polarcheese
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 15 years ago
OK, so my friend and I want to go interrailing this summer.
I am a UK citizen, so there is no problem there. However, he has been studying in the UK for the past 5 years on a UK student visa. He is originally from Hong Kong.
So the question is, does he count as resident for the past 6 months. He has gone home for holidays (~2 months out of the past 6).
Does this time home mean that he does not count as resident? Should he buy a eurail ticket instead?
thanks
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
hi ...
important is the document - which proofs his stay in the UK.
if this document shows that he stayed the last 5 years in the UK, he can buy an InterRail pass.
just go on [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] and fill in as country of residence the UK
the passport number has to be the one of his Hong Kong passport.
Peter :)
polarcheese
Traveller
2 comments
what document would that be?
He has his student visa, and a letter from the boarding school stating that he has been living at the school for the past five years.
When we rang the [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] they said that the fact he had been home for a month or so during the school holidays in the past 6 months meant that he did not count as a resident during the past 6 months.
When we asked STA travel (a Uk based travel agency aimed at students), they said that he was OK.
We are not totally sure who to believe, and the official interrail company has no phone number to call. We sent them an email this morning, but have not yet received a reply.
thanks again
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
The important thing is: what does the staff see when checking the ticket in a train...
if they see a document (visa PLUS the letter of the school) telling that the person stayed 6 months (or in this case even 5 years) in the UK, it will be okay - even with the 2 months holidays at home in Hong Kong.
in my opinion the centre of life is important... and this was the UK.
Peter :)
polarcheese
Traveller
2 comments
brilliant, thanks very much for your help.
David.