Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026

UK Visitor Visa Eligibility: The Genuine Visitor Test, Requirement by Requirement

NEW Published 30 October 2026

Appendix V's five-part test — leave, don't live here, permitted purpose, no prohibited work, sufficient funds — plus the extra requirements for children, study, medical and paid-engagement visits.

SECTION 01The genuine visitor test — V 4.2 in full

Paragraph V 4.2 of Appendix V says the applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor, which means all five of the following:

• RULE — (a) You will leave the UK at the end of your visit. Your plans, ties and circumstances are the evidence for this; nothing in the Rules lists specific documents, because the test is about your situation, not a form.
• RULE — (b) You will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK your main home. A pattern of long, frequent stays can fail this part even if each visit was lawful.
• RULE — (c) You are genuinely seeking entry for a permitted purpose — a purpose allowed under the route, as set out in the Permitted Activities appendix and the paid-engagement rules.
• RULE — (d) You will not undertake any prohibited activity set out in V 4.4 to V 4.6 — principally work, plus study, medical treatment or marriage outside their permitted forms.
• RULE — (e) You have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs of the visit without working or accessing public funds — including the return or onward journey, any costs relating to your dependants, and the cost of planned activities such as private medical treatment. Funds you rely on must be held in a financial institution permitted under the Rules' finance appendix.

GOV.UK's public summary of the same test asks you to show you will leave at the end of your visit, that you can support yourself and your dependants during the trip (or have funding from someone else), that you can pay for your return or onward journey (or someone else will), and that you will not make the UK your main home through frequent visits.

SECTION 02Someone else paying: the third-party support rule

Your travel, maintenance and accommodation can be provided by a third party — a family member hosting you, for example — but paragraph V 4.3 allows the decision maker to count that support only if the third party:

• RULE — Has a genuine professional or personal relationship with you.
• RULE — Is not, and will not be, in breach of immigration laws at the time of the decision or your entry.
• RULE — Can and will provide support for the intended duration of your stay.

The application asks for the name and address of anyone paying for your trip, and the name, address and passport number of family members you have in the UK — a sponsor's support is part of the application, not an afterthought.

SECTION 03What "no work" actually covers

Paragraphs V 4.4 to V 4.6 draw the work line precisely:

• RULE — No work in the UK (V 4.4(a)): no taking employment, no work for an organisation or business in the UK, no establishing or running a business as a self-employed person, no work placement or internship, no direct selling to the public, and no providing goods and services — unless expressly allowed by the permitted activities.
• RULE — Permitted activities must not amount to employment (V 4.5): they must not fill a role, or provide short-term cover for a role, in a UK-based organisation. If you are paid and employed outside the UK, you must remain so.
• RULE — No payment from a UK source (V 4.6), except for: reasonable travel and subsistence expenses (including directors' fees for board-level meetings); prize money; billing a UK client for your time where your overseas employer is contracted to the UK company and most of the contract work happens overseas (payment must be lower than your salary); salary handled from the UK by a multinational for administrative reasons; paid performances at a listed permit-free festival; and the permitted paid engagements. Specific allowances also exist for international drivers and seafarers.
• RULE — Study, medical treatment and marriage are restricted, not banned (V 4.4(b)–(d)): study only as permitted with its extra requirements; medical treatment only in its private or organ-donation forms with their requirements; marriage only on a Marriage Visitor visa (or if you are a "relevant national").

SECTION 04Extra requirements for particular visits

Meeting V 4.2 is necessary but not sufficient for every kind of visit. Appendix V attaches additional requirements (V 4.1) for:

• Children (V 5.1–5.2): adequate arrangements for the child's travel, reception and care; and, if the child is not travelling with a parent or legal guardian responsible for their care, that parent or guardian's consent — in writing where requested.
• Private medical treatment (V 7.1–7.3): treatment arranged in advance, a UK doctor's or consultant's letter covering the condition, estimated costs and likely (finite) duration and where it happens, and — for an 11-month visa — evidence the treatment will exceed 6 but not 11 months, plus a TB certificate where the tuberculosis appendix applies. See the medical treatment guide.
• Organ donors (V 8.1–8.4): the recipient and relationship requirements described in the medical guide.
• Study as a visitor (V 9.1–9.5): acceptance onto a course at an accredited institution and the other study conditions covered in the permitted activities guide.
• Academics seeking 12 months (V 10.1): highly qualified (usually a PhD or higher), currently working in the field at an overseas academic institution, and not filling a permanent teaching post; research or a formal exchange (or, for senior doctors and dentists, research, clinical practice, exchange or teaching).
• Permitted paid engagements (V 13.1–13.3): a written invitation, proven expertise, and the engagement conditions in the activities guide.

SECTION 05The validity basics underneath eligibility

• RULE — Apply online, from outside the UK, before you travel (V 2.1, V 2.4), on the specified "Apply for a UK visit visa" form, for visa nationals.
• RULE — Fee paid, biometrics given, identity established (V 2.3): an application must meet all three or it may be rejected as invalid and not considered (V 2.6).
• RULE — Passport valid for the whole stay. GOV.UK requires a passport or travel document valid for the entire visit.
• RULE — Each visitor qualifies individually. Appendix V states each visitor must meet the requirements even when travelling as a family group, tour group or school party.
• RULE — Multiple entry is the norm. Within its validity, a visit visa allows multiple entries unless endorsed single or dual entry (V 1.2) — but each stay is capped and the "not living in the UK" rule still applies across stays.

Official references and verification status

All rule statements in this guide were checked against Appendix V of the Immigration Rules and the GOV.UK Standard Visitor pages on 30 October 2026. This guide explains the test; it cannot predict an outcome, because the test is the decision maker being satisfied on your individual circumstances. Nothing here is a substitute for the refusal notice or decision letter in a specific case, which is the document that governs that case.

• GOV.UK — Immigration Rules Appendix V: Visitor
• GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor

If a detail here ever disagrees with GOV.UK, GOV.UK is right — and please tell us via the Contact page so we can correct the guide.

General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.