| Visa for UK – Travel Visas |
 DO YOU NEED A VISA?
All foreign nationals require a visa except:
Austria; Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
A visa is a certificate that you put into your passport or travel document at a British mission overseas. Travel Visas or the visa gives you permission to enter the UK. This guidance explains what you will need to do if you want to come to the United Kingdom (UK) as a visitor.
If you want Travel Visas or a visa to travel to the UK as a visitor 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.
With Travel Visas or a visit visa you can usually enter and leave the UK any number of times while it is still valid.
To apply for a visa you will need to fill in a visa application form (VAF1 – non-settlement).You can apply for a visit visa at any full service visa-issuing office. For all other types of visa, you should apply in the country of which you are a national or where you legally live. You can apply in a number of ways, for example by post, by courier, in person and online. The visa section will tell you about the ways in which you can apply.
You will need the following:
• Application form VAF1 - non-settlement (PDF, 130K) which you have filled in correctly.
• Your passport or travel document.
• A recent passport-sized (45mm x 35mm), colour photograph of yourself. This should be:
o taken against a light coloured background
o clear and of good quality, and not framed or backed
o printed on normal photographic paper, and
o full face and without sunglasses, hat or other head covering unless you wear this for cultural or religious reasons.
• The visa fee. This cannot be refunded, and you must normally pay it in the local currency of the country where you are applying.
• Any supporting documents.
What supporting documents should I include with my application for Travel Visas?
You should include all the documents you can to show that you qualify for entry to the UK as a visitor. As a guide, you should include:
• bank statements, payslips, or some other evidence to show that you can pay for the trip and that you have enough money to support yourself and any dependants without working or getting any help from public funds, and
• evidence that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit (for example, a letter from your employer).
• If you think there is anything wrong with your visa, contact the visa section immediately.
If you are a visa national you will need Travel Visas or a visa to enter the UK even if you are passing through the UK on your way to another country (known as ‘in transit’). If you will be staying in the UK for less than 48 hours before you continue your journey, you will need to obtain a ‘visitor in transit’ visa. If you want to stay in the UK for longer than 48 hours you will need to apply for a visit visa.
If you are passing through the UK by air, you may qualify for the 'transit without visa' (TWOV) concession.
Your ‘visitor in transit’ visa will usually be valid for six months. You can use it to travel through the UK as many times as you like during that time, as long as your passport and visa for the country that you are travelling to will still be valid after the transit visa runs out. The visa will only be valid for entry to the UK if you meet these conditions each time you travel through the UK.
If you want to apply for a DATV (direct airside transit’ visa) you will need to show that you:
• have booked an onward ticket from the UK for travel within 24 hours of your arrival
• will not need to change airport in the UK
• have all the correct documents you will need to be allowed to enter the country you are travelling to, and
• will not need to pass through the UK’s immigration control.
You can use your DATV as many times as you like while it is valid.
You should fill in form VAF3 - Direct Airside Transit:
For more advice and information about visas contact:
UKvisas
London SW1A 2AH
General enquiries: (+44) (0)20 7008 8438
Application forms: (+44) (0)20 7008 8308
Email: www.ukvisas.gov.uk/enquiries
Visa nationals are those who require a visa for every entry to the UK, though some may be able to “Transit Without Visa”. Those who require visas for transit as well are listed below under Direct Airside transit.
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus,
Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait ,Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia & Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus', Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Since 13 November 2003 nationals of ten "phase one" countries require entry clearance for all stays of more than six months. The "phase one" countries are:
Australia, Canada, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and USA.
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