If you are applying for a visa from the following countries, you should apply using our online application system, Visa4UK:

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain 
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• British Virgin Islands
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burma
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Congo
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• East Timor
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Faroes
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• French Guiana
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Kosovo
• Kyrgyzstan
• Kuwait
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg 
• Macau
• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Morocco
• Nauru
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Norway
• Oman 
• Pakistan
• Palestinian Authority
• Palau
• Panama 
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar 
• Romania
• Russian Federation
• Rwanda
• Samoa and Western Samoa
• San Marino
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia 
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Vincent and Grenadine
• St Lucia
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Swaziland
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikstan
• Thailand
• Togo 
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turks and Caicos
• Tuvalu
• Uganda 
• Ukraine
• UAE
• USA
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan 
• Vanuatu
• Vatican City
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Western Sahara
• Zambia

If you are applying for a visa from the following countries, you should apply by printing out an application form and completing it by hand: 

• Cuba
• Malawi
• North Korea  
• Turkmenistan 
• Zimbabwe

If you are applying for a visa from the following countries, you can choose whether to apply using our online application system or by printing off the application form and completing it by hand:

• Bangladesh
• Maldives
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Sri Lanka

A short-term visit visa allows you to come to the UK for a maximum of 6 months (or a maximum of 12 months if you are accompanying an academic visitor).

A long-term visit visa is valid for 1, 2, 5 or 10 years. The application fee is higher than for a short-term visit visa.

If we grant you a long-term visit visa, you are allowed unlimited entry into the UK for the time that the visa is valid, but for a maximum of 6 months for each visit.

We recommend that you limit your stay to the period stated on your visa application. If you spend long periods in the UK as a visitor, our officers may doubt your intentions.

If you breach the conditions of your entry to the UK, we may ban you from returning for up to 10 years.

If you apply for a long-term visit visa, we consider:

• whether you can show a frequent and sustained need to come to the UK (such as family links or an established business connection);
• whether your personal circumstances are likely to change significantly while the visa is valid - so you should give us as much evidence as possible that your circumstances will remain the same;
• whether you have shown that you can support yourself in the UK without public funds, and that you intend to leave the UK at the end of each visit; and
• your previous travel history as shown in a current valid passport.

You should think carefully before applying for a long-term visit visa. We may refuse the visa or issue it for a shorter period than you have applied for (if, for example, the evidence that you provide does not support a long-term visit visa application, or does not meet the visa requirements). If we refuse the application or issue the visa for a shorter period, we will not refund your application fee.

If you have not applied for a UK visa before, we advise that you should consider applying for a short-term visit visa first.