UK visa to visit family and friends

Seeing family or friends is a permitted visitor activity. The same core tests apply as for tourism: a genuine visit, departure at the end, and enough funds from you or your host. Long or repeated stays with family, for example to care for grandchildren or live with a partner, risk refusal because they look like living in the UK. Anyone who wants to live with a British or settled family member needs a family visa instead.

If you stay with or are funded by someone in the UK, the form asks for their name, address and passport details. Support the application with an invitation letter explaining the relationship and the visit, a copy of the host’s passport or proof of UK status (for example an eVisa share code), proof of address and, if they pay, recent bank statements. Their help does not replace evidence of your own ties to your home country.

The fee is £135 for up to 6 months, or £506, £903 or £1,128 for long-term visas of 2, 5 or 10 years if you visit relatives regularly. Each family member, including children, needs a separate application, fee and appointment. Apply no earlier than 3 months before travel; decisions usually take 3 weeks.

Under-18s can travel alone, but a parent or guardian must give written consent and full contact details and show where the child will stay, with whom, and that person’s consent. Up to 2 accompanying adults can be named on the child’s visa. If a child under 16 will be cared for for more than 28 days by someone who is not a close relative, the local authority must be told (private foster care).

There is no appeal and no administrative review against a Standard Visitor refusal. The refusal notice lists the requirements UKVI found unmet, most often doubts about your intention to leave, the source of funds or the purpose of the trip. You can apply again at any time with a new fee and evidence that answers those points.