VISTOR VISA
It is required by law that any visa national visiting the United Kingdom on a short term basis from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) must first be granted a valid visitor visa. There are a number of options which fall within this category.
General Visitors
If you would like to travel to UK to visit for up to six months then you should look at applying for a general visitor visa. You may stay for a period of up to 12 months if you are travelling with an academic.
Standard Visitor visa
You can apply for a Standard Visitor visa if you want to visit the UK:
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for leisure, eg on holiday or to see your family and friends
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for business, or to take part in sports or creative events
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for another reason, eg to receive private medical treatment
In April 2015, The Standard Visitor visa has replaced the:
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Family Visitor visa
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General Visitor visa
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Child Visitor visa
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Business Visitor visa, including visas for academics, doctors and dentists
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Sports Visitor visa
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Entertainer Visitor visa
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Prospective Entrepreneur visa
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Private Medical Treatment Visitor visa
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Approved Destination Status (ADS) visa
Parent of a Tier 4 child visa
If your child attends an independent fee-paying day school in the UK, you may apply for this category to visit your child. This visa usually lasts for either 6 or 12 months. After that, you may get extensions for 12 months at a time until your child reaches 12 years of age.
In this category, the applicant is not allowed to do the following;
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switching into a different immigration category,
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getting public funds
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making your main home in the UK
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taking paid work, or attending school
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bringing your family members under the same application (they must apply separately)
Permitted Paid Engagement visa
If you wish to come to the UK to do specific paid work without having to be sponsored under the points-based visa system, you may apply to this category. This category has detailed lists on what you can and cannot do.
Please visit https://www.gov.uk/permitted-paid-engagement-visa for more information.
Short-term Study visa
If you are wishing to take a short course of study in the UK, you can apply for short-term study visa instead of Tier 4 student visa. You can stay in the UK for up to 6 months (for any short course or short period of research if you are 18 or over), or up to 11 months (if you are 18 or over and taking an English language course).
You need a Standard Visitor visa if you are an academic visitor. For those who wish to study a short course like English language course, or to do a short period of research as part of a degree course if you are studying abroad, this may be the right category for you.
Visit the UK in a Chinese tour group
You can come to the UK for up to 30 days as part of a tour group through the approved destination status agreement (ADS) if you are a Chinese citizen. You must enter the country as part of your tour group (minimum 5 people) and stay with the group for the entire duration of your visit.
You have to leave the UK when your ADS visa expires. This visa is not possible to extend.
Information above reflects current policy, but can change at anytime. Beaumont Park Associates is always up to date with any change, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding to a Visitors Visa.