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I am a Malaysian. I usually do not need a tourist visa to enter into the UK in the past. But I had been studying, living and working on various legal visas until I reached my more than 10 years’ residency back in 2009 where I applied a permanent residence status. The application was refused due to tecnicality 10 days’ gap of discontinued visa back in 2001 (As a result of 9/11 event, the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur was closed, resulting late student visa extension) if I recall correctly. I have gone through appeal process, but still refused of the PR status. Demotivated, I have decided to be on assisted voluntary program, where flight tickets have been purchased for me, my then 10 month old daughter and my husband to return to Malaysia for good, so we did leave all of our belongings and life behind. We were informed that we can only enter the UK after 6 years.

Now, after nearly 10 years, my daughter wants to go on Harry Potter Studio tour and visit KidZania London.However, I have lost all of the return entry ban paperwork. Who should I contact to confirm that I will not be refused into the UK if I plan to travel and make all of the holiday booking for this June 2019? Do I still need any re-entry visa? On what category should I apply? I could not find any info on this kind of visa.

Really appreciate some help/advice. Thank you.

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    Doesn't make sense. A 10 day gap in 2018 would not have resulted in a failed application. "The Long Residence guidance confirms that an application may be granted even when there are periods of overstay, provided the applicant: has short gaps in lawful residence through making previous applications out of time by no more than 28 calendar days where those gaps end before 24 November 2016" It certainly would not have resulted a situation where you would ha e needed to resort to AVR. Also, what does the Embassy in Malaysia have to do with a visa extension?
    – user58558
    Jan 12, 2019 at 14:05
  • Unfortunately my extension of legal stay of the 10 years are mix of student visa, working holiday visa & spouse visa, although tried to contniuously extend, the student visa extension was the one which was the cause of not meeting the continuous stay due to my being outside the country for holiday (in Malaysia). The Malaysian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was closed at the time so I could not extend my visa when it was expired in time to claim “CONTINUOUS 10 year legal stay”. Immigration lawyer tried to help appeal, but got rejected & was advised to go onto AVR program.
    – Azwinar Aziz
    Jan 13, 2019 at 11:25
  • " left the UK before 24 November 2016 with no valid leave to remain on their departure from the UK, and failed to apply for entry clearance within 28 days of their previous leave expiring (even if they returned to the UK within 6 months)" again, you had 28 days. And spouse visa? From your first marriage it seems?
    – user58558
    Jan 13, 2019 at 12:31
  • Anyhow, best advice is to apply for a visa.
    – user58558
    Jan 13, 2019 at 12:37
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    Good luck. I don't think you should have issues travelling as a tourist now that you are well settled in Malaysia despite your history. Applying for a visa will avoid any potential problems at immigration.
    – user58558
    Jan 14, 2019 at 2:36

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You do not need to contact anyone, the rules for the ban governing your case are as below:

Re-entry bans

Voluntary departure at the Secretary of State’s expense People who breach UK immigration laws and leave the UK voluntarily at the expense (directly or indirectly) of the Secretary of State are subject to 2 year or 5 year re-entry bans. This includes those who leave the UK through an assisted voluntary return (AVR) programme at the Secretary of State’s expense, or otherwise voluntarily.

If you’ve been away for almost ten years, your ban is over.

Do I still need any re-entry visa? On what category should I apply?

You do not need a reentry visa however recommended practice by UK Immigration (see attached image) and on Travel.Exchange is you should apply for a Standard Visitor Visa.

enter image description here

For obvious reasons your chances of approval are slim at best. Do not purchase non refundable tickets or pay for hotel reservations until after you’re issued the visas. Even after you’re issued the visas, carry along all the documents you used to apply for your visa in case you’re grilled at the airport.

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  • Thank you very much for the response. We are thinking about stopping by in Paris for Disneyland since our friend is there to host us. How about the immigration control at the train station from Paris to London? Is it strict? If we enter France, take the Eurostar to London, would it be riskier for our London trips? Thank you.
    – Azwinar Aziz
    Jan 12, 2019 at 10:37
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    Read my story. Going by train/road is the best option so if you’re denied entry, you don’t waste a plane fare and you get to return to France. With your history, any mode/port of entry will be strict. Have contingency plans in place.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Jan 12, 2019 at 11:05
  • I have received this from family friend in the UK: “However, there is an on-line request form and a great deal of information at: gov.uk/government/publications/… and the link to the Application Form at visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/saru” Will this help to find if I will be flagged at the airport?
    – Azwinar Aziz
    Jan 13, 2019 at 22:23
  • @Azwinar Aziz It’s 10 years or so since your PR refusal and it sounds like you are now well-established in Malaysia. IMHO rather than risk a refusal at the border, you should apply for a visa and you stand a pretty good chance of approval for a short holiday in the UK. Getting a SAR report before submitting your visa application will help you make sure the application does not contain any unintentional errors due to not having the paperwork from your refusal. In theory the SAR will only show what you already know, so it won’t help you find out if you’ll be flagged at the border.
    – Traveller
    Feb 10, 2019 at 11:18
  • Thank you for your help, already submitted application for SAR & hoping to proceed with a tourist visa, however, would it be a risk since the immigration control would be suspicious as to why a Malaysian applying for visa when we do not need one, in usual circumstances?
    – Azwinar Aziz
    Feb 11, 2019 at 12:18

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