Travel to the UK from Schengen area, visas in different passports

Question

I'm a citizen of Belarus, therefore requiring two different visas to enter Schengen area and the UK. My passport expires sometime soon - I know I can use a valid Schengen visa in a cancelled passport together with a current one, so I consider renewing the passport and keeping the old one. Then, I want to get a UK visa into my new passport. The intended travel itinerary is as follows:

Belarus -> Schengen area -> the UK -> Schengen area -> Belarus

My question is, may I run into problems going from Schengen to UK - i.e. does the UK check the visa of the state I arrive from, and if so, do they accept it if it's in a cancelled passport? Or, perhaps, any other caveats on other legs of my journey?

Thank you!

Answer 1

As far as the visa for the Schengen area is concerned, the UK is primarily interested in whether you will be able to complete your travels as intended. They will be far less concerned about whether your previous stay in the Schengen area was authorized than about whether you will be able to return there as planned.

In both cases, however, they are no more concerned about whether the visa is in a valid passport than are the authorities of Schengen countries. That is to say, if the visa is valid in the jurisdiction that issued it, the UK will consider it to be valid.

As long as you have both passports with you, and show them as needed, you should not expect any trouble related to the fact that your Schengen visa is in an expired passport or that it is in a different passport from your UK visa.