Standard Visitor visa

Please be aware that Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is required by certain non-visa nationals prior to travelling to the UK and is being expanded to include more nationalities. ETA gives individuals permission to travel to the UK and must be obtained prior to travelling to the UK. The ETA gives permission to travel to the UK only, individuals must still obtain permission to enter the UK as a Standard Visitor on arrival at the border. Having an ETA does not guarantee entry into the UK. Please see the Electronic Travel Authorisation section below for further information

Who needs a Standard Visitor visa

Students coming to the UK to do a period of study or research lasting up to 6 months

Please be aware that there are two types of visitor visas for study i) Short-term Study visa to study English language only in the UK and ii) Standard Visitor visa to engage in study for up to 6 months in any of the activities listed below. If you will engage in any of the activities below do not apply for a Short-term Study visa, you must instead ensure you apply for a Standard Visitor visa. As the Short-term study visa is only for the purposes of studying English language courses, please be careful to not apply for it instead by mistake. You can study in the UK on a Standard Visitor visa as long as your academic activity fits into one of the following categories:

studying a course at an accredited institution (meaning one or more consecutive or concurrent programmes of study that will be completed within the validity period of the visitor permission)
completing a period of research
completing research tuition (for example, to learning about research)
completing one or more elective courses linked to their overseas study, where they are studying medicine, veterinary medicine and science, or dentistry as their principal course of study equivalent to at least degree level study in the UK
completing a study-abroad programme in the UK as part of an overseas course, where the programme is less than 6 months in length
sitting an entrance exam
re-sitting an examination or retaking a module
taking an oral (viva) examination for part of a PhD qualification at a UK institution
students on distance learning programmes who spend the majority of their course studying overseas and are coming to the UK for short periods of time for certain activities, such as induction weeks, intensive face-to-face learning, one-to-one progress checks or to sit exams or assessments
Standard Visitor visa can also be used to attend graduation

When applying for a general Visitor visa you will need an acceptance/Visitor visa support letter from the University to submit with your application. Study Abroad students will receive this an acceptance letter from the Centre for Study Abroad, while all other students will usually receive Visitor visa support letter from their Faculty administration team at the University of Bristol. Students eligible to receive the Visitor visa at the UK border should bring the acceptance/Visitor visa support letter with them as they may get asked about the purpose of their visit to the UK.

Students coming to study or research certain science and technology subjects at postgraduate level, will need to obtain Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance before starting their course at the University of Bristol. Please visit this webpage for further information. Your UoB Faculty Office administrator should be able to confirm if you need ATAS clearance to study with us. Although Visit visa applicants may not require ATAS for their visa application, it will be a requirement of registration at the University, so we strongly advise you obtain ATAS before you apply for the Visit visa and come to the UK.

Please familiarise yourself with other eligibility criteria (e.g. finances) on this government webpage before applying for this visa.

Travelling to the UK to study for up to 6 months

Prior to travelling to study for up to 6 months in the UK you will need to determine if:

You are a visa national and are required to apply for a Standard Visitor visa in advance of travel or
If you are a non-visa national (so not required to apply for a Standard Visitor visa in advance of travel) but are required to meet the Standard Visitor visa requirements and conditions at the border on arrival and
If you are a non-visa national and are required to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) prior to travel

Please read the following sections carefully so that you can take appropriate action, depending on your nationality, prior to travelling to ensure your arrival through the border in the UK.

Obtaining a Standard Visitor visa - visa nationals and non-visa nationals

Some nationalities will need to obtain a Standard Visitor visa in advance of travelling (visa nationals) whilst others will be able to obtain permission to enter the UK as a Standard Visitor on arrival at the border without having to apply for the visa in advance (non-visa nationals).

Even if you are a non-visa national and are not required to apply in advance of travel you will still need to meet the requirements of the Standard Visitor visa on arrival and your immigration permission to be in the UK will be as a Standard Visitor. Non-visa nationals may also be required to apply for Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) prior to travel, please see the ETA section below.

To check whether or not you need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa in advance, please use this online tool. Applications in advance attract an application fee. Please see the UKCISA information for further details.

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for non-visa nationals

ETA and permission to travel to the UK

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is required by certain non-visa nationals prior to travelling to the UK.

Please note that you will not require an ETA if you have applied for and secured either a Student visa or Standard Visitor visa prior to travelling.

