General Visitor Visa

The 'general visitor' category is for nationals of countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. If you are an EEA or Swiss national, or a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, the European nationals section explains how you can come to the UK. You need to obtain a visa before you can come to the UK as a general visitor.

To come to the UK as a general visitor, you must be able to show that:

• You are 18 or over;
• You intend to visit the UK for no more than 6 months (or 12 months if you will be accompanying an academic visitor);
• You intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit;
• You have enough money to support and accommodate yourself without working or help from public funds, or you and any dependants will be supported and accommodated by relatives or friends;
• You can meet the cost of the return or onward journey; and
• You are not in transit to a country outside the 'Common Travel Area' (Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).
• You must also be able to show that, during your visit, you do not intend to:
• Take paid or unpaid employment, produce goods or provide services, including the selling of goods or services directly to members of the public;
• Do a course of study;
• Marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership;
• Carry out the activities of a business visitor, a sports visitor or an entertainer visitor; or
• Receive private medical treatment.  

Documents 

You should provide documents to show that you meet the above requirements. If you apply for a visa, you should provide these documents with your visa application. If you travel to the UK without a visa, you should bring them with you so that you can show them to our officers at the border. 

You should provide as many relevant documents as you can to show that you qualify for entry to the UK. If you do not provide them, we may refuse your application. 

You must decide which documents will best support your application. We advise you to consider providing documents that contain: 

• Information about you
• Information about your finances and employment
• Your accommodation and travel details