5 year visit visa

[bathanza]

Hello

I have a family member in Pakistan who has been visiting the UK on a standard 6 month visa to visit family.

We now want to arrange a 5 year visa to make it easier for her to come to the uk to visit.

She is retired with strong ties in the UK. She has visited the UK twice already this year totalling approx 3 months total stay in this year.

She has returned to Pakistan within visa validity and we want to plan forward.

Some people say wait 6 months then apply for the visit visa.

Some say 3 months. Any member advice would be grateful to ensure a successful application. We have a wedding to plan dependant on her arrival. Many thanks.

[bathanza]

In addition she has had 3 or 4 6 month visit visas in the past 5 years and has never over stayed.

[Casa]

In addition she has had 3 or 4 6 month visit visas in the past 5 years and has never over stayed.

The strong ties to the UK won't be in her favour. She needs to submit evidence of strong ties to her home country.

[bathanza]

Yup, shouldn't be a problem. Her mother is still around and dependant on her.

Worst case scenario will apply for 6 month again.

[avjones]

Make sure that she doesn't ever look as if she is living here, in fact if not in law. 6 months' stay in the UK out of any 12 months is a very useful guide.

Also make sure that she doesn't use any public services (such as the NHS) and that she had proper health insurance covering the UK; if she had a bad accident or a nasty illness, the costs would be high.

[Casa]

Make sure that she doesn't ever look as if she is living here, in fact if not in law. 6 months' stay in the UK out of any 12 months is a very useful guide.

Also make sure that she doesn't use any public services (such as the NHS) and that she had proper health insurance covering the UK; if she had a bad accident or a nasty illness, the costs would be high.

+1

Also, any unpaid NHS bill of over £500, outstanding for more than 3 months is likely to result in a refusal of future visa applications under 320(11) of the Immigration Rules.