UK Visitor Visas

If you are not a British Citizen or a citizen an EU country, you may need an entry clearance before you travel to the UK. The list of countries for which a visa is needed for a visit to the UK is available on our website, as is the list of countries which require a visa to travel through the UK (Direct Airside Transit Visa).

Even if your country does not appear on this list, you may need a visa for other reasons, such as getting married in the UK.

You should apply for a UK visitor visa at the UK Mission in the country where you are normally and legally resident. You should plan to apply for your travel visa well in advance of your proposed travel date. Some travel visas may be processed in 24 hours, but others may take longer, especially in cases where an interview is required. The process could take up to several weeks.

Once you have a valid UK travel visa, you should be allowed entry to the UK on arrival unless your circumstances have changed, you gave false information, or you did not tell the entry clearance officer important facts when you applied for your visa. The final decision, however, rests with the immigration officer at the UK port of arrival.

Visa Nationals

If you are a citizen of one of these countries, you will need to apply for a UK visitor visa if you wish to visit the UK:

Afghanistan	Georgia	Palestinian Authority
Albania	Ghana	Philippines
Algeria	Guinea	Qatar
Angola	Guinea Bissau	Romania
Armenia	Guyana	Russia
Azerbaijan	Haiti	Rwanda
Bahrain	India	Sao Tome & Principe
Bangladesh	Indonesia	Saudi Arabia
Belarus	Iran	Senegal
Benin	Iraq	Serbia & Montenegro
Bhutan	Ivory Coast	Sierra Leone
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Jamaica	Somalia
Bulgaria	Jordan	Sri Lanka
Burkina Faso	Kazakhstan	Sudan
Burma (Myanmar)	Kenya	Surinam
Burundi	Korea (Dem. People's	Syria
Cambodia	Rep)	Taiwan
Cameroon	Kuwait	Tajikistan
Cape Verde	Kyrgyzstan	Tanzania
Central African Republic	Laos	Thailand
Chad	Lebanon	Togo
China, People's Rep. of	Liberia	Tunisia
Colombia	Libya	Turkey
Comoros	Macedonia	'Turkish Republic of
Congo, Democratic	Madagascar	Northern Cyprus'
Republic of	Malawi	Turkmenistan
Congo, Republic of	Mali	Uganda
Cuba	Mauritania	Ukraine
Djibouti	Moldova	United Arab Emirates
Dominican Republic	Mongolia	Uzbekistan
Ecuador	Morocco	Vatican City
Egypt	Mozambique	(service & emergency
Equatorial Guinea	Nepal	passports only)
Eritrea	Niger	Vietnam
Ethiopia	Nigeria	Yemen
Fiji	Oman	Zambia
Gabon	Pakistan	Zimbabwe
Gambia	Peru

This list was updated in January 2006.

Direct Airside Transit Visa

Citizens of the following countries need a visa in order to travel through the UK (note that there are many exceptions to this listed at the bottom of this page):

(This list was published by the UK government on 1 March 2006)

You do not need a transit visa if you, or the person you are traveling with to the UK, holds any of the following:

• a valid Australian, Canadian, New Zealand or US visa and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom to or from the country from which you have a visa;
• a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom as part of a journey from Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America to another country or territory, provided that you do not seek to transit the United Kingdom on a date more than six months from the date on which he last entered Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America with a valid visa for entry to that country;
• a valid US Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21st April 1998;
• a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 28th June 2002;
• a valid common format Category D visa for entry to an EEA State;
• a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA State pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002;
• a diplomatic or service passport issued by the People's Republic of China;
• a diplomatic or official passport issued by India;
• a diplomatic or official passport issued by Vietnam.