How To Apply UK If you are an adult and you want to come to the UK as a tourist or to visit friends, you should apply to come here as a general visitor. You can also apply for this visa if you want to visit some family members (such as your cousin or an immediate family member that is not settled in the UK).
To come to the UK as a general visitor, you must be able to show that:
You must also be able to show that, during your visit, you do not intend to:
For every document you provide, you must include the original document and a photocopy.
This includes a copy of your passport bio-data page (the page containing your photograph). If you do not provide a photocopy of each document, we might not return your original documents to you.
Evidence of their immigration status in the UK, this could be copies of:
1. bio-data pages from their passports
2. valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
3. Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK.
If you send us a document that is not in English or Welsh, it must be accompanied by a full translation that can be independently verified by us.
Each translated document must contain:
To come to the UK as a general visitor, you must be able to show that:
There are 4 ways to pay your visa application fee. To find out how much your visa will cost go to our fees page
You can pay your visa application fee online using a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card. We do not accept any other types of cards.
When your online payment has been taken, you will receive a confirmation email from our payment provider WorldPay. If you would like to withdraw your application and have your visa fee refunded, please use our refund request form.
If biometric information has been submitted and/or your application has been processed, you are not entitled to a refund either from UK Visas and Immigration or your card issuer. For more information, please see the Terms and Conditions of Service.
If you have applied for the wrong visa category, you will need to withdraw your application and reapply. Please follow the guidance above to request a refund, and then begin a new application.
You must book and attend an appointment at our visa application centre to submit your application and facial photograph and fingerprints (we call this your biometric information).
We will not process your visa application without your biometric information, unless you are exempt.
Every time you apply for a visa you must come to one of our visa application centres so we can scan your fingerprints and photograph your face.
Applicants under 16 years old must be accompanied by an adult when enrolling their biometric information. This adult cannot be a member of staff.
There is no extra fee for enrolling your biometric information. We will keep your biometric information for 10 years from the date when we last scanned your fingerprints and photographed your face.
If you are applying for a visitor, Tier 1, Tier 2 or settlement entry visa you must not choose the option of ‘Tier 4 applicants’ in the visa category when booking an appointment. Booking an appointment under the incorrect category or block booking appointments can lead to delays for yourself and other customers.
To scan your fingerprints, we use a machine and it does not use ink, liquids or chemicals.
You cannot enrol your fingerprints if your fingertips are cut or damaged, or if you have put any form of temporary decoration (such as henna) on them. You will not be able to enrol your biometric information until the injury has healed or the decoration has faded.
If any of your fingertips are missing, you must enrol your remaining fingerprints.
We will photograph your full face. You must not be wearing sunglasses, tinted spectacles, hair across the eyes or anything that obscures your face, but you can wear a head covering for religious or medical reasons.
