Check if you need a UK visa: Information based on your answers

You may be able to come to the UK without a visa if you’re doing certain types of work or academic activities

If you’re travelling on or after 2 April 2025, you’ll need to apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA). You’ll be able to apply from 5 March 2025.

What you can and cannot do without a visa

You can come to the UK as a Standard Visitor for up to 6 months without a visa if you’re doing certain activities, such as:

going to meetings or conferences
doing academic research
doing certain paid engagements or events (a ‘permitted paid engagement’) for UK-based organisations

You cannot:

do other paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person
do a work placement or internship
sell directly to the public or provide goods and services

If you’re doing a permitted paid engagement, you must do it within one month of arriving. You can stay in the UK for up to 6 months, but cannot do any paid engagements after the first month.

Check the full list of business activities, academic activities or permitted paid engagements you can do as a Standard Visitor.

To research certain subjects at postgraduate level or above, you may need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate. If you do need one, you’ll need to get your ATAS certificate before starting your research.

You may want to apply for a Standard Visitor visa if you have a criminal record or you’ve previously been refused entry into the UK.

What you need at the UK border

You must provide a valid passport or travel document. Your passport should be valid for the whole of your stay in the UK.

You may also be asked to prove:

you’re eligible for the activities you want to do
you’ve arranged accommodation for your stay
you’ll leave at the end of your visit
you’re able to support yourself and your dependents during your trip (or have funding from someone else to support you)

Find out more about visiting the UK as a Standard Visitor.

The rules on what you’ll need to enter the UK may be different if you’re travelling from Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man.

If you want to do other paid work in the UK

You must apply for a visa if you want to work:

as a volunteer
in a work experience role
for a charity
for a religious organisation
in a seasonal horticulture job, for example picking fruit, vegetables or flowers
as a domestic worker in a private household
in a senior or specialist role in your overseas employer’s UK branch
in a graduate trainee role at your overseas employer’s UK branch
in a skilled job
in work covered by international law, for example for a foreign government or as a private servant in a diplomatic household
to provide services to a UK company as part of an international trade agreement
as part of a high-value contract between your overseas employer and a UK organisation
to provide a service on behalf of a Swiss company
in arts or entertainment
in sports
in a fast-growing UK business (sometimes known as a ‘scale-up’ business)

If you want to work in arts or entertainment for 3 months or less

You do not need a visa for qualifying work if you’re coming to the UK for 3 months or less using the Creative Worker visa concession.

You must bring a certificate of sponsorship and evidence of savings to show officers at the UK border.

You must see a Border Force officer - do not use the automatic ePassport gates.