UK Visa Immigration Questions FAQs

Do I need a visa to travel to the UK?

  This depends on which country you are from, and what you are travelling to the UK to do.  Certain nationalities (so-called visa nationals) always require a visa to travel to the UK, while others may visit the UK for business or pleasure without a visa, for a limited time.  All non-EEA nationals require a visa to work in the UK.  You can check if you need a visa by visiting the UK Border Agency website.

How do I settle in the UK?

  There are various routes leading to settlement in the UK.  The most common ones are by marriage/civil partnership to a UK national  (where the spouse or civil partner is granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK after 2 years of marriage to a UK national), marriage to an EEA national (permanent settlement is granted after 5 years of marriage) or via work (settlement is granted after 5 years in a work category such as Tier 1, Tier 2, etc.)  Settlement is also possible after 10 years' lawful residence in the UK, or 14 years' unlawful residence (e.g. overstayed visa).  It is ill-advised for anyone to enter into a marriage for visa purposes, or to overstay your visa in the hope of eventually obtaining indefinite leave to remain in the UK.  Aside from the morality issue, if you are detected you could find yourself being barred from the UK for up to 10 years.  It is better for you to work towards legitimate ways of settling in the UK.

I overstayed my visa.  Will this affect any future visa application?

 Yes, overstaying your visa will most likely affect future visa applications. In the absence of deliberate deception, you could be barred from the UK for 1 year.  If you apply from within the UK, you are likely to be refused except you can prove that exceptional circumstances caused you to overstay in the first place.  For most visa applications made from within the UK, you need to make your application before your current visa expires.

I've been refused a visa before.  What impact will this have on future applications?

 A previous refusal will not necessarily prejudice a fresh visa application.  What matters is why the previous visa application was refused.  If the refusal was as a result of detected fraud or deliberate dishonestly, then this will make it a lot harder for the authorities to consider your application favourably in the future.  If on the other hand you were refused because of a technicality (e.g. you forgot to submit a document) the previous refusal will not likely affect a future visa application.  Under current rules (at time of posting), deliberate misrepresentations to the authorities in the course of your visa application could see you being barred from the UK for up to 10 years.