BAA strike. What if it causes visitor to overstay?

If someone's visitors' visa stay expires on Jan 8th and he is due to fly out on Jan 7th, and has a confirmed ticket but is unable to fly out because of the BAA strike, what happens to his stay?

If the earliest flight the airline can put him on is Jan 14th, is he automatically in violation of his visa? He probably is, but what can he do to protect against that? The airline doesn't have any space on flights between now and Jan 7th.

I reckon its his personal responsibility to ensure that he does not overstay his visa..

yep that is an overstay

Yup - nearly got caught in Moscow like that, nearly midnight, plane delayed, just made it.

Mental note made, don't leave things so tight for the future....

Two questions:

1.) Why has he left only a 1 day buffer between leaving the UK and when his visa expires? It would have been more prudent to have planned their holiday so that there was a bigger buffer in case something went wrong like the BAA strike!

2.) What's preventing the person from using another airline if the one they are supposed to use is fully booked? Apart from the cost of course, but that's not going to be good enough for the Home Office.

Just playing devil's advocate here, but I fear the Home Office would have no sympathy for a person in this situation precisely because of the 2 questions posed above.

OL7MAX wrote:If someone's visitors' visa stay expires on Jan 8th and he is due to fly out on Jan 7th, and has a confirmed ticket but is unable to fly out because of the BAA strike, what happens to his stay?

If the earliest flight the airline can put him on is Jan 14th, is he automatically in violation of his visa? He probably is, but what can he do to protect against that? The airline doesn't have any space on flights between now and Jan 7th.

He has to fly out at the latest on the 7th and he could transit in to pick up his new flight on the 14th if that is what happens but frankly I'd try to make the airline fly me out from wherever I had to go to avoid being an overstayer
Of course none of this will happen because the airline is not going to do anything ahead of time because they don't know for sure what is going to happen.

Why has he left only a 1 day buffer between leaving the UK and when his visa expires?

Maybe he was sick/incapicitated. Maybe he got beaten up and robbed and lost his passport, I don't know. I'll ask him, but somehow I don't think that answers his immediate problem.

There is the option of buying a ticket on another airline for a different date but it means forking out several hundred pounds. Not a life changing amount, but not something anyone wants to do unless absolutely necessary.

You're right about the airline, SYH.

Going to France for a day may be one way of getting around this, I suppose?

OL7MAX wrote: He probably is, but what can he do to protect against that?

Just a thought...
How about making a postal application of extension of leave based on the information above shortly before his visa is about to expire. Then by the time Home office will look into his application the 14 January will come and he'll be able to leave the UK. And his stay is legal here while his application is with the Home Office, isn't?
Include a cheque as a method of payment and maybe a certified copy of the passport. I don't know if you send them a passport and then request it back, will they be able to return it by the 14th January?


I seems to remember someone on this forum was in the similar situation but the guy was due to fly to USA, can't remember his nickname tough.