Who is a Visa National?

Nationals or citizens from one of the following countries wanting to visit the UK will need to obtain a visit visa:

List of countries
Afghanistan	Laos
Albania	Lebanon
Algeria	Lesotho
Angola	Liberia
Armenia	Libya
Azerbaijan	Macedonia
Bahrain*	Madagascar
Bangladesh	Malawi
Belarus	Mali
Benin	Mauritania
Bhutan	Moldova
Bolivia	Mongolia
Bosnia Herzegovina	Montenegro
Burkina Faso	Morocco
Burma	Mozambique
Burundi	Nepal
Cambodia	Niger
Cameroon	Nigeria
Cape Verde	Oman*
Central African Republic	Pakistan
Chad	Peru
People’s Republic of China*	Philippines
Colombia	Qatar*
Comoros	Russia
Congo	Rwanda
Cuba	Sao Tome e Principe
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Saudi Arabia
Djibouti	Senegal
Dominican Republic	Serbia
Ecuador	Sierra Leone
Egypt	Somalia
Equatorial Guinea	South Africa*
Eritrea	South Sudan
Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Fiji	Sudan
Gabon	Suriname
Gambia	Swaziland
Georgia	Syria
Ghana	Taiwan*
Guinea	Tajikistan
Guinea Bissau	Tanzania
Guyana	Thailand
Haiti	Togo
India	Tunisia
Indonesia*	Turkey *
Iran	Turkmenistan
Iraq	Uganda
Ivory Coast	Ukraine
Jamaica	United Arab Emirates*
Jordan	Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan	Venezuela
Kenya	Vietnam*
Korea (North)	Yemen
Kosovo	Zambia
Kuwait *	Zimbabwe
Kyrgyzstan

*Processes differ from standard applications

A non-visa national may apply for a visit visa, but is not required to unless they are:

(a) Visiting the UK to marry or to form a civil partnership, or to give notice of this; or

(b) Seeking to visit the UK for more than 6 months

What is a Visa National?

To explain what a visa national is, it's better to first look at what a 'non-visa national' is.

A non-visa national is a term used to describe citizens from a country who are, based on their country of citizenship, exempt from requiring a visitor visa when they wish to visit the UK for up to six months. There are currently 56 countries from which its citizens are exempt from this visa requirement.

Citizens from any other country are known as visa nationals. They must be granted a visa to visit the UK or even transit in the UK to travel to another country.

Visitor Visa Application

If you are a visa national you must apply for a visa even if you wish to visit the UK. You must complete your application from outside of the UK and you must be granted your visa prior to travel.

Applications can be made online and costs depend on the length of your visa.

Visit Visa - Less than six months	£93
Visit Visa - Less than two years	£350
Visit Visa - Less than five years	£636
Visit Visa - Less than ten years	798
Visiting Acedemic - Between 6 and 12 months	£186

Reasons for Visa Refusal

You may be denied entry to the UK and refused your visitor visa application if you have a past record of deportation and/or criminal convictions.

If you have provided false information or evidence you are also disallowed entry and you may be stopped from making future applications as well.

If your intend is not to visit the UK but to apply for another longer term visa once you arrive and the Home Office has a clear reason to believe this is the case, you will be denied entry. You should not aim to apply for other visas whilst you are present in the UK.

If you intend to work or study in the UK you should not apply for a visitor visa.

Applying for your Visitor Visa

You can generally easily apply for your visitor visa online. If for any reason this is not possible a friend or family member in the UK may be able to apply on your behalf.

If another person applies for you, you must still visit a visa application centre in person where your photographs and fingerprints are taken.