Travelling as visitor to the UK

[fkheng]

Hi forum members,

I have a question. I have a mother-in-law who would like to visit my wife and I in the UK. We are both here on Tier 1 Visas. My wife misses her mother-in-law and would like her to come and stay with us for a while.

We are from a non-EU commonwealth country in South-East Asia.

Before anyone has ideas about benefits scrounging, my family is well-off and this is certainly not the intention.

We understand that normal visitors to the country can visit us for up to a maximum of 6 months without a visa (please correct me if I'm wrong).

My question is - if she leaves the country after those 6 months, will she be able to return within a short period of time thereafter to continue her stay?

My mother-in-law is old but below 65 yrs old at present but due to a recent issue my father-in-law is no longer with us and we hesitate to leave her alone in our home country. We understand that dependency option for her is not available as we are not fully settled in the UK.

Thanks.

[geriatrix]

We understand that normal visitors to the country can visit us for up to a maximum of 6 months without a visa (please correct me if I'm wrong).

A visa is not required if the visitor is a non-visa national. Else, a visa will be needed.

My question is - if she leaves the country after those 6 months, will she be able to return within a short period of time thereafter to continue her stay?

See also VAT1.5 Frequency and duration of visits.

[Greenie]

you don't say which 'non EU commonwealth country in South-East Asia' you are from.

Only non-visa nationals can come to the UK as a visitor without obtaining prior entry clearance. However, such nationals still need to demonstrate to an immigration officer that they meet the requirements of the immigration rules as a visitor in order to be given entry.

The general rule is that a visitor should not spend more than 6 months in any 12 month period in the UK. Therefore if your mother in law spent 6 months here, left for a few weeks, and then came back again, she may be refused entry (and if she is a visa national, may be refused the visa).