Originally Posted by
Christopher
That would have been the case, certainly, but now a visa is taken as granting leave to enter, which is confirmed (rather than granted) by the immigration officer at the port of entry – and of course entry can be denied at the port of entry, thereby in effect cancelling the leave.
But Article 4(2) of the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000 says:-
On each occasion the holder arrives in the United Kingdom, he shall be treated for the purposes of the Immigration Acts as having been granted, before arrival, leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period beginning on the date of arrival ...
As I read it, that means that the visa does not operate as leave to enter until the visa holder arrives in the UK. At that point (but not before), they are treated as if they had been granted LTE before arrival. Or, in other words, these provisions do not mean that the visa holder already has LTE before they arrive in the UK.
Usual disclaimers about all this: Just personal musings, does not constitute formal advice, do not rely on my pre-coffee ramblings.