believe this will wash with the ECO, even more so when your friend is not currently employed with the company who is very generously offering to support her UK study.

Playing devil's advocate why would an employer send a new employee to the UK for 6 months to learn English when there must be suitable applicants for the job who are already fluent in the language?

Who would cover the high student fees? The employer?

What qualifications does your friend have that would make her so indispensable to the employer?

[Casa]

Solely as a matter of interest, if your friend doesn't speak any English, do you converse in Kyrgyz or Italian?

[albertoro]

Casa please see below

Playing devil's advocate why would an employer send a new employee to the UK for 6 months to learn English when there must be suitable applicants for the job who are already fluent in the language?

Who would cover the high student fees? The employer?

What qualifications does your friend have that would make her so indispensable to the employer?

In her country i dont believe there are so many people speaking English, especially in her town.

She would have to cover for the study expense. the employer is just giving time off as is a friend

She has a degree in economics.

And to fulfil your curiosity we communicate in italian as she speak so.

Would you still think is not doable?

[Casa]

I'd like to reassure you, but I don't believe it is 'doable'.

If I can see through your plan to get a friend to provide an offer of employment with a 6 month sabbatical even before the employment has started, a whily old ECO will sniff it out easily. Believe me, they are aware of all the ploys used in applications.

Even if the offer is genuine, I doubt that the ECO will be convinced. Also be aware that if any statement or document in an application is found to be false (or believed to be) the door will be firmly closed for her visitor/student visa applications in the future, for at least 10 years.

[albertoro]

Thank you Casa for you time in this.

So what would you suggest in order for her to come to london for 6 months?

[noajthan]

Thank you Casa for you time in this.

So what would you suggest in order for her to come to london for 6 months?

Look at short term study visa:
https://www.gov.uk/study-visit-visa

Or marry and bring 'friend' as your spouse under EU migration route if you can convince authorities its not a marriage of convenience.

[albertoro]

thanks noajthan but marriage is not an option

[Wanderer]

thanks noajthan but marriage is not an option

Then you have to accept the inevitable, there are no more options. Visit her.

[noajthan]

thanks noajthan but marriage is not an option

Then you have to accept the inevitable, there are no more options. Visit her.

Plenty of places in E.Europe, Caribbean and Asia where you could meet up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requ ... i_citizens

[albertoro]

thank you guys for the help.

[Casa]

After I posted the link to the Short Term Study visa earlier in the thread, you appeared to go off on something of a tangent, enlisting the help of a 'friend' to provide a slightly dubious job offer.

If your friend is applying for a student visa, she doesn't need to show employment 'on hold'. Read through the guidance and see if she would qualify if she can secure an offer from an approved sponsor. noajthan has also posted the relevant link.

[albertoro]

Casa thank you again.

my understanding is that even if she applies for a student visa she needs to show strong ties in her country so that she must go back.

i thought the job was one of them because otherwise what else could be strong tie? she has no property and her family does not depends on her

[vinny]

Having a long standing job may be a strong tie. Having a job offer, probably not. Moreover, being absent from a job for six months implies that job is unimportant, both to her and her employer.