Welcome to all and sundry, 'it's a honour to have you here'.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....South-London-gym.html

/// 'It’s a great honour to have them in the gym and we are all over the moon - they have even asked to come back for more training.” ///

Why are these Olympians allowed to stay until November, why didn't they have to leave the UK straight after the games were over?

It would seem some can do just as they like, and in the end will they go back home?

Not a chance, even after we spend thousands going through the law courts.

[rojash]

Damn' foreigners.

[ludwig]

Is there actually a picture of a punchbag with the caption..

"The Cameroon boxers failed to resist the lure of laying into a punchbag"

..or am I just imagining that?. It's like something out of Viz.

[FredPuli43]

http://www.ukba.homeo...immigration/visiting/

Scroll down for Olympic visas.The normal period for a visitor's visa is six months but Chinese travelling as a group have only 30 days . The only differences between the two visas seem to be that Chinese Olympic team could stay under the Olympic visa for longer and the Olympic visa is for definite set dates for everybody concerned, whereas otherwise the visa would be set from when an individual arrived.

Do you object to ordinary visitors getting six months here? What's to stop them all disappearing ?

[Gromit]

Countries I visit let you have a six month VISA but sadly I can only stay for a fortnight. The UK seems to be in line with that. The Tourism Industry is obviously very important to the country and only xenophobes would be against it.

After the games they have in effect become tourists. Sports tourism was worth £2.3billion to the country last year. Normal tourism earned us £114billion.

[sp1814]

AOG

Are you saying the Olympians should be MADE to leave after the games???

Why?

I went to Philadelphia for a conference earlier this year, and once it was over, spent a week in New York visiting friends. Seeing as my visa allowed me to stay for longer than the reason I came over, it was no problem.

This seems to be the same situation as for the Olympians, isn't it?