Subsequent tourist visa application from India

[rachsach]

Hi,
I have obtained British citizenship last year. This year I invited my father to stay with us on a tourist visa from India. His stay is coming to an end in November but we require him to stay a little longer with us.

I was thinking he will stay with us until his visa expires in November and then he will return back to India and after a month stay in India he will be applying for another 6 months tourist visa.

My question is would this be seen as an issue by the visa officer assessing the application seeing that he had recently done one visit and he has applied again in a month’s gap?

Please could you advise if you had been in the same situation in the past and what was the outcome of the visa application?

Thanks

[CR001]

Yes it will be a problem and likely will be refused.

How long has your father been "visiting" on his current visa?

[rachsach]

Yes it will be a problem and likely will be refused.

How long has your father been "visiting" on his current visa?

He was granted six month visa in May which is expiring end of November. He is going back to India on 28th November and will stay there for a month before applying tourist visa again in January

Actually my mum came with him too, she went back after staying for 1.5 months but father decided to stay. They both applied for the visa together in May. They will be doing the same again in January but most likely my father will come back.

[CR001]

How long has your father been "visiting" on his current visa?

What was the date of his arrival and what is the planned date of departure?

Why does he need to come back so soon?

What is their/his visit visa history?

[secret.simon]

Why does your father need to spend so much time in the UK? That will be considered as residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa and that may get them into trouble in getting visit visas in future.

Visitors are also expected to be spending more time in their country of origin than in the UK.

The rules as regards the amount of time people can spend in the UK are not clear-cut and have a wide remit. The text of the rule is below;

"4.2 (a) (c) (e) of Appendix V, Immigration Rules of Visitors" states:

The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor. This means that 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 for a purpose that is permitted by the visitor routes (these are listed in Appendices 3, 4 and 5); and
(d) will not undertake any prohibited activities set out in V 4.5 – V 4.10; and
(e) must have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to their visit without working or accessing public funds. This includes the cost of the return or onward journey, any costs relating to dependants, and the cost of planned activities such as private medical treatment.

If the ECO concludes that your father is residing in the UK under the guise of the appearance of a visit visa, the visa will almost certainly be refused. And every refusal will remain on record and make the next visit visa harder to obtain.

Even after getting the visit visa, if the Immigration Officer at the airport comes to the conclusion that the visitor is residing in the UK in the guise of a visit visa, they can cancel the visit visa on the spot and have them sent back to their country of origin. As that would be on their record, that would also make it very difficult if not impossible for them to get a visit visa in the future.

There have been threads from other people who have been refused visit visas after repeatedly staying in the UK for six months every year in the recent past. Look in the forums for those stories/threads.

Also see here for how a UK caseworker would evaluate the word "visit".

[secret.simon]

He is going back to India on 28th November and will stay there for a month before applying tourist visa again in January

Really bad idea. Wait for a minimum of six months to demonstrate that he is not residing in the UK. The longer he waits before reapplying the better.

[rachsach]

Thanks both for helping me.

The reason he is coming back so early is to help us out with keeping our little child at home while we attend work. I know home office sees this doing a work but actually its not work, he is just helping us with childcare cost.

Visa was granted from 29th May to 28th November.

My question now is how much time is ideal to leave before coming back on visit visa?

[secret.simon]

he is just helping us with childcare cost.

That is not what a visit visa is for either.

My question now is how much time is ideal to leave before coming back on visit visa?

Wait for a minimum of six months to demonstrate that he is not residing in the UK. The longer he waits before reapplying the better.

The UK Immigration Rules discourage chain immigration. Spouses and children, being a nuclear family, are fine, but not the extended family.

[secret.simon]

Is the child a British citizen with OCI or an Indian citizen with ILR? Rather than get repeat visit visas for your parents, it may be easier for the child to be raised in India until you are comfortable with bearing the child care costs.

[Casa]

Childcare, even though unpaid is another reason for a refusal if the ECO or Border Force Officer at the point of entry is aware of the intention.

You parents' visa has a validity of 6 months, but what period of stay did they request in the application.

You father should leave a period of at least 6 months following his return to India before submitting another visitor visa application.