All UK visa types

The route depends on your relationship: married couples apply for the spouse visa, couples who have lived together for two years apply as unmarried partners, and engaged couples who plan to marry in the UK use the fiancé(e) visa. Most applications need a UK income of at least £29,000 a year, English at A1, and evidence that the relationship is genuine and continuing. Leave is usually granted in 30-month blocks and can lead to settlement. If you are already in the UK on another visa, you may be able to switch without leaving. See how the five partner routes compare.

Each family route has its own test, and the hardest to meet is usually the relationship or care evidence. Children can join a parent who is British or settled on a child visa, and a parent can come to care for a British or settled child. The adult dependent relative visa is for parents, grandparents or other adult relatives who need long-term care that is not available or affordable where they live; it has one of the highest refusal rates of any route. Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the UK can apply for the UK Ancestry visa, which allows work and leads to settlement after five years. Each route has its own financial and accommodation rules.

There are three main ways to qualify. Most people qualify after five years on a work or family route; see ILR after 5 years. Others qualify through 10 years’ continuous lawful residence across different visas, or through a child’s long residence. You usually need to pass the Life in the UK test, meet the English requirement, and keep absences within the limits. ILR can be lost after two years outside the UK. Once you have held ILR for 12 months, or immediately if married to a British citizen, you can usually apply for British citizenship.

The quickest route is for partners of British citizens. If you are married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, you can apply as soon as you have ILR, after three years’ residence. Everyone else usually applies by naturalisation. Children are often registered as British rather than naturalised, and some people born abroad to a British parent are already British by descent. Applicants need to pass the Life in the UK test, meet the English requirement, and show good character. Absences, criminal records and past immigration breaches are the most common reasons for refusal.

The reason for your trip rarely changes the visa: a holiday, a family visit and a short course all use the Standard Visitor route, with up to six months per visit. Nationals who do not need a visa now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling instead. Frequent visitors can apply for a long-term visitor visa valid for two, five or ten years, though each stay is still limited to short and temporary trips. Visitors cannot work or live in the UK through repeated visits, and generally cannot switch to another visa from inside the UK. For visa lengths and fees in detail, see the UK visitor visa guide.

Money is where most Student visa applications go wrong: funds must be held for 28 days and match the CAS exactly. You must also show English at the required level and enough money for fees and living costs, unless you are exempt. Children aged 4 to 17 at independent schools use the Child Student visa. Courses of up to six months can often be done as a visitor instead. After a UK degree, many students can stay and work on the Graduate visa. Only postgraduate research students and some government-sponsored students can bring dependants.

Status under the scheme depends on how long you have lived in the UK. People with fewer than five years’ residence hold pre-settled status and can move to settled status once they reach five years; pre-settled status is now extended automatically in many cases. Family members living abroad may be able to join using an EUSS family permit. Late applications are still accepted if you have reasonable grounds for missing the deadline. Settled status is permanent and counts towards British citizenship.

Each of these routes is narrow and evidence-heavy. Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders and their families can apply for the BN(O) visa, which allows work and study and leads to settlement after five years. People who have lived in the UK for many years may qualify under the private life route, for example after 20 years’ residence. If you held ILR but have been outside the UK for more than two years, a returning resident visa may let you come back. Each depends heavily on your history and evidence.

Protection claims are made in the UK, not from abroad. Asylum protects people with a well-founded fear of persecution, and humanitarian protection covers people at real risk of serious harm. Claims under Article 8 rely on a partner, children or long residence in the UK, and are weighed against immigration control. Most refusals carry a right of appeal, but deadlines are short, so act quickly if you receive a decision. If an appeal has ended, a fresh claim needs genuinely new evidence. See how these routes compare.

The licence covers routes such as Skilled Worker and lasts until it is surrendered or revoked. You apply to the Home Office with evidence that the business is genuine and that you have the HR systems to meet sponsor duties; most decisions take about eight weeks. Once licensed, you assign a Certificate of Sponsorship for each worker and pay the Immigration Skills Charge. Sponsors must carry out right to work checks, keep Appendix D records and report changes on time. Compliance gaps found on a Home Office visit are the usual cause of suspension or revocation. Your first sponsor licence consultation with us is free.

The Innovator Founder visa needs an endorsement from an approved body, which assesses whether your business is innovative, viable and scalable. Business owners with an established UK company may be able to use self-sponsorship, where the company holds a sponsor licence and sponsors them on a work visa; the Home Office scrutinises these closely. The Tier 1 Entrepreneur, Tier 1 Investor and Turkish Businessperson routes are open only to people already on them, for extensions and settlement. Leaders in their field may be better suited to the Global Talent visa.

Salary is the first test: each role must meet a minimum salary and skill level. The Skilled Worker visa is the main route, with the Health and Care Worker visa offering lower fees and no health surcharge for eligible roles. The Scale-up visa needs sponsorship only for the first six months. Graduates of a UK degree can stay on the Graduate visa for two years without a sponsor, though it does not lead to settlement. Your family can usually join you.

All five routes are temporary and need a sponsor licence held by the UK business. The Senior or Specialist Worker route, which replaced the intra-company transfer, lets established employees work at a UK branch. The UK Expansion Worker route is for staff setting up a business’s first UK presence. There are also routes for graduate trainees, secondments linked to high-value contracts, and service suppliers delivering contracts. They do not lead to settlement on their own, though time may count if you switch.

The line between a visit and work is where most business travellers get stopped. You can attend meetings, conferences and training, negotiate and sign contracts, and carry out some activities for your own employer’s group. You cannot do productive work for a UK organisation, fill a role or provide services to UK clients. A UK source cannot usually pay you, unless it is a permitted paid engagement such as a lecture or performance arranged before you travel. If your plans involve hands-on work on a UK project, you will need a short-term work visa instead.

These routes usually last up to two years and do not lead to settlement. Some need no sponsor: the High Potential Individual visa is for recent graduates of top global universities, and the Youth Mobility Scheme lets young people from partner countries live and work for up to two or three years. Others need a sponsor, such as the Creative Worker, Seasonal Worker and Government Authorised Exchange routes. Most do not allow switching into long-term routes from inside the UK. Check which one your activity actually needs before applying.

Most of these routes need an endorsement or proof of standing rather than a job offer. The Global Talent visa is for leaders and emerging leaders in academia, research, arts, culture and digital technology, and needs an endorsement but no job offer. It gives flexible work rights and can lead to settlement in three or five years. Elite athletes and coaches use the International Sportsperson visa, and EU citizens who live abroad but work in the UK may hold a Frontier Worker permit. Artists and entertainers can often perform as visitors.