Entering the UK as a tourist after expired work visa

I am a Brazilian currently in the UK with a tier 1 visa that is expiring within the following months. The time I had here was entirely on work and hence I would like to spend maybe a month more as a tourist in order to see more of the country.

I found an event on Spain that I very much would like to see and it is soon after my UK visa expires. Hence:

1) Could I travel to Spain 1 day before my visa expires, returning to the UK with a no longer valid visa, hence entering as a tourist? Brazilians don't need a visa upon arriving on the UK, we receive a tourist visa on arrival that is valid for 3 months. Can I still count on that after a previous visa is expired?

2) As a side note, my passport expires in August and I intend to leave much before, but would that be a problem? Getting a Tourist visa with a passport that is soon expiring?

Note: It would all be by plane and I would have a ticket back to Brazil IF I am sure I could enter again as a tourist (or else it would be a waste of money to have it without being reasonably comfortable with the idea).

So my question is:

Could I enter the UK as a tourist soon after a UK work visa expired, and within few months of the expiration of my passport?

Best Answer

It's possible, but they're VERY strict on it. I've had a few friends do this, and one was deported and the other given a strict warning and told not to do it again.

Essentially, if you're working there, leave and come back in, all signs are that you're trying to go back to your job, potentially illegally.

So you'll need to assure them that you're not doing this, with such documentation as:

resignation letter from your job, or document to say you're no longer employed there.
a flight out of the UK
accommodation / itinerary for your tourist period to show you're actually being a tourist
ideally some numbers of places they can call to confirm these bookings
even better - letter from a company in another country showing you have a job to go to there, rather than working in the UK.