Travelling to India from USA visiting London en route

[baddapuri9]

Hi,

My sister is staying in USA on a student visa and is planning to travel to India from USA as part of her summer vacation and drop in at London enroute and stay with us for a week.

To stay for more than 48 hours in London on a transit, I came to know that she has to apply for a family visitor visa.

But on UKBA (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/visiting/family/requirements/), I have seen following.

You must be able to show that

you are not in transit to a country outside the 'Common Travel Area' (Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

That concerns me. Given my sister is actually travelling to India and London is a stop over, is she eligible to apply for a family visitor visa and come to London?

Has anyone done this way before? What are the guidelines for applying for visa like this?

Appreciate any input.

[vinny]

Of course, she may apply for a visitor visa.

She will be in transit if she intends to spend less than 48 hours in the UK. As she intends to spend a week with you, she is not in transit.

If there is a likelihood that the applicant may, on one of the journeys, wish to remain longer than 48 hours and he / she qualifies for a Multiple Visits Visa, the ECO should encourage them to apply for such a visa.

[cs95tdg]

Has anyone done this way before? What are the guidelines for applying for visa like this?

Yes, I have in the past applied for a visitor visa in NY while I was a living/working there. I thereafter entered the UK to visit family for a few days en-route to another destination. As vinny has pointed out what your sister needs is, to apply for a visitor visa, as she will not be in-transit when she comes to the UK. Whether she should apply for a family or general visitor visa would depend on your immigration status in the UK.

[Gagan1986]

It will be a full fledged visitor visa application which means she needs to start collecting docs well before hand she wants to travel. It will depend a lot on your immigration status plus how strongly tied are you in uk i.e your accommodation details, letter of invitation from yourself etc if she is planning to come and stay with you.

If it was under 48 hours, it would have been a differebt story altogether