Duration of tourist visa- very confused

[Kitty01]

Hello board members,
I hope that somebody can be so kind to help me.
My cousin is here on a tourist visa and she came with her husband. They were granted the tourist visa on 29/11/16 for 180 days with multiple entry. It will expire on the 29/05/17.
This seems very straight forward, however we have been given advice that as her husband went back to their home country his visa remains till 29/05/17 but because my cousin has not yet left the UK her visa is valid until 18/07/17. They entered the UK on 18/01/17 and this person giving advice is stating that the validity of the visa is from the date they entered and not the date the visa was issued. Her husband is now due to visit for another two weeks but she's extremely worried that they will both overstay and he may even be denied entry.
Please can someone clarify the validity of the visa and if there's any such rule that the visa becomes valid from the date of entry if you don't enter multiple times.
I hope this makes sense.
Thank you!!

[CR001]

The visa validity is the date NOT the date of entry for visitor visas. The visa clearly states a date of expiry and that is the key date. She must leave the UK on or BEFORE her visa expires on 29th May.

How long did the husband stay initially before leaving the UK??

[Kitty01]

Thank you, he stayed for 3 weeks, left on 10/02/17 and is coming back this Thursday for two weeks.

[CR001]

They must both leave the UK on or by the 29th May.

How long did your cousin state she would be visiting the UK for? Did she state she would be here for 5 months?

[Kitty01]

No she didn't say she would be here for five months, she said she would stay for just three weeks and go back with her husband. However this person advising them had her ticket cancelled and told her that she can stay till July. She currently has no return ticket and is worried her husband will be denied entry on Thursday as he is entering so close to the expiry of his visa. Is there a chance that this could happen?

[CR001]

Staying so much longer than originally stated in her visit visa application will make any future applications she makes difficult and they may well take the view that she is not actually a genuine visitors.

Yes there is a possibility that her husband will be denied entry.

Who is the person advising them (don't name them)? Is it an immigration advisor or travel agent?

Who authorised the cancellation of her return airticket?

Suggest get her a ticket back home asap and she must leave sooner rather than later.

[Kitty01]

I cannot thank you enough CR001.
Yes I am telling her to leave asap.
The person advising her is a family member (living here in the U.K.) he has convinced her that she could stay here until July, no questions asked.
I've just asked her and the ticket was a no show- she never showed up.

[CR001]

I strongly suggest you and her both stop listening to whoever is giving such very bad advice and clearly has no clue about the immigration rules. It will have long term effects if she stays past her visa expiry date. The fact that she has already stayed more than 4 months longer than she stated in her application will almost certainly raise questions for any future visit visas.

[vinny]

The 180 days is the maximum period that a visitor may remain in the UK. However, a visitor's stay is also limited to the validity of the entry clearance. Interestingly, it's the same as a Schengen visa. However, the UK is different to the US, where an Immigration Inspector determines the duration of stay at the port of entry.

Moreover, if she had indicted that she intended to stay for three weeks but remained for five months, then she may have problems as a genuine visitor in the future.

[Kitty01]

Thank you for your replies.
I have advised my cousin to pay no attention to this person as it seems he's out to practically ruin her life and instead she do the most sensible thing which is go back within this week.
I will update tomorrow when her husband arrives here, that's if he's not denied entry.

[CR001]

Just out of curiosity, she hasn't be working or using the free NHS has she?

[Kitty01]

No, not at all.
I won't go into much detail but she needed medical treatment for which she went to a private hospital and she has proof of this in the form of receipts etc.

[CR001]

Private hospital is fine, free NHS is not, which is why I asked.