Visitor Visa —  Get a Visa to Visit the UK

Requirements

To meet the requirements for a visitor visa you must be able to show that:

• you want to visit the UK for no more than six months
• you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit, and
• you have enough money to support yourself and live in the UK without working or needing any help from public funds.

In addition, a visitor's proposed purpose in coming to the United Kingdom must bear some reasonable relationship to his financial means and his family, social and economic background.

Previous immigration history and evidence of a pattern of family migration, both here and abroad, are also matters to be taken into account, and a visitor should not normally spend more than 6 out of any 12 months in the UK.

Under proposed changes to the visa system, UK residents will have to become licensed to sponsor family members to visit from abroad. Sponsors will have a duty to ensure that their visitors leave before their visa runs out. If sponsors fail in their duties, they face a ban on bringing anyone else over, penalties of up to £5,000 or a jail sentence.

Procedure

Applications are made on VAF1 form.

Benefits

A requirement of the category is to prove that the applicant can support themselves without recourse to public funds. Therefore, there is no entitlement to most welfare benefits.

Appeal

Amongst visitors, only those visiting their family benefit from an appeal against a refusal of entry clearance. Family is defined as the applicant's:

1. spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin;
2. father, mother, brother or sister of his spouse;
3. spouse of his son or daughter;
4. step-father, step-mother, step-son, step-daughter, step-brother or step-sister; or
5. a person with whom he had lived as a member of an unmarried couple for at least two of the three years before the day on which his application for entry clearance was made.

Visitors with no right of appeal against refusal of entry clearance may apply for judicial review if they can show unfairness or an error of law by the immigration officer.

Extensions

As six month is the maximum period a person can stay on any single visit .An extension will not be granted if the period sought will result in a stay of longer than six months.

Switching

Visitors can switch from the ordinary visitor category to a medical or parent visit. Visitors cannot switch to other temporary categories such as trainee, au pair, working holidaymaker, or student, other than a student nurse who is a non-visa national or a medical or dental graduate undertaking a clinical attachment or dental observer post.

Questions

How many times can I enter the UK on a visitor's visa?

With a visit visa you can usually enter and leave the UK any number of times while the visa is still valid. You cannot stay for longer than six months on each visit. Visit visas can be valid for six months, one year, two years, five years or 10 years. You can apply for a visa valid for any of these periods. The Entry Clearance Officer may decide to make your visa valid for a shorter time than you have asked for, for example if you are not a regular traveller or have never visited the UK before.

What is meant by Public Funds?

Under the Immigration Rules, if you want to travel to the UK you must be able to support yourself and live without claiming certain benefits.

Public funds are income-related benefits paid by the state. These include:

1. Housing - accommodation as a homeless person and accommodation from a local authority register;
2. Benefits - income support/Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, State Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

Social housing, education, health care and benefits paid as a result of contributions such as incapacity benefit or contributory job seekers' allowance are not considered to be public funds for the purposes of the Immigration Rules.