How should I best present my circumstances to UK immigration when returning to the UK after previously staying there for 6 months?

As a non-visa national, Australians can Britain as tourists and stay for up to six months. By my calculation, you stayed for five months, and plan a return visit in July the following year, to some extent an annual trip by an Australian to visit family in the UK.

The UK does not have a restriction on the number of visits a person may make, nor is there a specified time that must elapse between visits. No one is guaranteed entry to a country which is not their own, even if their mum is with them.

Here is some of what an Immigration Officer considers when an individual presents at the border for admission, following the Home Office guidance (at page 17):

Frequent or successive visits: how to assess if an applicant is making the UK their main home or place of work

See: paragraph V 4.2(b) of appendix V: visitor rules.

You should check the applicant’s travel history, including how long they are spending in the UK and how frequently they are returning. You must assess if they are, in effect, making the UK their main home.

You should look at:

• the purpose of the visit and intended length of stay stated
• the number of visits made over the past 12 months, including the length of stay on each occasion, the time elapsed since the last visit, and if this amounts to the individual spending more time in the UK than in their home country
• the purpose of return trips to the visitor’s home country and if this is used only to seek re-entry to the UK
• the links they have with their home country - consider especially any long term commitments and where the applicant is registered for tax purposes
• evidence the UK is their main place of residence, for example:
  • if they have registered with a general practitioner (GP)
  • if they send their children to UK schools
• the history of previous applications, for example if the visitor has previously been refused under the family rules and subsequently wants to enter as a visitor you must assess if they are using the visitor route to avoid the rules in place for family migrants joining British or settled persons in the UK

There is no specified maximum period which an individual can spend in the UK in any period such as ‘6 months in 12 months’. However, if it is clear from an individual’s travel history that they are making the UK their home you should refuse their application.