Exit UK with a student visa, re-enter as a tourist

Hi!

My girlfriend (Peruvian) has finished her masters degree and student visa is expiring next week. She has a valid tourist visa. Would she be able to leave the UK, so not to breach the student visa, and re-enter with the tourist visa?

Has anyone done this recently? Do Covid travel restrictions impact this?

Really appreciate if someone had any experience with this and can advice!

Thank you

deyablo wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:44 am

My girlfriend (Peruvian) has finished her masters degree and student visa is expiring next week. She has a valid tourist visa.

She can't have a valid UK student visa and a valid UK tourist visa at the same time. Getting a new visa cancels an existing visa.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... eave-ecb22

Hi! Thanks for ur reply. She had the tourist visa a few years back and it is valid for 10 years. then went on the student visa which is what is expiring next week. Tourist visa should still be valid as the paid for the 10 years.

"Applicants who already have entry clearance may submit applications for further entry clearance, but they are not allowed to have more than one form of leave at the same time. Applicants should be made aware of this and the implications of an application for further leave."

Technically she has only one visa after the student visa expires.

deyablo wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:52 pm

She had the tourist visa a few years back and it is valid for 10 years. then went on the student visa which is what is expiring next week. Tourist visa should still be valid as the paid for the 10 years.

No, it is not valid. Getting the Student visa cancelled the Visitor visa. If she wants to come back to the UK for a visit she will need to apply for a new Visitor visa.

thanks for your reply. This is her second masters and between the both she exited and came back using the tourist visa. This was only one year back as the masters is a one year program. So from experience we know that it works just incase u will be advising anyone else in the same situation

When and where did she apply for the second student visa?

Hi! thanks again for your reply! She applied for her second student visa abroad then came back using it. She did use her tourist visa in between both masters to come in though. This is why Im assuming that the tourist visa does not get cancelled on issuing a student visa. This last student visa was issued 1 year and 4 months ago.

It is supposed to get cancelled, as you can see from the Home Office info that I posted.

Of course, not everything is all joined up, and the Home Office does make mistakes, but it seems a bit risky to rely on it. Has to be her decision whether to keep using that old Visitor visa or apply for a new one. if she was refused entry on the old one, that would be a disaster.

deyablo wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 17, 2021 10:05 pm

thanks for your reply. This is her second masters and between the both she exited and came back using the tourist visa. This was only one year back as the masters is a one year program. So from experience we know that it works just incase u will be advising anyone else in the same situation

Immigration is really individual and the Home Office makes mistakes. When advising we have to follow government guidance not anomalies, so just because it's worked once for your girlfriend then it doesn't mean it will be the same for someone else. It's also not guaranteed to work again as decisions at the border can be very subjective. Although, your issue this time may be COVID because she's not entering as a resident if she's coming in on a tourist visa. She shouldn't be using her tourist visa to live in the UK and an established relationship could flag the visa isn't being used for its intended purpose.