UK general tourist visit for former non EEA student

Hi All,

My girlfriend is from Brazil and we met while she was studying in English in the UK in 2011. She went on ultimately to study her Masters here and we lived together for over a year and a half. Unfortunalely once her course finished she had to go back to Brazil in April of this year.

I have since been out to Brazil in June for 3 weeks to visit and we would like for her to come back here for 17 days over the Christmas holiday period to do some Christmas shopping and general winter touristy things in a big city before celebrating New Year with her family and friends back in Brazil. I have time off work and she can stay at my place so we will get to spend some time together and she can also visit her friends that are still living here in the UK.

I know Brazilian nationals can visit for up to 6 months as a tourist and do not need a visa to visit the UK. She will have been out of the UK for seven and a half months. I will write her a letter of invitation and state that she will be staying in my home, I will also provide a copy of my PP, is it worth mentioning the reason I am happy to accomodate her for this length of time is because her family did so for me when I was on holiday in Brazil during the world cup? Or is that irrelevant?

She will also have her tickets to fly home, cash, a bank letter to show she has money in her bank account and a letter from her employer authorising her holiday time but I have a few questions.....

Will it cause problems if I said in the letter she is my girlfriend or is it better to just be friends? Some people have said it is the truth so you should state it up front, others say you should never say it because they will be concerned she would overstay which is definitely not the case. Do you think it is likely she would have a problem visiting the UK for 17 days as a tourist? Or has enough time passed since she studied here etc. Finally are there any other documents that she could show that would be useful?

Any thoughts or advise are much appreciated.

GB