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I am resident of India and just got UK Business visa ( 6 months, multiple entry) .. I am going for a week on business trip. I want to take my wife along with me and at the end of trip.. I want to extend my trip for 3 days and we want to spend some time on leisure.

What visa I should apply for my wife.. visitor visa? should she mention in the visa form that she is going along with me and staying with me while I am on work and later we are spending time on leisure.

While filling my business visa form, there was a field asking if anyone else is going with me.. I selected no.. as there were no plans.

Also is it ok to spend time on leisure on UK Business visa

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You are an Indian national and have been issued a Business Visitor visa to the UK. The Business Visitor visa programme was created in 2008 following a consultation by the Home Office and there is a backgrounder at ILPA Info Sheet

Following this consultation, the rules were amended and Business Visitors are covered in Paragraphs 46G through 46L, see Visitors to the UK These are the rules under which your visa was granted. To make his decision, your Entry Clearance Officer used the guidance at Business Visitors

You would like your wife to accompany you and need to know which class of visa she should apply for.

Your wife should apply as a GENERAL VISITOR. She can use the new site at Visa4UK She can use the VFS and also use the premium service if she qualifies. She can add your information in the remarks section to explain the rationale for her visit.

She does not qualify for FAMILY VISITOR because she needs a UK-based family member to sponsor her, and you do not qualify as a sponsor in that capacity (British citizen, permanent resident, etc). See Family Visitors

For completeness' sake, The only concession made for family members of business visitors is in the case of 'Academic Visitors'. The concession, stated in Paragraph 42 of the rules, is that the family member can ask for the same amount of leave as the primary, up to 12 months. And even in this case, the family member must apply as a GENERAL VISITOR.

For your last question, your original application indicated you would be travelling alone, but now you want to travel with someone. It's a normal change of circumstances and you can put an explanation in with your wife's application.

For your question in the comments, you are allowed to act as a tourist during your visit and to stay for a reasonable amount of time within the leave you have been granted. These things should be incidental to your trip and as long as they are incidental, you will have no problems. To play it strictly by the book, you can declare your touring itinerary to the IO during your landing interview.

You didn't say when your wife will make her application, and you have also indicated that personal experience is welcome. From that viewpoint, the Home Office has just concluded an 'invitation only' consultation and is planning to change the visitor rules sometime before Parliament sits in 2015. This will be the first major overhaul of the visitor rules since 2008. There are links to the consultation and to the draft rules, but they are currently embargoed and behind a paywall. I will post a link here once the embargo is lifted. Personally, there are no planned changes, however, that will enable your wife to accompany you as anything other than as a GENERAL VISITOR.

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  • I have got 6 months visa and in my visa application i have mentioned that i will be staying for 14 days... Is there any issue if i stay for 20 days .. ?? Also is it ok to spend time for leisure on business visa
    – indian
    Dec 8, 2014 at 17:18
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    It is not a big deal for that amount of time, but if you want to play it strictly by the book you can report a change in circumstances to the IO during your landing interview. If you were staying for an extra MONTH, for example, it would be a big deal, but for what you're talking about, it's an acceptable change in circumstances.
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 8, 2014 at 17:21
  • Thanks @Gayot Fow .. I have doubt about the last para? What is that for.. My wife is going to make application this week and she will opt for General Visitor. If I got you than you mean that they are scrapping the General visa and making it only on invitation??
    – indian
    Dec 15, 2014 at 6:24
  • @indian, if she's making the application this week, the last part about the rule changes doesn't affect you.
    – Gayot Fow
    Dec 15, 2014 at 8:39
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    Thanks @Gayot, My wife has successfully got 6 months Multiple entry general visitor visa. We are yet to travel, will keep posted here to help others.
    – indian
    Dec 30, 2014 at 6:18

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