Visitor Visa - Supporting Documentation for an Extended Stay

Hi Everyone,

We're hoping to use a Visitor Visa for my girlfriend from the U.S. to stay with me for (close to) six months - thinking around Nov 20th to May 6th.

I've looked over the supporting documents and I'm pretty worried that there's not really a whole lot that we could really provide as evidence to a border officer if they start questioning the length of the visit.

My Girlfriend is unemployed at the moment and was up until recently a College student but didn't get the funding needed to continue on the course. Long story short, there's no income, savings or employment to tie her back to a life in the U.S.

On top of that she doesn't really have proof of her own residence since she'll be staying at her Mother's house whilst in the U.S. - is there any kind of supporting documentation that she can get from her Mother to show that she has residence there? (It's a rented property, FYI)

I'll be supporting her financially whilst she's here and I'll be renting my own place (not there yet, currently in a house share with some friends but plan to be moved into my own place by early November at the latest). My salary should be more than enough to show that I can support two people. Any advice on what documentation I can provide?

In regards to applying for a Visitor Visa / just chancing it at the border - am I being paranoid in thinking that there's a higher chance they'll be less forgiving in an official application? I know with the border officers there's always the risk of them having a bad day or whatever and deciding to be picky at the border but likewise maybe you'd get lucky and the person on duty won't care all that much?

Since we're trying for a long visit and won't have much supporting evidence do you think we're unlikely to get approval?

Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks. 

This page helped a bit.

 Shows a pretty good list of documents that can be included.

Still think we're out of luck in terms of showing any ties back to the U.S. for her but at least I have a better idea of what I should include.

So far my plan is to have the following ready (as a third party supporting the visitor):

• 6 Months of bank statements showing my incoming and outgoing
• 6 months worth of payslips (should be covered by the bank statements but just in case)
• A copy of my passport bio-data page
• Copy of my Tenancy Agreement (once I start renting my own place)
• A letter including my personal details and explaining our relationship and that she'll be staying with me for the duration of her visit and that I'll be covering any costs. (Might also mention that we intend to spend time together over the Christmas and New Year holidays so that she can meet my family?)

Since I'm probably only going to be in my rented property for 2 - 3 weeks before the planned arrival date, do you think this would be a problem?

I can't speak to your financial documents, etc. or the specifics of the visa, but for border entry at least it's important for her to have a return ticket. And any kind of proof at all that she will honor the expiration date of her visa and leave the country then. Is there any reason at all she would need to return to the US in May? Friend or relative's graduation ceremony? Wedding? Dentist appointment? Does her mom need her assistance in any way? (i.e. need her daughter back in May to help with moving house). Don't know if that's good enough for a visa but it might help.

I guess it's worth considering. We can't think of any particular reason that we could give so far but we'll give it some more thought.

Just really hoping that she doesn't get denied entry at the border 

Can she come for a shorter period? The longer she tries to visit for, the more scrutiny she will be under and the more ties she will need to show, especially if it's her first trip.

For example, a trip of 2-3 months would look more favourable than a trip of 5-6 months.

Ideally, the best way to do it, immigration-wise, is to have her make short visits to start with (a couple of weeks or so at a time), where she leaves the UK when she says she will, to build up a good immigration history, and then make a longer visit once she's shown she has a history of abiding by the immigration rules.


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Things aren't great for her back home to be honest and we're quite eager to spend as much time together as possible; although I'm sure that's a common feeling for everyone stuck in an LDR on here 

A shorter visit would be more sensible, yeah. Trying pretty hard to save up for future Visa costs etc. though so the fewer flights required to see each other the better. I'm seeing the occasional cheap-ish flight for around £600 appear but most are around £800/£900. Kinda stings to keep paying out for that (also a ~16 hour day of travelling sucks, lol)

Things aren't great for her back home to be honest and we're quite eager to spend as much time together as possible; although I'm sure that's a common feeling for everyone stuck in an LDR on here 

Sorry to hear that - the only issue is that the fact things aren't great for her at home is more likely to make her an immigration risk... due to the potential that she might not want to go back home again and may try to stay in the UK illegally to be with you.

