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My Brazilian girlfriend is coming to visit me in the UK.

First we will meet in Greece for 2 weeks stay after we have the flight back to London.

If I'm with her in the airport does she still need a return ticket to show?

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    I don't understand why you think it makes a difference if you are flying into UK on the same flight. She needs to show that she has good reason to leave UK, yet you seem to provide the opposite – attached to you and no return ticket. Aside: have you ever met her?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Jul 8 at 19:37
  • thanks for your answer
    – dorian grey
    Commented Jul 8 at 19:39
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    Despite the lack of detail, it smells of a scam. Especially, beware of being asked for money.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Jul 8 at 19:40
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    It certainly won't hurt to have a return ticket. Otherwise it looks like there's a risk of her overstaying. Remember that border staff have a lot of discretion to admit or refuse entry.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jul 8 at 20:40
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    @StuartF in light of the sums that some people pay and the risks that they face to get to the UK by less regular means, the cost of a discarded air ticket is fairly negligible. The evidential weight of an air ticket is therefore also small.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 9 at 10:28

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I presume that you are asking this question because she is planning not to have a return ticket. This is perfectly acceptable; she's allowed to finalize the details of her departure after arriving. But if she doesn't have a fixed plan to depart at a certain time, officers are more likely to suspect a potential overstay and refuse to admit her. They will respond far differently to these two stories:

  • I don't have a ticket because I intend to return by September 15th, but depending on the results of my relative's medical test next week I may decide to return earlier.

  • I'm not sure when I'll return because I want to see how well I like it here.

In the first case, there are definite parameters and a maximum intended stay; the second is vague and open ended.

Having a ticket may help in that regard, but it's no guarantee: officers know that someone who plans to overstay may have a ticket that they intend not to use. If there are other indications of a potential overstay then having a ticket may not be sufficient to overcome them.

On the other hand, if she doesn't have a ticket because she has (for example) a well documented plan to proceed to the continent by surface transportation then there's probably nothing to worry about.

If she won't have a ticket because she does in fact intend to overstay, you should probably rethink the plan altogether.

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