Join Your Loved Ones with the UK Family Visitor Visa

Family members living in the UK can sponsor the visa applicant to visit them and should provide invitation letters, evidence of relationship and their ability to do so if applicable.

As a UK family visit visa applicant, you must be able to demonstrate that you have a genuine reason for visiting the UK, can maintain and accommodate yourself during the visit and have sufficient ties to your home country to show the authorities that you have an intention to leave the UK. Although you may be sponsored by a third party, the Entry Clearance Officers (ECOs) will consider your own personal circumstances too.

Study of up to 30 days is permitted for holders of UK family visit visas, providing the study is incidental to the main purpose of the visit.

It is permitted to apply for UK family visitor visas with a validity period of; 6 months, 2 years, 5 years or 10 years with varying applicable fees. However, the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) has discretion and may issue a visa with a shorter validity period than applied for. Usually UK tourism visas are valid for multiple entries to the UK during the validity period indicated on the vignette. 

The maximum time permitted to stay in the UK at any one time is 6 months. Family visits must however not lead to living in the UK through frequent and successive visits. As a starting point, the individual should not spend more than 6 months in the UK in any rolling 12-month period, although this is a guide only and not stated in the immigration rules. The Immigration Officer at the port of entry has the authority to make an assessment on the individual’s intentions which can lead to tourist visitor visas being cancelled and refusal of entry to the UK.

It is not possible to add dependant family members to a UK family visit visa application.  However, they may submit their own application which will usually be processed at the same time as the ‘main applicant’.

All applications submitted in accordance with the UK Standard Visitor Rules must be made from outside of the UK.

UKVI aim to process family visit visas as follows:

Visa applications submitted outside of the UK:

• Standard processing: 15 working days
• Priority Service processing: 5 working days

Important: UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) do not guarantee processing times and delays do occur. We advise that you do not book any non refundable travel until your visa has been approved and your work visa is in your possession.  Priority services can be suspended without notice and may not be available at the time of application.

The UKVI application fees are as follows:

• Up to 6 months: £115
• Up to 2 years: £400
• Up to 5 years: £771
• Up to 10 years: £963

Our professional fee will depend on the level of service you require. Please see the options below or contact us for further information.