General visitor or Family visitor visa

Mods,

Am here on a Tier 1 (General) visa that expires December this year. Would like to invite my parents to come visit. Can you please advise if they should apply for a General Visitor visa or a Family Visitor visa?

I believe it should be the former (General Visitor) category as I am currently on limited leave to remain (till December 2012) and not settled as per this page? Please advise if I have understood this correctly / share any experience in this regard.

Thanks.

Regards,
crowbar6

Family visit. For this category you don't need to be British or settled; the Immigration Appeals (Family Visitor) Regulations 2003 make no mention of that requirement.

According to the UKBA website :

To come to the UK as a family visitor, you must be able to show that you will be visiting the following family members in the UK:

spouse, civil partner, father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister;
grandfather, grandmother, grandson or granddaughter;
spouse or civil partner's father, mother, brother or sister;
son or daughter's spouse or civil partner;
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother or stepsister; or
a person you have been living with in a genuine and subsisting relationship, like marriage or civil partnership, for at least 2 years before the day you apply.

If you want to visit a family member who is not listed above, you should come to the UK as a general visitor.

If a child is adopted under an adoption order, that is recognised in UK law, we will treat the child as if they are the natural children of the adoptive parents.

Additionally the family member you are visiting must :

be a British citizen;
be settled in the UK;
have been granted asylum in the UK; or
have Humanitarian Protection status.



http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... uirements/


I think this is a change since 9 July?

Yes, I read this guidance too and hence the confusion. Previously, the Family Visitor visa route was the way to go, but with this guidance, not sure where it stands.

Anyone have first hand experience of applying post 9 July please?

Having read through the new changes & guidance it does appear that you now need to be settled in the UK, i.e. have ILR to sponsor a "family visitor". But I don't think there is anything to stop you from sponsoring a family member as a "general visitor" rather than a "family visitor" as you would have done previously.

The following post, also appears to be stating the same.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=109476

All, the folks have got their UK visit visa and we had applied in the General Visitor category. Sharing this info if there are others who have the same query as mine mentioned above.

Useful for future reference:

The Immigration Appeals (Family Visitor) Regulations 2012

cs95tdg wrote:Having read through the new changes & guidance it does appear that you now need to be settled in the UK, i.e. have ILR to sponsor a "family visitor". But I don't think there is anything to stop you from sponsoring a family member as a "general visitor" rather than a "family visitor" as you would have done previously.

The following post, also appears to be stating the same.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=109476

I am settled in the UK with and Indefinite leave to Remain. I am inviting my father-in-law to visit me and family in the UK for less than 6 months. So the obvious visa type I need to apply is for Family visitor visa.
However do I need to submit copy of my wife's passport bio data pages to prove that he is her father. ie my father- in- law ? In my wife's passport, father's surname is mis-spelt slightly, it sounds almost similar. however different spellings. So if I need to prove that he is her father then we need to get a notary to certify that it is the same person. Is that acceptable ?

So in order to avoid the complication I thought I will apply in the General visitor visa category to invite my father in law. Is that a right thing to do? I started filling the online application and there was a question as ' Is the main purpose of your trip to visit/stay with a close family relative who is settled in the UK' ... I answered Yes. I clicked 'Create application'. Then it gave me a warning box saying- 'You have answered 'yes' to one or more of the visa selection questions. This means the visa type you have selected may not be the correct choice for your trip' . I clicked OK. and I clicked the 'Create application' once again. This second time it didn't give a warning and it let me proceed to the next step to fill the form.

So I am confused now whether I still can go ahead and apply in the General visitor visa category ??? Or is it compulsory to apply under Family visitor visa category as I am settled in the UK and he is my close relative???

I have all the proof ready and clear if it is just I am inviting my father- in-law in General visitor visa category.
So my questions are
1. Is it mandatory to apply as family visitor in this case ?
2. If yes ie, if I need to apply as family visitor, do I need to submit my wife's passport copy to prove the relationship ?
3. If yes, ie if I need to keep the copy of wife's passport, is a notary letter enough to say that it is the same person even though the surname is spelled differently?
Anyone gone through similar case and applied as general visitor and visa granted ?
Appreciate all your help !