the uk divides people into visa
nationals and non-visa nationals visa
nationals require a visa otherwise known
as entry clearance to the uk
this is a map showing in red the
countries the nationals of which are
visa nationals if you're a national one
of these countries then you need a visa
before
traveling to the uk i've put a list in
the description
below the beige entries the same but in
these countries
like china for example there are
exceptions for certain types of traveler
this is what the visa looks like it's a
uk government's
endorsement on your national passport if
your visa is for more than six months
then this will be a so-called short
validity
sticker or vignette in your passport it
expires 30 days
from the date of issue and the way it
works is that in
that time you need to come to the uk and
pick up a biometric
residence permit which is your visa
covering the full
period of your permission to stay in the
uk
i cover this process in a separate video
in this series
the other category is non-visa nationals
certain people don't require permission
to enter the uk
i.e if you're a british national of
course or
a national of a country within the
european
economic area or switzerland pre-brexit
at least in this case then you do not
need
permission to enter the uk in the sense
of having to apply for
leave to enter the uk here are those
countries
there are 31 states in the european
economic area
they are the 28 eu member states plus
iceland norway and liechtenstein
then we add switzerland which although
not
in the european economic area is treated
in the same way
so if you're from one of these countries
you can enter the uk
subject only to a check of your passport
or
national identity card most commonly
your passport
there are also other non-visa nationals
outside
of the european economic area and
switzerland
the difference from the european
economic area countries and switzerland
is that nationals of these other
countries
require uk immigration permission
referred to as leave to enter the uk but
they can apply for this at a port of
entry
to the uk rather than in advance
of travel so they don't need entry
clearance
that's subject to some criteria so
non-visa nationals do not require a visa
if they are seeking permission to stay
in the uk
for up to six months and the purpose of
their stay
does not require entry clearance for
example it's a
visit or a business trip as opposed to
paid employment in in the uk which
certainly would
require a work visa
so here in green are the non-visa
national countries
for which you do not need a visa before
travel if these criteria apply i'd say
that
most immigration routes now require
entry clearance regardless of
nationality
the main one that doesn't in which
non-visa nationals benefit from
is coming to the uk as a visitor for up
to six months
another point is that even if you are a
non-visa national you can still apply
for entry clearance
where it's not strictly required this is
called
an entry certificate rather than a visa
but the process is
the same so in the description below
i've put a list of visa nationals so you
can check
from the list whether or not you may
need a visa