PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Visas: Families (17 January 2017)

Applications for a visa to travel to the UK to visit family are considered on their merits, in accordance with the requirements set out in Appendix V to the Immigration Rules, taking into account the information and supporting documents provided in the application.

It is for the applicant to satisfy the decision maker that they meet those requirements, including that they are a genuine visitor. A genuine visitor is a person who will leave the UK at the end of the visit, will not live in the UK for extended periods or make the UK their main home, has sufficient funds for their support during the visit and who intends to undertake permitted visit activities and not prohibited activities. The assessment of the genuineness of a visitor relates to the particular factors of the individual application, but may include the applicant’s personal and economic ties to their country of residence.