Extending the 180 day limit on a type c visitor visa

Hi

We currently have a grandmother visiting us on a type c visa, which allows 180 days per trip.

A couple of questions:
1. Is this 180 days in a calendar year? I take it she couldn’t leave the country for a week, and come back and do another 180 days in the same year?

2. Is there any way to extend the visa assuming 1 isn’t possible, so she could stay longer than 180 days in a given year?
Thanks

1. It is 180 days visa validity if she has a 6 month visitor visa. If she has say, a two year visitor visa, it is 180 days from the date if entry.

2. No. That would be considered residing and not visiting and using a visitor visa to circumvent the rules.

Why does she need to stay longer?

The 180 days is measured over a rolling 12 month period. So immediately returning to the UK after a full 180 period of visit would not be allowed. The general rule of thumb is that you are expected to be outside of the UK more than in the UK.

She does not seem to meet the definition of a genuine visitor, one of which is meeting the standard that they "will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home;" (See Immigration Rule V 4.2 of Appendix V of the UK Immigration Rules).

Even if they stay in the UK for only 6 months, but stay out the whole 180 days permitted by the visa, and then immediately try to return to the UK after 6 months outside the UK, the ECO (if she has to apply for a visa)/IO (if she is a non-visa national) will subject her application to close scrutiny, because it will appear as if she is trying to reside in the UK in the guise of a visitor (which as you can see above is not permitted).

It comes down to the crucial question that @CR001 asked above, why does she need to stay (as opposed to want to stay) longer in the UK?

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry for the slow response.

So she’s on a tier c visa, multi entry, with 180 days duration and it’s valid for ten years.

The reason we’d like her to stay longer this year is because she is effectively filling the role as nanny for our children at the moment (bit of a nightmare with COVID)

So it sound like the 180 days are per year, so she could stay here for 180 days per year for the next ten years. Was trying to work out if there’s some way to extend her stay for this year so she could stay for 8 months rather than six. Sounds like I’d need to apply for some other type of visa ?

Thanks

So she is effectively in the UK on a visitor visa and working, even though unpaid. She is in breach of her visa conditions.

I guess, what is the definition of working? Given she ‘s not being paid and is staying with us and happens to be watching the kids, is that a breach? What’s the expectation of the activities you partake in, on a tier c visa?

Jw9315 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:24 pm

Given she ‘s not being paid and is staying with us and happens to be watching the kids, is that a breach?

If she is spending time with the children, and say the parents have popped out to pick up groceries, that is absolutely fine. It is the equivalent of you dropping the kids off with some relatives for a short time.

If she is taking full time care of the child in the parents' absence, while the parents are away for work, that would be considered work, even if unpaid. If the person taking care of the child were somebody other than an immediate family member, that role would have required a trained person, who would have charged a commensurate fee.

In any case, the rule is not so much just 180 days in a year, but whether the person is "living in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or mak[ing] the UK their main home" (see Genuine Visitor requirements in Appendix V of the UK Immigration Rules).

Visits are meant to be short, sweet and infrequent. Somebody who spends 180 days in a year every year is almost certainly likely to get questioned at the airport/border. And if it accidentally comes out (or it is interpreted) that she is doing a full-time job of looking after children while in the UK "visiting", that may complicate matters at the airport.

Also keep in mind that people in the UK on a visit visa are not covered by the NHS and can be charged 150% of cost for any non-emergency NHS use and that travel insurance tends to cover only the first month or so of stay in a country.

Thanks!

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:34 pm

Also keep in mind that people in the UK on a visit visa are not covered by the NHS and can be charged 150% of cost for any non-emergency NHS use and that travel insurance tends to cover only the first month or so of stay in a country.

Emergency treatment can be billed too. In A&E it is free, but billed if they are admitted to the hospital, charged at 150% of the NHS rate.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/visitin ... om-abroad/

Thanks all.

Also have just been reading up on the requirements to get parents over on a more permanent visa and it sounds virtually impossible, so I guess the 180 day multi entry is the best that can be hoped for. Interesting how it’s so difficult (I would be able to say that we’d cover all healthcare costs , so hopefully little cost to the state)