3

I applied for a 6 Month Visit visa to the UK in October 2016 and was granted a multiple entry 6 Month Visa. In my application my intended stay was of 2.5 months however, the training I was attending got extended and I ended up staying for about 4.5 months. I am back now and the 6 months Visa has expired. Another training has come up (scheduled 1 month from now) and this time for 2 weeks. Should applying for a short term 6 month Visit visa be violating the V 4.2 sections (states the applicant has not intended to stay as a Visitor as per my research).

  1. Should I apply for a long term visa for 2 years possibly to avoid this?
  2. Is there a time lapse after which one should apply for the Visa or an application for the same category can be done as soon as the current Visa expires?

P.S: I am being cautious so as not to unwittingly get myself a refusal.

Improve this question
2
  • Training increased from 2.5 months to 4.5 months does not look good. And then another training barely two months later, another training for two weeks, which could become what another 3 months? That's what the average consular will think. Be prepared for scrutiny. Indeed if this two week training is not absolutely necessary, personally I would not go.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Apr 9, 2017 at 22:01
  • 1
    You will not get a two year visa based on what you have written. Your other questions are nicely answered below.
    – Gayot Fow
    Apr 10, 2017 at 3:35

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

No, there is no waiting period before you can apply for a visa again. Your new visa application will be evaluated on its merits. Applying for a visa with a longer validity period will not matter much.

However, in your new application you should absolutely explain and document why your earlier visit ended up longer than you stated in the previous application.

We have several examples on this site on travelers to the UK who stayed longer than they said they would, even if their actual stay was within what they were actually granted, and then had a subsequent visa application rejected because the difference hurt their credibility. (In many of these cases the difference between planned and actual stay was more than in your case, but still almost doubling the length of stay approaches the point where one can reasonably expect eyebrows to be raised).

What you need to do to avoid getting into that kind of trouble is to proactively explain in your new application how and why your plans changed after your previous visa was issued. If your explanation looks reasonable and you have documentation that is consistent with it, that will save your credibility. Do not wait until you're asked for an explanation, because you won't be asked -- you just get a refusal based on "You have not explained why such-and-such".

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .