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| 1: What will happen when I make my application? |
| 2: Can I appeal if you refuse my visit visa? |
| 3: What are public funds? |
| 4: Can I carry out any business during my visit? |
| 5: Can I study in the UK? |
| 6: Can I get married or register a civil partnership in the UK? |
| 7: Can I get medical treatment in the UK? |
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1:What will happen when I make my application?
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The Entry Clearance Officer will try to make a decision using your application form and the supporting documents you have provided. If this is not possible, they will need to interview you.
Please check your visa when you get it. You should make sure that:
- your personal details are correct
- it correctly states the purpose for which you want to come to the UK, and
- it is valid for the date on which you want to travel. (You can ask for it to be post-dated for up to three months if you do not plan to travel immediately).
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| 2:Can I appeal if you refuse my visit visa? |
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| The Entry Clearance Officer will tell you if you can appeal. You can get information in our Appeals guidance on this website.
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| 3:What are public funds? |
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| Under the Immigration Rules, if you want to travel to the UK you must be able to support yourself and live without claiming certain benefits.
You are not allowed to enter the UK or stay as a visitor in the UK to receive medical treatment on the National Health Service (NHS).
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| 4:Can I carry out any business during my visit? |
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As a visitor, you can do the following.
- Go to meetings, conferences, trade fairs or seminars - including being a guest speaker - as long as the conference or seminar is a one-off event and not part of an ongoing business arrangement.
- Buy, check details of or examine goods.
- Deliver goods from abroad, for example as a lorry driver.
- Negotiate or sign trade agreements or contracts.
- Go for interviews - this can include a sportsperson going for trial, or an entertainer going for an audition.
- Carry out fact-finding missions, such as a journalist going on a short assignment to cover a story.
- Act as an adviser, consultant, trainer or investigator, as long as you are employed abroad, either directly or under contract, by the same company (or group of companies) to which the UK client firm belongs, but:
- your involvement must not include actually managing the project or providing consultancy services direct to the UK company’s clients, and
- training should be for a specific, one-off purpose, should not go beyond classroom instruction, and should not be otherwise readily available in the UK.
- Act as tour-group carriers working for a firm outside the UK who want to enter the UK to carry out short-term duties but do not want to base themselves permanently in the UK.
- Act as interpreters or translators if you already work for an overseas company and you are travelling with business visitors from the company and working for them only.
- Act as a representative of a foreign company coming to put up, take down, install, service, repair or give advice about machinery made abroad.
- Take part in training techniques and work practices that we use in the UK, as long as training just involves watching demonstrations and classroom instruction only.
You cannot:
- take paid or unpaid work
- produce goods or provide services in the UK, or
- sell goods and services to members of the public.
If a UK company has invited you to visit the UK you should provide a letter from the company explaining what you will be doing and the purpose of the trip. If your company or the UK company is paying for the trip this should also be confirmed in the letter.
Whether you are visiting the UK for business or social reasons, you can only stay for a maximum of six months. If you often visit the UK, you can apply for a visa that is valid for one, two, five or 10 years. You can then visit the UK as often as you like while your visa is still valid, but you can only stay for up to six months on each visit.
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| 5:Can I study in the UK? |
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| You can study only if you apply as a Student Visitor or, if you are under 18, as a Child Visitor. If you do not need a visa as a Student Visitor or a Child Visitor, you must satisfy an immigration officer that you qualify for entry to the United Kingdom to study during your visit under the Immigration Rules when you arrive in the UK. You must be able to show that you have been accepted on a course of study at an educational establishment that is on the Register of Education and Training Providers. They will give you permission to stay in the UK for up to six months. You can only apply to stay longer than six months if you entered the UK with a student or prospective student visa.
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| 6:Can I get married or register a civil partnership in the UK? |
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If either you or your future husband, wife or civil partner are not EEA (European Economic Area) or Swiss nationals, you can visit the UK together to get married or register a civil partnership as long as you intend to leave the country within six months.
- Everyone coming to the UK to get married or to register a civil partnership (except EEA and Swiss nationals) must get a visit for marriage or visit for civil partnership visa.
- You will need to show evidence that you plan to enter into a marriage or civil partnership during the period for which you are granted leave (which will be for six months).
- You can get married or register a civil partnership in any location licensed for the purpose of marriage or civil partnerships. Once you are both in the UK you will need to give official notice of your marriage or civil partnership at a designated register office. If you are a non-EEA or Swiss national you will have to show your entry clearance or certificate of approval to do this. You can get more information about marriage or civil partnerships and register offices from the General Register Offices:
England and Wales - www.gro.gov.uk
Scotland – www.gro-scotland.gov.uk
Northern Ireland – www.groni.gov.uk
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| 7:Can I get medical treatment in the UK? |
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You can apply for a visit visa to travel to the UK for private medical treatment. You must be able to show that you:
- have made suitable arrangements for the necessary private consultation or treatment
- have enough money to pay for the treatment
- have enough money to support yourself and live without working or getting any help from public funds while you are in the UK, and
- intend to leave the UK at the end of your treatment.
They may also ask you to provide the following.
- A doctor’s letter giving details of your medical condition and the treatment you need.
- Confirmation that you have made suitable arrangements for the private consultation or treatment and how long the treatment will last.
- Evidence that you can afford to pay for the consultation and treatment. They may also ask you to give an undertaking (in other words, a formal agreement) that you will pay for the consultation and treatment.
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