Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-09)

List of nationalities requiring entry clearance prior to travel to the UK as a Visitor, or for any other purpose for less than six months

- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- People’s Republic of China*
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast)
- Cuba
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Korea (North)
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar (formerly Burma)
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia)
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Philippines
- Russia
- Rwanda
- São Tomé and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Taiwan*
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- (b) stateless people; and
- (c) people travelling on any document other than a national passport, or, in the case of a person to whom paragraphs 11A and 11B of these rules apply, a national identity card, regardless of whether the document is issued by or evidences nationality of a state not listed in VN 1.1. (a), except where that document has been issued by the UK.
Exceptions to the list of visa nationals

Holders of specified travel documents
- VN 2.1. It is not necessary for a Transit Visitor to hold an entry clearance before they travel to the UK if they are travelling on an emergency travel document issued by, and evidencing the nationality of, a country not listed in VN 1.1.(a) and the purpose of their transit is to travel to the country in which they are ordinarily resident.
- (a) nationals or citizens of the People’s Republic of China who hold a passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; or
- (b) nationals or citizens of the People’s Republic of China who hold a passport issued by the Macao Special Administrative Region; or
- (c) nationals or citizens of Taiwan who hold a passport issued by Taiwan that includes in it the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan; or
- (d) people who hold a Service, Temporary Service or Diplomatic passport issued by the Holy See; or
- (e) DELETED
- (f) DELETED
- (g) DELETED
- (h) DELETED
- (i) DELETED
- (j) DELETED
- (k) DELETED
- (l) DELETED
- (m) DELETED
- (n) DELETED
- (o) DELETED
- (p) DELETED
- (q) DELETED
- (r) DELETED
- (s) nationals or citizens of Nauru, who hold confirmed bookings to the UK, and who have been granted an Electronic Travel Authorisation, on or before 15:00 GMT on 9 December 2025 where arrival in the UK is no later than 15:00 GMT on 20 January 2026.
- (a) visiting the UK to marry or to form a civil partnership, or to give notice of marriage or civil partnership, unless they are a “relevant national” as defined in section 62 of the Immigration Act 2014; or
- (b) seeking to visit the UK for more than 6 months.
Exception where the applicant holds an Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) Document (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates nationals or citizens only)
- VN 3.1. DELETED
- VN 3.2. DELETED
- VN 3.3. DELETED
Obtaining an Electronic Visa Waiver Document
- VN 4.1. DELETED
- VN 4.2. DELETED
- VN 4.3. DELETED
Validity Requirements for an Electronic Visa Waiver Document
- VN 5.1. DELETED
- VN 5.2. DELETED
- VN 5.3. DELETED
- VN 5.4. DELETED
- VN 5.5. DELETED
- VN 5.6. DELETED
- VN 5.7. DELETED
Use of the Electronic Visa Waiver Document
- VN 6.1. DELETED
- VN 6.2. DELETED
- VN 6.3. DELETED
- VN 6.4. DELETED
- VN 6.5. DELETED
Exception where the Visitor is a person aged 18 or under on an organised trip from a school in France
- VN 7.0. Nationals or citizens of any country who are aged 18 or under, studying at a school or educational institution in France registered with the French Ministry of Education and seeking to enter the UK as part of a school party of 5 or more pupils organised by that school or institution, do not need entry clearance before they travel to the UK as a Visitor.
Exception where the Visitor is a person aged 19 or under on an organised trip from a school in Germany
- VN 8.0. Nationals or citizens of any country who are aged 19 or under, studying at a school or educational institution in Germany, the existence of which is confirmed by the relevant German municipal or competent authority, and seeking to enter the UK as part of a school party of 5 or more organised by that school or institution, do not need entry clearance before they travel to the UK as a Visitor.