Visa Free Stay in UK for Academic Visitor

Hi everyone,

Here's my situation: I am a Canadian citizen currently doing graduate studies at MIT in the U.S. Recently an opportunity came up that I was invited to be an academic visitor at Cambridge University in the UK from February to the end of August 2011. The purpose of my stay is to exchange intellectual ideas between the two research groups (MIT and CU) . My questions are as follows:

1. My monthly salary is still paid by MIT so I will not be taking up an 'employment' in UK, per se... Cambridge will not be paying me at all, although I might stay in one of their residence halls. So I wonder if I can enter the UK and stay as a VISITOR (ie, without having to apply for work visa)?

2. Note that my desired length of stay will be more than the maximum 6 months allowed for a visitor. But I do plan to come return to MIT half way through my stay (say, in early June) to meet with my advisor here for a week or two. So my question is: is that 6 months total in ONE YEAR or does the 6-month clock RESTART if you leave UK and re-enter later, say in like 3 weeks? Basically, I plan to break up my stay into a 5-month and a 3-month segment. Would that work? Would I be allowed to enter the UK again in say, late June?

3. What do i need to bring with me to convince the UK border agent upon entry that I do not fall within the 'work visa required' category?


Thank you all very much for your help in advance!

Best,

Beckett

Before coming to the UK, you should apply for an academic visitor visa, which will allow you to stay for a maximum of 12 months.

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