Applications for Standard Visitor (business and permitted paid engagement categories) visas cannot be made from inside the UK. Applications for Standard Visitor (academic category) can only be made in the UK if the original permission was granted for less than 12 months, and the visitor wishes to extend the visa so that the total length of their visit is 12 months.
Not all nationalities are required to have been granted a visa before travelling to the UK.
Visa nationals
- Anyone whose nationality is listed here is classed as a ‘visa national’.
- Visa nationals must always have been granted a visa before coming to the UK. This is known as ‘entry clearance’.
- An application must be made online.
- Applications should not be submitted more than three months before the intended date of travel.
- An application can be submitted in any country where the applicant is legally present, and does not have to be made from the individual’s country of residence (source: UKVI guidance)
Non-visa nationals
Standard Visitor visa (business and permitted paid engagement categories): entry clearance will automatically be granted for up to 6 months at the UK border.
Standard Visitor visa (academic category): entry clearance must have been granted before coming to the UK.
Application process
All Visitors who are applying before they travel to the UK should complete the same online form. The ‘Main reason for your visit’ should be as follows:
- Business category: “Business (including sports and entertainment)” (dependants: “Tourism (including visiting family and friends)"
- Academic category (main applicant and dependants): “Academic visit (including teaching, exchange and visiting as a dependant of an academic visitor)”
- Permitted paid engagement category: “Other - I am visiting for another reason” and enter ‘permitted paid engagement’ on the subsequent page
If the individual needs to have been granted a visa before coming to the UK, they will need to submit the following documents when making an application:
- Original, valid passport or other travel document
- One passport sized photograph
- Documents confirming financial and residential status
- Visitor invitation letter from the hosting department/institution (see guidance below)
- Academics seeking entry on a 12 month visa will also require a letter from their current employer on official headed paper, detailing the period of their sabbatical, exchange or outlining the research to be undertaken.
Please see the UKVI Guide to supporting documents for full details of the documentary requirements.
Invitation Letters
When determining who to invite, departments/institutions may adopt their own criteria in order to identify suitable visitors which best meet their local academic needs. Where the visitor is not known personally to members of staff in the department, caution is advisable. For example, it is strongly recommended that you ensure that the proposed visitor’s overseas academic institution exists and that the visitor is definitely employed there, as well as ensuring that both parties have a clear understanding of the purpose of the visit.
Individuals who wish to visit the University to undertake one of the permitted activities should be issued with an invitation letter for visa purposes. The University has produced a template letter that you can use as required. The invitation letter is required:
- to help the individual gain entry clearance/leave to enter (if seeking entry at the UK border); and
- to set out clearly to the visiting individual and the Immigration Officer the purpose of the visit and that is meets one of the permitted activities.
If you require help with drafting the invitation letter, please contact your departmental administrator or the Compliance Team.
For individuals attending a job interview, the invitation to interview letter will be sufficient and no additional letter will be required.
Fees
For up-to-date information on visitor visa fees, please see the UK Visas and Immigration website. There is no cost for non-visa nationals seeking entry at the border,
Applications for a Standard Visitor (business and permitted paid engagement categories) visa are not subject to the NHS Immigration Surcharge.
Refusals
Individuals refused a visitor visa will have no right of appeal and would be expected to make a further visitor application, addressing the reasons for refusal. In the event of visa refusal please contact the Compliance Team for further guidance.