Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026

UK Visitor Visa Guide: The Standard Visitor Route, Explained in Full

NEW Published 30 October 2026

Tourism, family, business, short study and medical visits on one route — who needs a visa, what it costs, how to apply, and the genuine-visitor test every application is judged against.

SECTION 01Who needs a visitor visa — and who does not

Whether you need this visa depends on your nationality. Under the Immigration Rules (Appendix V), a visa national must obtain entry clearance as a Visitor before arriving in the UK; a non-visa national can normally seek entry on arrival. GOV.UK runs an official checker covering every nationality, and its answer for your passport is the one that counts — check it before booking anything non-refundable.

• RULE — Visa nationals apply in advance. If your nationality is on the Appendix Visitor: Visa National list, you must hold a visit visa before you travel — you cannot apply on arrival.
• RULE — Some visitors need an ETA instead. Many non-visa nationals must hold an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) before travelling; some can visit with neither a visa nor an ETA. The official checker tells you which group you are in.
• RULE — Longer stays always need a visa. Anyone seeking to come for more than 6 months as a visitor — for example 11 months of medical treatment or a 12-month academic visit — needs a visa in advance regardless of nationality.
• ADVICE — A previous refusal changes the calculation. GOV.UK notes that if you have previously been refused entry or have a criminal record, you may want to apply for a visa even if your nationality would not normally require one, so the questions are settled before you travel rather than at the border.

SECTION 02What a Standard Visitor is for

GOV.UK describes the route as covering tourism, business, study on courses up to 6 months, and other permitted activities. In practice the common purposes are:

• Tourism — holidays and vacations.
• Family and friends — visiting people in the UK, including family events.
• Business activities — meetings, interviews, conferences, negotiations and the other activities GOV.UK lists, provided you are not paid by a UK organisation for them (see the permitted activities guide).
• Short study — courses of up to 6 months at an accredited institution, short research, electives, and exams such as PLAB or OSCE.
• Medical reasons — private treatment, NHS treatment paid for by your own government under a reciprocal arrangement, or organ donation to a family member or close friend.
• Permitted paid engagements — a narrow exception where an invited expert (a lecturer, performer, lawyer and a few other professions) can be paid for a pre-arranged engagement.
• Transit — passing through the UK to another country; if transit is your only purpose, a dedicated Visitor in Transit visa exists at £74.50.

Two neighbouring routes are not this visa: marrying or forming a civil partnership needs a Marriage Visitor visa, and studying for longer than 6 months needs a Short-term study visa (English courses up to 11 months) or a Student visa. Our permitted activities guide goes through what is and is not allowed in detail.

SECTION 03The test every application must pass: the genuine visitor

Appendix V, paragraph V 4.2, sets the test the decision maker must be satisfied about. A genuine visitor is someone who:

• RULE — Will leave at the end of the visit (V 4.2(a)).
• RULE — Will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home (V 4.2(b)).
• RULE — Is genuinely seeking entry for a permitted purpose (V 4.2(c)).
• RULE — Will not undertake prohibited activities — principally work, as defined in V 4.4 to V 4.6 (V 4.2(d)).
• RULE — Has sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs of the visit without working or accessing public funds — including the return or onward journey, dependants' costs, and planned activities such as private medical treatment — held in a permitted financial institution (V 4.2(e)).

Each member of a travelling group must meet the requirements individually, even in a family group, a tour group or a school party. Our eligibility guide unpacks the test, and the money guide covers the funds side — there is no fixed amount GOV.UK requires; the test is whether the funds cover your trip's reasonable costs.

SECTION 04What it costs — the full fee table

GOV.UK's fee table for the Standard Visitor route (checked 2026-10-30):

• RULE — Standard Visitor visa: £135 — maximum stay 6 months.
• RULE — Medical reasons visa: £234 — maximum stay 11 months.
• RULE — Academics visa: £234 — maximum stay 12 months.
• RULE — Long-term 2 years: £506 — 6 months per visit.
• RULE — Long-term 5 years: £903 — 6 months per visit.
• RULE — Long-term 10 years: £1,128 — 6 months per visit.
• RULE — No health surcharge. GOV.UK states you do not need to pay the immigration health surcharge for a visitor visa; you pay for NHS care at the point you use it unless the service is free.
• RULE — No refund on refusal. The fee is not refunded if your application is refused — or if you applied for a long-term visa and were granted a shorter one.

SECTION 05How applying works

You must apply online before you travel, and the earliest you can apply is 3 months before your trip. After the form and fee, you book an appointment at a visa application centre to prove your identity with your passport and give fingerprints and a photograph; you get your passport back the same day, though the centre may keep some supporting documents while the application is processed. GOV.UK says you will usually get a decision within 3 weeks, notified by email. Every family member needs their own application, fee and appointment, though you can apply on behalf of a partner or child who cannot apply themselves. The application guide walks through it, and the documents checklist covers what to prepare — you can tick items off on the page and your ticks stay in your browser.

SECTION 06After the decision

If your application succeeds, you will get an eVisa — a digital record of your status — accessed through a free UKVI account; GOV.UK says you can usually access it straight away once linked, though it can take up to 24 hours. Within the visa's validity you may enter and leave the UK multiple times, unless the visa is endorsed single or dual entry, and each stay must not exceed the permitted length (usually 6 months). Our stay and extensions guide covers the narrow cases where a stay can be extended from inside the UK.

If your application is refused, the position is starker than on the Student route: a visit visa refusal carries no right of appeal and no administrative review — your refusal notice states this. The route GOV.UK and Parliament's published answer identify is a fresh application that addresses the reasons given. Read our refusal guide before deciding what to do.

Official references and verification status

Every fee, time limit and rule statement in this guide was checked against the official pages below on 30 October 2026. GOV.UK's own checker decides whether your nationality needs a visa, an ETA or neither — this guide does not reproduce the visa-national list, because applying its answer to your passport is a check you should run on the official tool. Long-term visa and extension fees are stated from GOV.UK's fee table as checked; fees change, and the figure in force when you apply is the one GOV.UK shows at application.

• GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor
• GOV.UK — Immigration Rules Appendix V: Visitor
• GOV.UK — Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application

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.