Visit visa return ticket ?

Hi all , now our visit visa has been granted , my gf will be coming to Uk in March . We said on application two week visit , but will there be any problem if we decide to extend to 3-4 weeks , and will she need to show a return ticket at Uk immigration ? I read that there is no legal requirement to have return ticket . Does anyone have experience of this please ?

I dont think she will have to show her return ticket as she lands and enters the country,what you do have to be mindful of is what you originally stated on the application that she intended to stay for a couple of weeks but actually stayed for x number of weeks, they may rightly ask the question "why didnt you put x umber of weeks in the first place?""not enough funds upfront!" I am just playing devils advocate. Yes the visit visa is valid for 6 months we all know that and they probably wont pick it up just be mindful of what you said.

Ah ok , thanks for the advice @Mattecube , yes ,I will bear that in mind as maybe she can go home after and come back for a second visit on same visa . Thanks again as always for your previous help and advice .

The visit visa is is valid for entire 6 months from the time its granted.

Im in the opinion that staying an extra week or two (on top of days stated in application) wouldnt raise any flag. But anything more than couple of weeks i would advice against.

Erm, why? Immigration Officers at the airport will not have access to the visa application bundle so won't know what duration of stay was originally requested. The length of stay granted by Visit Visas is six months and provided that the holder leaves the country before that duration expires, they are acting entirely lawfully.

Just saying that if they get a next visa application, will they not be asked to explain why in the original application they said they will stay for a couple pf weekd but actually stayed 6 months?

Im just covering all the bases. If in the application they mentioned she will be staying for 3 months, and stayed 6 months, i dont see any issues with that but 10 days vs 6 months is way different. And what about the ‘compelling reason to return to ph other than ‘im about to be kicked out’? Im just saying you are making your earlier application look weak and unbelievable and might be held against your subsequent application.

But of course that is my opinion (and that is how we did it in the past- we stuck to the original dates of the visa application and has done so in the three tourist visa we had).

It is perfectly legal to stay in the uk for the entire duration of the visa.

Yes, there is that possibility, I agree. Even though everything is now scanned, I would be very surprised indeed if UKVI retained any data for successful applications beyond six months to a year at most from the decision date -- given the number of applications processed from all over the world in any given period, the amount of disk storage required would be massive. Unsuccessful applications may possibly be retained longer.

my g/f got a visit visa in july 2013--and returned in jan 2014.--within the 6 months.

arent visit visas multi entry anyway ?

If I had been booking a flight from Philippines to London , I would probably have automatically booked a return ticket , but as I am still out there travelling , I’ve just booked two one way tickets from Kuala Lumpur .
When she goes home if will be London to Philippines via Hong Kong , which is a shorter and easier flight for her .

How would they even know you have left the UK? Your passport is rarely swiped. In my opinion the rules are laid out and the visa does not state how long you can stay for other than its valid for 6 months and is multiple entry. The government page never mentions how long you requested. I think that is there purely to filter bad applications.

Question on future application.... Have you applied for a visa before?
Answer ....yes
What dates ?
Blah blah
Ah let' look

What you are trying to do is fine. As long as she stay within the validity of the visa. What I would be mindful of is when you are planning to apply for another visit visa in the future then they would look at your travel history in the UK and see if you actually stayed for the period you promised on the application. If you haven’t, this would be a form of dishonesty or deceiving the ECO and could be a ground for refusal.

On my experience when I had my visit visa, I visited the UK for 8 weeks which is what I said on the application. After that, I went back to the Philippines. 2 weeks later me and my partner decided that I should come back to the UK because I still have 4 months left on my visit visa. So we did that, but then little did I know that I would be stopped in the Immigration border in Heathrow. The officer asked me loads of questions. He wondered why I went home and then two weeks later came back to the UK so that raised a red flag. I was detained for 3 hours. It was a nightmare for me. I thought I’d be sent home.

They let me through in the end but threatened me before that.

If the visa is for 6 months then you can stay for six months. Simple as that.

If the did ask (which they probably won't) just say you changed plans when you saw how long the visa was for.

Wow, no matter what our opinions are it really brings it home when someone has real life experiences.

Thanks for all of the replies and opinions guys . It seems that the main consideration is re any future application, which is a valid point . I suppose if we had no intention of ever applying again, she could stay more or less as long as we decided ,within the 6 months of course.

@Brom27 , sorry to read of your bad experience, I wonder what caused the red flag , as it doesn’t seem that you did anything wrong or unlawful ?

It was when I went back to the Philippines for two weeks and then decided to visit the UK again so the officer was really skeptical about that. He asked to have my luggage checked. My flight arrived in Heathrow at 9 pm then I didn’t came out till midnight.

I guess it happens with international travellers the UKBA have every right to stop question and search, been there done that got the t shirt you move on.

An Algerian colleague of mine who was travelling with me to Saudi was stopped on the way out and questioned. they even started asking me questions before letting us through. It was a short delay and probably made easier by the fact I was travelling with him. At the end of the day thogh these guys are there to keep us safe and do a job. They get it in the neck big time when something terrible happens.

Just a quick update on the return ticket issue . My gf was due to fly from Cebu to Kuala Lumpur today . They wouldn’t allow her to catch her flight without having a return ticket .

Luckily we were in touch when she was at the airport , so I could quickly book her a return ticket. It’s ok , it had to be done soon anyway, and might help prevent any problem at UK immigration .

I was aware of the return ticket being required when we fly to the Philippines, I didn’t realise it works in reverse also . Just for Filipinos I assume .