A shorter visit would be more sensible, yeah. Trying pretty hard to save up for future Visa costs etc. though so the fewer flights required to see each other the better. I'm seeing the occasional cheap-ish flight for around £600 appear but most are around £800/£900. Kinda stings to keep paying out for that (also a ~16 hour day of travelling sucks, lol)

Whereabouts in the US would you fly to? Some cities are more expensive to fly to than others.

For example, I'm flying to Arkansas on Saturday, which is not a direct flight and not many people fly there, so it's more expensive than flying to a large city like New York or L.A.

My flights on Saturday were just over £700. If I had flown in July it would have been over £1200. However, in November, it's only £550.

But if I was just flying to Chicago, it would have only been about £700 in July and £365 in November.



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Sorry to hear that - the only issue is that the fact things aren't great for her at home is more likely to make her an immigration risk... due to the potential that she might not want to go back home again and may try to stay in the UK illegally to be with you.

I don't think any of her personal issues would really come up if questioned. Mostly just that she's having trouble finding work and doesn't have a great relationship with her parents (step-father in particular...) which is where she's had to move back to recently.

We've got no intentions of breaking any immigration laws but I know the problem is that the border officer may want more evidence than we've got. 

Whereabouts in the US would you fly to? Some cities are more expensive to fly to than others.

She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. When I visited towards the end of July is cost me £1000 for the return flight. Granted, I'm realising that was a really bad time to go 

Prices are all over the place when I look. Seen some appear for around £600 or sometimes a bit less but they don't seem to stay around when I check again later.

She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. When I visited towards the end of July is cost me £1000 for the return flight. Granted, I'm realising that was a really bad time to go 

Yeah, July/summer holidays is the worst time to go for flight prices... I went in early August last year, but if I had gone 2 weeks later, the flights would have been £400 less!

It doesn't help that the flight prices to the US have soared in the last 5 years. I've been flying to the US for 22 years and between 1995 and about 2010, summer flights were about £500-600 and off-season flights were £300-400.

These days, the same flights are more like £1,000-1,200 in the summer and £500-700 in the off-season .



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Hey,

Quick follow-up question for this one.

Purely hypothetical at the moment, but are there any known repercussions from lying about how long you intend to stay for? i.e. book a return ticket for 2 weeks even though you intend to stay for 5 months. Is that type of thing tracked and taken into consideration for future visa applications / visits?

Hey,

Quick follow-up question for this one.

Purely hypothetical at the moment, but are there any known repercussions from lying about how long you intend to stay for? i.e. book a return ticket for 2 weeks even though you intend to stay for 5 months. Is that type of thing tracked and taken into consideration for future visa applications / visits?

Yes, that's not a good idea.

Yes, that's not a good idea.

Yeah, I thought as much. Was mostly just curious.

Still a bit worried about border control sending her home after the flight - it puts stupid ideas into my head 

Yes, they will check if she stuck to the original dates and changed flights for future applications.  Best to "not go there."

Has she been to the UK before?  If not...  <sigh>

Has she been to the UK before?

Nope. Submitting her passport application this weekend so there's no travel history at all.

I'm worried that we're being a bit too optimistic about the whole 5/6 month visit thing, idk though.

A shorter visit really doesn't work all that well for us at the moment, especially when flights are so expensive.

Nope. Submitting her passport application this weekend so there's no travel history at all.

I'm worried that we're being a bit too optimistic about the whole 5/6 month visit thing, idk though.

A shorter visit really doesn't work all that well for us at the moment, especially when flights are so expensive.

Honestly?

The IO is also going to wonder for the safety and security for a woman traveling on her own for the first time out of the US.  It really is better to start small and build up.  What if you two don't get on?  I don't want to be a pessimist but it does happen unfortunately.  She really should plan to come for about two weeks and have her own accommodation.  If you guys choose to not use the accommodation - fair enough!  But it's just smart to do so.  Protecting you just as much as protecting her!