ETA gives individuals permission to travel to the UK and must be obtained prior to travelling to the UK. The ETA gives permission to travel to the UK only, individuals must still obtain permission to enter the UK as a Standard Visitor on arrival at the border. Having an ETA does not guarantee entry into the UK.

An ETA lasts 2 years, but it does not mean that you can stay in the UK for 2 years. It means only that you can travel in and out of the UK during that 2 year period without having to obtain a new ETA each time you travel into the UK. You will still need to obtain permission to enter the UK and meet the visa conditions each time you travel in.

Obtaining Standard Visitor permission to enter the UK on arrival at the border

As ETA gives permission to travel only, on entry into the UK you must meet the Standard Visitor visa requirements and adhere to the visa conditions even though you do not need to apply for the visa prior to travelling.

Please see the UKVI website Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor: Overview - GOV.UK for details of documents that you may required to show on arrival to prove that you meet the requirements of the Standard Visitor visa.

Entering as a Standard Visitor allows individuals to stay in the UK for up to 6 months, but they cannot work (paid or unpaid), or extend their stay in the UK. The full conditions including what you can and can’t do are on the UKVI website Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor: Overview - GOV.UK

These conditions apply to everyone who enters the UK as a Standard Visitor regardless of whether you were required to apply for the visa prior to arrival or not.

Who needs to apply for ETA

If you are a national of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates and are coming to the UK to study for 6 months or less you will need to have either an ETA or a Visitor visa to enter the UK.

From 27 November 2024 many more nationalities will be able to apply for ETA and will have to have them to travel into the UK from 8 January 2025. This includes nationals from the US, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea as well as many more, please see the UKVI website for the full list Check when you can get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK

Study Abroad students arriving in January to study for one semester - if you are one of the nationals required to apply for ETA for travel into the UK from 8 January 2025 (see above paragraph) we recommend applying for an ETA, even if you intend to arrive before the 8th January, to cover you in case you are delayed arriving or if you intend to do any travelling during the semester. If you have a passport from the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you will not need a Standard Visitor visa or Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the UK at the start of the semester. You will be able to apply for an ETA from the 5th March and will require one to enter the UK from the 2nd April.

How to apply for ETA

Applications for ETA cost £10. You can apply on the UKVI website Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK Applications are usually decided in 3 working days, but it can take longer so you will need to apply ahead of time to ensure that you have permission in advance of travel. The decision will be sent to you by email. If you obtain a new passport, you will need to apply for a new ETA.

Evidencing ETA for study

If you travel in on an ETA please retain email evidence of the ETA as you may require this for registration purposes.

Further information

There is further information about ETA available at UKCISA and on this government website Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK

Visits for research or 'learning about research' internships

If you come to the University for a period of research or an internship, you will need to be clear about the nature of your activities at the University and if you will be registered as a student or as a member of staff so that you can determine the correct visa for your activitiy. If you will be registered as a student and will be 'completing a period of research' or 'learning about research' you will be permitted to study on a Visitor visa provided that the period of research is part of/is relevant to your studies at your home institution. Full permitted activities that can be undertaken on a Visitor visa are listed in full in the Visit visa guidance. You are now allowed to receive payments for activities you are carrying out in the UK on Visit visa unless it is one of the permitted types of payments listed in V4.6 of Appendix Visitor.

Work (paid or unpaid) is not permitted on a Visitor visa. If you will be getting paid for your activities in the UK or/and will be employed, you should be registered as a member of staff. This implies a work activitiy rather than study and is not permitted on a Visitor visa. If your internship will be work in its more traditional sense, it could be that a temporary work visa like Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) would be appropriate and you should speak to our Human Resources about this as you would require sponsorship under this scheme.

If you will be coming under Erasmus+ you may be able to apply for the GAE visa sponsored by them: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/visa-and-certificate-of-sponsorship.html.

Students attending graduation ceremonies

You may need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa if you want to return to the UK for Graduation.

Please see our Graduation information for more details.

Friends and family visiting you

Friends or family who want to visit while you are in the UK can apply for a Standard Visitor visa. They cannot apply for or extend a Standard Visitor visa once they are in the UK.

Please see our Inviting your family or friends (PDF, 132kB) information sheet for more information.

Applying for a Standard Visitor visa

Apply online for Standard Visitor visa.

Health insurance

If you enter the UK on a Standard Visitor visa, you are not entitled to National Health Service (NHS) treatment. We advise that you to take out private medical insurance.

Contact us

Find out how to contact us.