This section contains information related to an application for a visitor’s visa. Please read it carefully.

TOURISTS
If you are a South African national, you do no need prior Visa if the purpose of your visit is to spend a holiday in the UK of up to six months duration. During this period you must support yourself without working and must leave the UK when your visit over.

Although prior Visa is not required, South Africans are still subject to Immigration control. You can still be refused entry on arrival in the UK if the Immigration Officer is not satisfied that you are a genuine visitor who meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules.

If you have been refused entry before at a UK port, you should apply for a visitor’s Visa before you travel. Please give us details of your previous refusal, including the port reference number and any documents you were handed by the Immigration Officer. Until we receive details of the refusal from the port in question, there will be a delay in processing your application.

If you are between the ages of 17 and 30, and you would like to work in the UK , you might be eligible for a working holidaymaker’s Visa. Please see our separate information pack on this category. Please note that you cannot enter the UK as a visitor and then change your status to a working holidaymaker. You must have a working holidaymaker’s Visa before you go.

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BUSINESS
South Africans can also enter the UK to conduct business for up to six months without prior entry clearance. However:

• Such business must be directly linked to your employment outside of the UK
• You should normally live and work outside of the UK and have no intention of transferring your base to the UK , even temporarily.
• You must receive a salary from outside of the UK . However, you may get reasonable expenses from a UK source to cover travel and subsistence during your visit.

If you want to work in the UK , set up or take over an existing business, or open up a branch office in the UK , then please ask our advice on what is the correct type of Visa you should apply for.

MEDICAL
You can also visit the UK for up to six months to receive medical treatment. However, this must be done privately and not on the National Health Service. However:

• If you are suffering from a communicable disease, you must satisfy a Medical Inspector that there is no danger to public health;
• Your proposed course of treatment is finite;
• You intend to leave the UK when your treatment is over;
• Satisfactory arrangements have been made for the necessary consultation or treatment.
• Sufficient funds are available to pay for the necessary treatment privately.

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VISA NATIONALS
If you are a national of one of the following countries, you will always need a visitor’s visa before travelling to the UK , whether you are going as a tourist, business visitor or for medical treatment:

You should apply in your normal country of residence, unless there is no British visa issuing office there. If your country is not listed above, then, like South Africans, you do not need prior Visa as a visitor.

INTERVIEWS
Most applications can be processed on paper or after an interview. However, the Visa Officer might find it necessary to speak to you in greater depth in a private interview. Interviews can only be held in Pretoria and cannot be conducted over the telephone.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER MY Visa OF VISA HAS BEEN ISSUED?
The visa will be valid from your intended date of arrival in the UK and will expire six months, one, two or five years after that date, depending on what length of time you have applied for. Between the two validity dates, you can enter and leave the UK as often as you want. Each time you enter the UK , the Immigration Officer will give you permission to stay for six months (180 days). You must leave the UK before or at the end of the six-month period granted by the Immigration Officer.

Airtickets are not required as part of the application process. By all means make a provisional booking, but DO NOT purchase your tickets before you receive your visa. We cannot be held responsible if, due to difficulties with your application, you are unable to travel on your scheduled flight.

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