UK Visitor Visa: Cost, the 6-Month Rule and What You Can Do

Depending on your nationality, you will either:

• have to apply for a Standard Visitor visa before you travel to the UK
• have to apply for an ETA, which lets you visit the UK for up to 6 months without a visa
• be able to visit the UK for up to 6 months without a visa or an ETA

You usually need an ETA rather than a visa if you are from Europe, the USA, Australia, Canada or certain other countries. You do not need an ETA if you have a British or Irish passport, or permission to live, work or study in the UK. Each person travelling needs an ETA, including babies and children.

If you do not need a visa, you must still meet the Standard Visitor eligibility requirements, and you may be asked questions at the UK border about your plans. If you have been refused entry to the UK before or have a criminal record, you may want to apply for a Standard Visitor visa even if you do not need one.

If you visit the UK regularly, you can apply for a long-term Standard Visitor visa instead. It lasts 2, 5 or 10 years, and you can stay for a maximum of 6 months on each visit. You will not get a refund of the fee if you get a shorter visa or your application is refused.

You can visit the UK as a Standard Visitor:

• ✓Yes: for tourism, for example on a holiday
• ✓Yes: to see your family or friends
• ✓Yes: to volunteer for up to 30 days with a registered charity
• ✓Yes: to pass through the UK to another country
• ✓Yes: for certain business activities, for example attending a meeting or interview
• ✓Yes: for certain paid engagements or events as an expert in your profession
• ✓Yes: to do a recreational course of up to 30 days, for example a dance course
• ✓Yes: to study, do a placement or take an exam
• ✓Yes: for medical reasons

As a Standard Visitor you cannot:

• ✗No: do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, unless you are doing a permitted paid engagement or event
• ✗No: claim public funds (benefits)
• ✗No: live in the UK for long periods through frequent or successive visits
• ✗No: marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of one

To marry or register a civil partnership you need a Marriage Visitor visa. Our guide to no recourse to public funds explains what counts as public funds.

You need a passport or travel document that is valid for the whole of your stay. You must be able to show that:

• ✓Yes: you will leave the UK at the end of your visit
• ✓Yes: you can support yourself and your dependants during your trip, or have funding from someone else
• ✓Yes: you can pay for your return or onward journey, or have funding from someone else
• ✓Yes: you will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK your main home

These come from the genuine visitor requirement in Appendix V of the Immigration Rules, which says you must satisfy the decision maker that you are a genuine visitor. If you are refused, our guide to a refused visa explains your options.

Once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, you will usually get a decision within 3 weeks. If you are successful you get an eVisa, a digital record of your immigration status, which you view through a UKVI account. Our guide to the eVisa explains how to set it up.

For an ETA, you will usually get a decision by email within a day, but it can take up to 3 working days. You can travel to the UK as many times as you want while you have an ETA. An ETA does not guarantee entry to the UK.

If you have permission to be in the UK for less than 6 months, you may be able to extend your stay up to a total of 6 months. You can only apply to stay longer than 6 months if you are a patient receiving medical treatment, an academic who still meets the eligibility requirements, or a graduate retaking the PLAB test or doing a clinical attachment.

You must apply while you are still in the UK and before your current permission expires, and pay the £1,172 fee whatever your nationality.

Yes. A Standard Visitor visa lets you visit the UK, and an ETA lets you travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for up to 6 months. The rules on what you need to enter the UK may be different if you are travelling from Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. Our immigration guides cover other visas and your status once you are here.