Home  /  Services  /  UK visitors

UK visitors

Coming to the UK for up to six months for tourism, business, family, medical treatment, short study, or to marry.

Standard Visitor visa

• Up to six months per visit. You can apply up to three months before you travel.
• Permitted: tourism, visiting family and friends, business activities, permitted paid engagements, transit, private medical treatment, academic visits, school exchanges, recreational courses up to 30 days, study up to six months, and volunteering for up to 30 days with a registered charity.
• Not permitted: working for a UK employer, living in the UK through frequent or successive visits, claiming public funds, or marrying or giving notice of marriage.

Permitted business activities

As a visitor you may attend interviews, meetings, conferences and seminars; negotiate and sign contracts; attend trade fairs to promote your business but not to sell; undertake work-related training that is not available at home; give a one-off non-commercial talk; carry out site visits and inspections; gather information for an overseas employer; oversee the delivery of goods or services provided under contract by a UK company; and share skills and knowledge with the UK employees of an overseas company.

Fees

• Up to six months: £135
• Long-term two years: £506; five years: £903; ten years: £1,128
• Visitor in transit: £74.50

Long-term visas still limit each individual visit to six months. Decisions usually take about three weeks from the biometric appointment. Visitors do not pay the health surcharge.

Marriage or Civil Partnership Visitor visa

For people who want to marry or register a civil partnership in the UK and then leave. Six months, fee £135, decision usually three weeks. You cannot work, study, extend, switch or bring dependants. If you intend to stay in the UK after the ceremony you need the fiance or proposed civil partner route instead.

Electronic travel authorisation

An ETA costs £20 and covers travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man for visits of up to six months. It permits tourism, family visits, business trips, short-term study of up to six months, permitted paid engagements, the Creative Worker concession for up to three months, and transit. It does not permit working for a UK employer, claiming public funds, living in the UK through repeat visits, or marrying. British and Irish passport holders, and anyone who already has permission to live, work or study in the UK, do not need one. An ETA is not a guarantee of entry.

Refusals and re-applications

Visitor refusals are common where the caseworker doubts the applicant intention to leave, the funding of the trip, or the consistency of the immigration history. A refusal does not stop you re-applying, but a second application that ignores the reasons for refusal usually fails as well. We prepare a fresh application that answers each ground directly.

How PRIMEVISA helps

• Genuine visitor evidence: ties, funding, itinerary and sponsorship letters.
• Business visit letters that keep the activity within the permitted list.
• Applications after a refusal, cancellation or removal, and for applicants with a complex travel history.
• Marriage visitor applications, including notice at a designated register office.

This page summarises guidance published on GOV.UK and was last reviewed on 18 August 2026. It is general information, not immigration advice on your own case. PRIMEVISA LTD is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration F201600043.

Talk to an adviser