Long-term standard tourist visa

Is the long term visitor visa limited to certain nationalities? Can Canadians apply for it as well?
I will need multiple entries to the UK to visit my daughter who is on a Tier 5 - temporary worker visa. Am I allowed multiple entries of 6 months max per visit if I apply for the long term visitor visa?

amyriam7 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:46 am

Is the long term visitor visa limited to certain nationalities? Can Canadians apply for it as well?
I will need multiple entries to the UK to visit my daughter who is on a Tier 5 - temporary worker visa. Am I allowed multiple entries of 6 months max per visit if I apply for the long term visitor visa?

A long term visitor visa only has a longer validity, it does not give you the right to spend more time in the UK than in your home country/country of legal residence.

So, a two-year visitor visa would give you a maximum (!!) stay of about 2 x 6 months total. Not more than 6 months in any rolling 12 month period within those two years.

Since Canadians generally don't need to apply for a tourist visa beforehand, applying for a tourist visa would probably not have any advantages unless you have adverse UK immigration history?

How many visits of what duration over how many years are you thinking?

Since her visa expires in two years, I was thinking of getting the two year visitor visa. I won't be staying for 6 months each visit, however my visits in one year could exceed 6 months (multiple entries). Is there a legal way to stay longer than the allowed 6 months? If both the standard visitor visa and the long-term visitor visa allow you a maximum of 6 months per year, then what's the difference between the two? (I guess, it's for citizens of countries who need a visa to visit the UK?).
We are not trying to settle down as I mentioned she is on a temporary visa and will be returning home in two years. Your thoughts and help on this matter are much appreciated.

For a Canadian, the visitor visa is useless. The only time you need it is if you had issues with UK immigration such as refused entry... etc. Then, they will ask you to apply for a visa if you are to come back again.

These visas are mainly for people who can't enter the UK at all without a visa.

Now, visa or not, they don't want you to make UK home by frequent and successive visits. If they see that you are spending more time in the UK than outside, that's a red flag.

I have seen many Americans and Canadians playing the game of cat and mouse in Europe. Some even own real-estate and actually do live in Europe for all practical purposes. But being visa free, they travel a lot just to reset the counters. As long as they keep under the radar, they are not a priority for immigration enforcement.

amyriam7 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:13 pm

Since her visa expires in two years, I was thinking of getting the two year visitor visa. I won't be staying for 6 months each visit, however my visits in one year could exceed 6 months (multiple entries). Is there a legal way to stay longer than the allowed 6 months? If both the standard visitor visa and the long-term visitor visa allow you a maximum of 6 months per year, then what's the difference between the two? (I guess, it's for citizens of countries who need a visa to visit the UK?).
We are not trying to settle down as I mentioned she is on a temporary visa and will be returning home in two years. Your thoughts and help on this matter are much appreciated.

Not as a visitor. More than six months a year is not visiting, it's residing. The difference between a standard 6-month visitor visa and a long term visitor visa is, that visa nationals who have need to visit the UK frequently do not need to make applications every six months, possibly involving extensive travel to a processing center or Embassy.

Coming and going the way you describe will flag up sooner or later and the authorities will question your ties to Canada - you are not working, I guess? You could be refused entry eventually, if border control comes to the conclusion that you are not a genuine visitor and then you'd face not being able to return to the UK without applying for a visa beforehand - and no certainty of that actually being issued!

Why do you need to visit your daughter for more than six months out of a year?