United Kingdom visa directory

Find your United Kingdom visa.

Every major route - work, study, family, visitor, business, talent and settlement. Who it's for, what it costs, how long it takes, and the pathway to permanent residence. In plain English.

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Figures shown are indicative for 2025 and government fees and rules change. Always confirm current details at GOV.UK before applying. General information, not immigration advice.
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37 visas
Standard Visitor

Standard Visitor visa

Visitor & Short Stay

For people visiting the UK for tourism, to see family, for business meetings or short-term study.

Short stay
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Marriage Visitor

Marriage Visitor visa

Visitor & Short Stay

For people who want to come to the UK to get married or register a civil partnership but not settle.

Short stay
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Skilled Worker

Skilled Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For people with a job offer from a UK employer holding a sponsor licence in an eligible skilled occupation.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Health & Care

Health and Care Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For qualified doctors, nurses, health professionals and adult social care workers with an NHS or eligible care sponsor.

Points-basedPoints-based
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GBM Senior/Specialist

Global Business Mobility - Senior or Specialist Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For senior managers or specialist employees transferring to a UK branch of their overseas employer.

TemporaryPoints-based
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GBM Graduate Trainee

Global Business Mobility - Graduate Trainee visa

Work & Skilled

For employees on a graduate training programme transferring to a UK branch of their overseas employer.

TemporaryPoints-based
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GBM Expansion Worker

Global Business Mobility - UK Expansion Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For senior managers or specialists sent to set up a UK branch of an overseas business with no trading presence yet.

TemporaryPoints-based
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GBM Service Supplier

Global Business Mobility - Service Supplier visa

Work & Skilled

For contractual service suppliers or self-employed professionals providing services under a UK trade agreement.

TemporaryPoints-based
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GBM Secondment

Global Business Mobility - Secondment Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For workers seconded to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their overseas employer.

TemporaryPoints-based
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Scale-up

Scale-up Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For talented individuals with a high-skilled job offer from an authorised fast-growing UK scale-up business.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Global Talent

Global Talent visa

Work & Skilled

For leaders or emerging leaders in academia, research, arts, culture or digital technology.

Points-basedPoints-based
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HPI

High Potential Individual (HPI) visa

Work & Skilled

For recent graduates of top global universities who want to work or look for work in the UK.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Innovator Founder

Innovator Founder visa

Business, Talent & Investor

For experienced entrepreneurs establishing an innovative, viable and scalable business in the UK.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Student

Student visa

Study & Graduate

For people aged 16 or over with a place on an eligible course at a licensed UK education provider.

TemporaryPoints-based
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Child Student

Child Student visa

Study & Graduate

For children aged 4 to 17 attending an independent fee-paying school in the UK.

TemporaryPoints-based
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Graduate

Graduate visa

Work & Skilled

For international students who have completed an eligible UK degree and want to stay to work or look for work.

Temporary
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YMS

Youth Mobility Scheme visa

Work & Skilled

For young people from participating countries and territories who want to live and work in the UK.

Temporary
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Family Partner

Family visa (spouse or partner, Appendix FM)

Family & Partner

For partners of British citizens or settled persons who want to live in the UK with them.

Temporary
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Parent

Family visa (parent of a child in the UK)

Family & Partner

For a parent coming to or staying in the UK to care for their child who is British or settled.

Temporary
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UK Ancestry

UK Ancestry visa

Work & Skilled

For Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the UK who want to work in the UK.

Temporary
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Creative Worker

Temporary Work - Creative Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For artists, entertainers, musicians and creative workers with a UK sponsor for short-term work.

Temporary
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Religious Worker

Temporary Work - Religious Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For people doing religious work such as preaching or working in a religious community on a temporary basis.

Temporary
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Minister of Religion

Minister of Religion visa (T2)

Work & Skilled

For religious ministers, missionaries or members of a religious order taking a role within a UK faith community.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Charity Worker

Temporary Work - Charity Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For people doing unpaid voluntary work for a UK charity on a temporary basis.

Temporary
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Sportsperson

International Sportsperson visa

Work & Skilled

For elite sportspeople and coaches endorsed by their sport's UK governing body.

Points-basedPoints-based
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Seasonal Worker

Seasonal Worker visa

Work & Skilled

For people coming to the UK for short-term roles in horticulture (edible and ornamental crops) or poultry.

Temporary
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GAE

Temporary Work - Government Authorised Exchange visa

Work & Skilled

For people coming to the UK for work experience, training or research through an approved exchange scheme.

Temporary
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BN(O)

Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa

Humanitarian & Refugee

For BN(O) status holders from Hong Kong and their family members who want to live, work and study in the UK.

Temporary
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EUSS

EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)

Settlement & Citizenship

For EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who were resident in the UK by the end of 2020.

Settlement→ PR
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ILR

Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement)

Settlement & Citizenship

For people who have completed the qualifying period on an eligible route and want to settle permanently in the UK.

Permanent residence→ PR
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Citizenship

Naturalisation as a British citizen

Settlement & Citizenship

For settled residents who meet the residence and good character requirements to become British citizens.

Citizenship→ PR
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Asylum

Asylum and refugee protection

Humanitarian & Refugee

For people in the UK who fear persecution in their home country and seek protection as a refugee.

Protection
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Domestic Worker

Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa

Work & Skilled

For domestic workers accompanying their employer to the UK for a short visit.

Temporary
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Frontier Worker

Frontier Worker permit

Work & Skilled

For EU, EEA or Swiss citizens who work in the UK but live mainly in another country.

Temporary
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Investor (closed)

Tier 1 (Investor) visa

Business, Talent & Investor

For high-net-worth individuals investing in the UK; closed to new applicants since February 2022.

ClosedPoints-based
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Start-up (closed)

Start-up visa

Business, Talent & Investor

For early-stage entrepreneurs with an endorsed business idea; closed to new applicants and replaced by Innovator Founder.

ClosedPoints-based
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Sole Rep (closed)

Representative of an Overseas Business visa

Business, Talent & Investor

For senior employees setting up a UK branch of an overseas company; closed and replaced by UK Expansion Worker.

Closed
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