🇬🇧 UK Standard Visitor Visa & ETA Guide 2026
Most visa-exempt visitors, including US and EU citizens, now need a £20 UK ETA, and since 25 February 2026 airlines must refuse boarding without one. Here's how an ETA differs from a Standard Visitor visa, and what each costs.
Worked example: a family trip to London
| Travellers | What they need | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| US family of four | ETA for each person, valid 2 years | 4 × £20 = £80 |
| Indian family of four | Standard Visitor visa for each person (6 months) | 4 × £135 = £540 |
ETA vs. Standard Visitor Visa: Which Do You Need?
Your nationality decides. Visitors who don't need a visa for short stays need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) instead, while visa nationals need a full Standard Visitor visa. The Home Office's April 2026 factsheet says an ETA currently costs £20, lets you make multiple journeys of up to six months each over two years (or until your passport expires, whichever is sooner), and isn't needed by British and Irish citizens. It's tied to your passport, so a new passport means a new ETA, and it's a digital pre-clearance, not a visa.
The timing is easy to get wrong. The ETA scheme began in January 2025 for non-European nationals and in April 2025 for Europeans; 25 February 2026 is when the transition ended and carriers began refusing boarding to anyone without a valid ETA, according to summaries of the Home Office's announcements. The fee has risen from £10 at the pilot stage to £16 in April 2025 and £20 from 8 April 2026, so a guide quoting £16 is out of date. A refused ETA means you'd need to apply for the appropriate visa if you still want to travel, and the fee isn't refunded. Apply only through GOV.UK or the official UK ETA app, since lookalike sites charge more.
Standard Visitor Visa Fees (from 8 April 2026)
| Validity | Fee | Per-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| 6 months | £135 | — |
| 2 years | £506 | £253.00 |
| 5 years | £903 | £180.60 |
| 10 years | £1,128 | £112.80 |
The six-month fee is on GOV.UK; the long-term fees are from the Home Office's 8 April 2026 fee schedule as summarised by LegalClarity. Confirm the live fee before paying.
Longer validity doesn't mean longer stays: each visit is still capped at six months, and the visa is for visiting, not living in the UK. Whether a long-term visa saves money depends on how many separate six-month visas you'd otherwise need. By that measure, the 2-year visa pays off from four separate applications (4 × £135 = £540 against £506), the 5-year from seven (£945 against £903) and the 10-year from nine (£1,215 against £1,128). A single £135 visa is already multiple-entry for its six months, so count separate visa applications, not trips.
What You Can and Can't Do
GOV.UK lists the permitted activities: tourism, seeing family or friends, volunteering for up to 30 days with a registered charity, passing through in transit, certain business activities, a permitted paid engagement as a professional expert, a school exchange, a recreational course of up to 30 days, study or exams (courses up to six months), activity as an academic, senior doctor or dentist, and medical treatment. You cannot do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person (apart from a permitted paid engagement), claim public funds, live in the UK through frequent or successive visits, or marry or register a civil partnership, which needs a separate Marriage Visitor visa. Visitor status doesn't lead to settlement.
To qualify, you must show you'll leave at the end of the visit, that you can support yourself and any dependants during the trip (or have funding from someone else), that you can pay for your return or onward journey (or have funding from someone else), and that you won't make the UK your main home. Our maintenance funds page covers how funding evidence works for visitors.
Processing and Paying for Speed
GOV.UK lists 3 weeks for a Standard Visitor application made from outside the UK and 8 weeks from inside it; see our processing times page for when the clock starts. GOV.UK's faster decision service offers a priority service for £500 (usually 5 working days) and a super priority service for £1,000 (usually the next working day) where available, but you usually won't get your money back if a decision takes longer, and UKVI won't reimburse travel costs. Don't book flights until you have your visa.
Approval Rates Vary Enormously by Nationality
Third-party summaries of Home Office data put the global Standard Visitor grant rate at roughly four in five: about 2.23 million visitor visas were granted against more than 2.79 million applications in the year to September 2025 (summary). That average hides large gaps. South African applicants were granted about 96% of the time in the year to March 2026 (summary), while a Nigerian-data analysis found 2025 visitor refusals of 66,143 against 105,039 visas issued, a 38.6% refusal rate (The Punch analysis, via Substack). Rates move from year to year and sources differ on figures for individual countries, so use these as an illustration of the spread and check the Home Office's own quarterly entry-clearance tables for your nationality before you apply.
If Your Visitor Application Is Refused
A refused Standard Visitor application normally comes with no right of appeal, so your decision letter, which sets out the reasons, is the key document. In practice the options are a fresh application that fixes the stated weakness or, if the refusal was wrong in law, specialist legal advice. Future applications ask about previous refusals, so declare them accurately; a gap in a refused application's evidence is fixable, but false information is a far bigger problem. If an ETA is refused, you'd apply for the appropriate visa instead. Resubmitting the same documents usually produces the same result, so address the specific reason: ties to your home country, the purpose of the trip, or how the trip is funded.
Where Visitors Slip Up
- Assuming ETA-eligible means visa-free. Most visa-exempt nationals, including US and EU citizens, need a £20 ETA, and carriers refuse boarding without one.
- Quoting the old ETA fee. It's £20 since 8 April 2026, not £16.
- Trying to marry on a Standard Visitor visa. That needs a Marriage Visitor visa, even for your own ceremony.
- Unexplained large deposits before applying. Funding must be clear and genuinely available; document where money came from.
- Treating a long-validity visa as a way to live in the UK. Frequent or successive visits that amount to living here are not allowed.
- Booking travel before the decision. UKVI won't reimburse costs if you're refused or kept waiting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do US and EU citizens need a visa to visit the UK now?
They need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, not a visa. It currently costs £20, lasts two years (or until your passport expires), and allows stays of up to six months per visit. Since 25 February 2026, carriers refuse boarding to anyone without a valid ETA.
How much does a UK visitor visa cost?
From 8 April 2026: £135 for 6 months, £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 years or £1,128 for 10 years. The ETA, for eligible nationalities, costs £20 instead.
Can I work on a UK Standard Visitor visa?
No. You can't do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, except for a permitted paid engagement, and you can't claim public funds or live in the UK through frequent visits. It's for tourism, family visits, certain business activities, short study and medical treatment.
Can I appeal if my UK visitor visa is refused?
Normally there's no right of appeal. Your decision letter sets out the reasons; the usual route is a fresh application that addresses them, and any previous refusal must be declared on future applications.
Is a long-term UK visitor visa worth it?
Only if you'd otherwise need several separate six-month visas: the 2-year visa pays off from four separate applications, the 5-year from seven and the 10-year from nine. Each visit is still limited to six months.