Many people think that people overstay on their UK visa on purpose, but it often happens with people unwittingly.
It is extremely important that people on their route to British citizenship, make sure that they have a reminder system to ensure that they extend their current UK visa in time, or apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on time.
The repercussion of overstaying in the UK
In a nutshell, the principle is that if you overstay your visa by more than 30 days, then you can be subject to a re-entry ban of up to 10 years depending on circumstances. A re-entry ban will mean that you can get barred or blocked from re-entering the UK. This rule is true if you have overstayed on or after 6 April 2017.
If you had overstayed before 6 April 2017, then you would have had up to 90 days to leave the UK to avoid a re-entry ban.
It is also important to note that if you overstay on your visa, but have an ongoing British citizenship application at the Home Office in the UK, then the fact of having an ongoing British citizenship application at Home Office does NOT mean you are still lawfully in the UK.
In such circumstances, you would still need to leave the UK and await a decision on your British citizenship application from/while outside the UK. This seems like an unusual situation, but it can and does happen.
We highly recommend that readers speak to a Breytenbachs consultant at least a couple of months before their current visa expires. It is important that one allows enough time to collect the paperwork required in support of the application and to prepare & submit the application in advance of your visa expires. This will ensure that you maintain continuous Leave to Remain in the UK and avoid overstaying and unnecessary stress.
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Please note that the information in this article does not constitute professional advice. It is provided for general information purposes, without giving any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied.
You can contact Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants at www.bic-immigration.com or send an email to [email protected]
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