A "tourist" visit to the UK is limited to six months. Can I leave the UK and re-enter in about a week?

My wife and I are US citizens and are interested in living in the UK (probably London and vicinity) for about a year. We will be self-sufficient while we are there (not dependent on UK social services). I am a writer and she is intested in doing independent study on English history and art. However, based on my research on several British Government websites, the longest we can stay in the UK as a "visitor" (i.e. without a visa) is six months. My question is, if we stay for six months, then leave the UK for about a week, can we re-enter the country for another six months? Do I have to leave the country for longer than that to "reset" the six-month clock? Any help here would be much appreciated!

Regards,
Richard M.

Answers:
Hi there,

The previous post was not entirely correct. You can enter the UK for 6 months and then leave and come back for 6 months, however, it is at the discretion of the immigration officer whether they allow you to enter. You will need to show that you are genuine tourists and have the financial capacity to support yourselves as you will not be able to work or claim benefits.

If you wife is planing on studying at an college or university she will not be able to on a visitor visa - she will need to obtain a student visa. If she is just going to studying informally or just a short course she may be able to do this on a tourist visa.

I am a registered to give UK Immigration Advice and am happy to provide you with some more specific information if you email me at Jessica.Stooke@Visalogic.net.

Other answers:
you should be able to i know here in the states i have a friend from scotlant here and they said aslong as he leaves the us like he can go back to scotland and just jump on another plane back to the us so i dont see why you cant

you should be able to i know here in the states i have a friend from scotlant here and they said aslong as he leaves the us like he can go back to scotland and just jump on another plane back to the us so i dont see why you cant
Under visitor status, you may not take paid or unpaid employment so unless you are "self-sufficient" as in you have lots of money to spend and won't need to work, then visitor status will not work for you anyway. If you do work while in visitor status, you can be deported.

Assuming you do have lots of cash so will not be working, you may not be in the UK for more than 6 months in any one year. Staying longer than that would make you an illegal alien, even if you left for a week and returned.

Additionally, if you were to stay longer than 6 months, you would qualify as "resident" and would have to pay taxes in the UK regardless of where you earned your income. Since the US does not have a reciprocal tax agreement with the UK, you'd also have to file taxes in the US.
This isnt like Mexico you cant re enter after your six months are up you will have to go back and re apply then come back
Why don't you just apply for citizenship if you want to stay here for longer than a holiday allows.
We don't like foreigners anyway.
I have researched every which way of living and working in the UK and if I am not mistaken, since you are a writer, I think that is considered an acceptable proffession to have in order to obtain residence or eligibility to work over there.

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