UK Visitor Visa by Country
Whether you need a UK visit visa depends on nationality; what you have to show does not. This hub links to the country guides and to the general rules behind them.
- Section
- Visitor Visa
- Reading time
- 5 min
- Last checked
- 16 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- The Standard Visitor visa costs £135 for up to 6 months, whatever your nationality.
- The published decision time from outside the UK is 3 weeks, for every country.
- A tuberculosis test applies only to stays of 6 months or more, from listed countries.
- The Home Office publishes no refusal rate by nationality, so this site quotes none.
- The test in paragraph V 4.2 of Appendix V is the same for every applicant.
Nationality decides whether you need a visa at all, whether a tuberculosis test applies, and where you give your biometrics. It does not change the test: paragraph V 4.2 of Appendix V applies to everyone. This hub links to the country guides and to the general rules behind them.
Country-Specific Visitor Visa Guides
All six of these countries are on the visa national list, so citizens need a Standard Visitor visa before travelling. All six are also on the tuberculosis testing list, which bites only on stays of 6 months or more.
- India — financial evidence and the tuberculosis rules
- Nigeria — financial evidence and what the rules ask you to show
- Pakistan — financial evidence and family visits
- Bangladesh — financial evidence and common refusal reasons
- Ghana — financial evidence and tuberculosis testing
- China — financial evidence and the Hong Kong and Macao passport exceptions
For countries whose citizens do not need a visit visa, see our United States and Singapore guides.
General Visitor Visa Guides
These guides cover topics relevant to all nationalities:
Special Visit Types
Do You Need a Visa?
Check the GOV.UK visa checker to see what you need. If you are not on the visa national list, you will usually need a £20 electronic travel authorisation instead of a visa; it lasts 2 years, or until your passport expires, and none is needed at all for airside transit that does not pass through UK border control. For full fee information, see our UK visa fees guide.
Questions and answers
Do all nationalities need a UK Visitor Visa?
No. Citizens of many countries can visit the UK for up to 6 months without a visa, including European Union citizens, Americans, Australians and Canadians — though they do need a £20 electronic travel authorisation. Countries on the visa national list in Appendix Visitor of the Immigration Rules need a Standard Visitor visa and cannot use the authorisation instead. The list moves: Colombia was added on 26 November 2024, Botswana on 14 October 2025, Nauru on 9 December 2025, and Nicaragua and St Lucia on 5 March 2026.
Are the rules different depending on my nationality?
The test is the same for everyone: paragraph V 4.2 of Appendix V. What differs by nationality is whether you need a visa at all, whether a tuberculosis test applies, and where you give your biometrics. The Home Office does not publish refusal rates by nationality, so Rowan does not quote any.
Which countries require a TB test for a Visitor Visa?
The test applies if you are coming to the UK for 6 months or more and have lived in a listed country for 6 months or more, having been there within the last 6 months. An ordinary visit of up to 6 months does not trigger it. An 11-month Short-Term Study visa does, if you are from a listed country. Bangladesh, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, India and China are on the list; Singapore and the USA are not.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.