The most appropriate visa for visitors traveling to the UK for tourism, business, medical treatment, studies, or visits to family and friends is the UK standard Visitor Visa, which is an Entry Clearance application. On a UK standard Visitor Visa you are permitted to travel to the UK for tourism and sightseeing purposes, to see your family and friends in the UK, to make stopovers at the airport, to sign contracts, attend fairs and business meetings and do other business activities, to volunteer for up to 30 days for a registered charity, to take part in a school exchange program, to do a recreational course of up to 30 days, to participate in congresses as a listener or speaker, to receive medical treatments and attend consultations with a British doctor, for academician to attend a conference, meeting, training, seminar and interview in the UK, to study English Language or a short course at an accredited institution, to sit an entrance exam, retake an exam or course module, or attend a PhD viva, to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test or sit the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for qualified foreign doctors and nurses, and Bar Transfer Test (BTT) to become a barrister or Qualifying Law Transfer Scheme (QLTS) to become a Solicitor for qualified foreign lawyers, for doctor’s or dentist’s to take an unpaid clinical attachment or observer post.

Generally, UK Standard Visitor Visas are categories as following:

• Visit on Business
• Visit to Study
• Visit as an Academic
• Visit for Medical reasons

The UK Standard Visitor Visa is granted for a duration of 6 months. Not all categories are permitted to make an extension application. Further extensions for 6 months are permitted to these limited circumstances:

• A patient receiving medical treatment
• A academic
• A graduate needs to retake Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test
• A graduate undertaking a clinical attachment

Those with medical issues who need private consultations or treatment from a doctor in the UK may be granted a visit visa on medical grounds. To qualify for this particular type of visa, an applicant must have secured the appropriate arrangements for their treatment or consultation and hold the financial resources to cover those costs in the UK. The validity of this visa is for a period of six months. However, if the patient is receiving continued care from the physician or NHS doctors, you may submit an application for a further extension for 6 months to the UKVI.

If you are able to demonstrate to the UKVI the following, you have the possibility to extend your stay in the UK as an academic:

• You must demonstrate that you are exceptionally skilled in your area of specialty.
• You will need to provide evidence that you are currently employed at an overseas academic institution in your field of expertise.
• You must demonstrate that you are not assuming a permanent teaching position.

If you are currently in the UK and have a visa that allows you to stay for less than a year, you may seek to stay for a maximum of 12 months.

A graduate may extend their stay for the rest of their entire stay in the UK if they want to retake the PLAB Test.
To make sure you don’t overstay your visa in the UK, you must get legal advice by speaking with one of our UK immigration lawyers.

The application price for a visit visa extension is roughly £1,000. The UKVI will typically take 8 weeks to decide whether to grant the request for an extension. You may, however, pay an additional £800 fee to obtain a judgement in two days.
You should be aware that, as these extensions are in-country requests, the applicants must be present in the UK at the time of application.

The extension application needs to be supported by the following documents:

• Copy of the applicant’s passport
• Bank statements showing you have funds available to support yourself in the UK
• Documents relating to the reason of extension
• TB test Certificate

There is a possible way to extend your visit visa application, provided you meet one of the eligibility criteria and also have evidence of the same. The extension visa application is for another six months. The extension of your current visit visa can only be granted if you are already in the UK. In certain instances, applying for a new category of visa could be preferable than merely extending your current visitor visa.