Visitor Visa rules

My wife decided not to live in the UK with me for personal reasons.  I decided not to leave the UK also for personal reasons.  She can apply for a visitor visa.  Maybe for a 2 years visitor visa to visit me in the UK.

I am told that she cannot, under this specific visa, visit me for more than "6 months in a year."  She needs to return home for the remaining 6 months.

The question is whether she can, for example, decide not use the 2 years visa for the first year.  So that she can stay here for the full 12 months of the second year of the life of the visa. Making in "total" that she has only used the visa for "half" of its life, equivolent to staying here for 6 months in 12 months. This would be planned according to our assessment of when she really needs to use the visa.

Or is it the case that  if she gets the 2 years visa, the two yearly elements of the visa are separated.  So that she cannot "store" the time she has not used the visa in the first year, to later "spend" it in the second year?

Thanks.

My wife decided not to live in the UK with me for personal reasons.  I decided not to leave the UK also for personal reasons.  She can apply for a visitor visa.  Maybe for a 2 years visitor visa to visit me in the UK.

I am told that she cannot, under this specific visa, visit me for more than "6 months in a year."  She needs to return home for the remaining 6 months.

The question is whether she can, for example, decide not use the 2 years visa for the first year.  So that she can stay here for the full 12 months of the second year of the life of the visa. Making in "total" that she has only used the visa for "half" of its life, equivolent to staying here for 6 months in 12 months. This would be planned according to our assessment of when she really needs to use the visa.

Or is it the case that  if she gets the 2 years visa, the two yearly elements of the visa are separated.  So that she cannot "store" the time she has not used the visa in the first year, to later "spend" it in the second year?

Thanks.

She cant stay 1 full year, the time isnt stored. She would have to stay 6 months and then leave for 6 months. You are not able to spend more than 6 months. So say she stayed January to June, she has to go home from July to December, also remember they watch your patterns and maybe not grant her a full 6 months the next time around. It's at their discretion.

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Haven’t we already had this discussion before?

Exactly 1 year ago today, you asked almost the same question about the rules of using a long-term visitor visa and how long she could visit for:
https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=92292.0

The answer is the same now as it was then.

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Thanks again guys for the clear and quick reply .  A bit confused about this advice though.  Can you clarify: "also remember they watch your patterns and maybe not grant her a full 6 months the next time around. It's at their discretion."

It means that the amount of time she can stay is purely up to the IO, even if she has the visa.

For example, if she comes in and stays for six months in one year, the next year  the IO will see that she spent six months in the UK previously. This is not something a typical visitor can do. So on her next visit she can present for a six month entry with her visa but the IO will look at the number of times she has visited and decide whether they want to grant her another six months, or a shorter length of time, or no time at all.

They will use the amount of time she spends in the UK , and what visa she enters on, to determine whether she is a genuine visitor. If they feel she is not, then they can choose to grant less time, or no time at all, in the UK, to her.

Thanks again guys for the clear and quick reply .  A bit confused about this advice though.  Can you clarify: "also remember they watch your patterns and maybe not grant her a full 6 months the next time around. It's at their discretion."

It means that if the immigration officer thinks she is spending too much time in the UK (i.e. more time in the UK than in the US), and it looks like she’s using the visitor visa to essentially ‘live’ in the UK, then they can decide either to not allow her in at all, or to only stamp her in for a short period of time (i.e. a few days/weeks).

In order to prevent this from happening, she should try to spend at least as much time back in the US as she spent in the UK before trying to come back in again.

For example,
-if she visits for 3 weeks, she should wait 3 weeks or more before coming back.
- if she visits for 2 months, she should wait at least 2 months before coming back
- if she visits for 6 months, she should wait at least 6 months before coming back.


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Thank you for your very clear and concise answer again.  Much appreciated.