Visitor visa extension for people shielding due to coronavirus

[mamunxbcc]

Hello,

My parents are resident of Bangladesh and currently in the UK with a 6-month visitor visa since late January. Their visa is due to expire in mid July and due to coronavirus related travel restrictions, they have recently applied for a visa extension till 31st of July and that has been granted.

My father is over 60 years old and have a number of pre-existing health conditions (heart issues, diabetes and high blood pressure) and therefore he is currently 'shielding' at my home in the UK according to the UK government advice. My mother is his only care giver and is also staying in my home.

Due to coronavirus, I am extremely worried about them traveling to my home country Bangladesh within 31st of July. The air travel and all other travels to and from the airport are extremely risky for them, especially for my father. The infection rate in my home country is extremely high at this stage, and I would like them to stay another few months with me in the UK, if possible. Given these, is there any way I can apply for extending their current visa for a further 3-6 months, beyond 31st of July? Hopefully the transmission rate of the virus in Bangladesh will reduce by then.

Please let me know if anyone facing the same issues or if you have any advice in general. Thanks in advance.

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

I sympathise with your concerns. But at the moment, they didn't publish anything to cover visitor visas holders beyond July 31st. Initially, there was an extension grant to May 31st. Then it was automatically extended by 3 months to July 31st.

They may or may not issue another extension but I don't feel it's heading in that direction as more countries are returning to normal or near-normal.

You can monitor this page:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -residents

For now, the message is this:

If you’ve already had your visa extended to 31 May 2020, your visa will be extended automatically to 31 July 2020.

You are expected to take all reasonable steps to leave the UK before this date where it is possible to do so.