How do I extend my holiday visa in the UK if I want to stay more years than the 2 years I'm suppose to legally
Answer:
My husband, who is also South African, was in this exact position nearly 2 years ago! He was in the uk on a holiday working visa for 2 years, he arrived in 2003 and his visa expired in 2005, but when he asked me to marry him we had to do something about that, or it would mean that he would be here illegally! We tried everything and got turned down so we went to our local MP to ask them to write a letter to the home office and ask for an extension or something, so that he would be able to stay in the uk. This took a total of maybe 5 or 6 weeks, and when they finally answered our letter, our local MP called us and told us that they denied his request on the grounds that the maximum amount of time you can get on a holiday visa is 2 years, and since he had already used up that 2 years, they could not/would not extend his visa and that he must leave the country by the time his visa expires! Not exactly the answer we were hoping for, however, the ONLY option he had was to enter the uk as my spouse on an entry clearance visa, which basically meant we had to leave the uk and get married in South Africa, apply for this new visa in pretoria, and come back to the uk married! So what we did was exactly that! We had to bring our wedding day forward quite significantly, but it was all worth it, we are now 2 years down the line and about to apply for his next visa Indefinate leave to remain in the uk and with a bit of luck the home office will say yes this time! This is probably a rather unique situation but what I am trying to say is, there is not much chance that the home office will extend your holiday visa, and unless you are in a similar situation to my husband then im not sure you will be able to stay legally. Is there any way you could try applying for an ancestry visa? I wish you the best of luck, I hope it all works out for you!
So you've got a WHM visa (valid for two years) and you want to seek further leave to remain at the end of its validity? No embassy can help you - only the Home Office can extend leave - but since you've had time to work AND holiday you'd be pretty hard pushed to get an extension. Some do get extensions as visitors - but visitors can't work and there's no guarantee of success in any such application. Unless you have UK ancestry or an offer of work that leads to the issuance of a work permit I'd say you are pretty much stuffed. Make the best of the rest of your leave....and then leave.
(And well done for the 3rd poster here - SexyMama - for doing it the right way....in the end!!)
I'm sure you would like to work more years but your time is up so GOODBYE.
Don't worry about it, no one will check.
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