United Kingdom visa guideThe UK Standard Visitor visa is the visa an Indian passport holder needs for a holiday in the UK or to see family and friends there. Each visit can last up to 6 months, and frequent visitors can choose a 2, 5 or 10-year visa instead. India is a visa-national country, so the visa must be granted before you travel; the ETA does not apply to Indians.
You apply online on GOV.UK, pay £135, and give fingerprints and a photo at a VFS Global centre such as Jalandhar, Chandigarh or New Delhi. UK Visas and Immigration usually decides within 3 weeks of that appointment, and successful applicants now get an eVisa instead of a passport sticker.
Do Indians need a visa for the UK, and which one?
Yes. India is on the UK's visa national list, so an Indian passport holder needs a visit visa before flying, whatever the purpose. The electronic travel authorisation (ETA) that travellers from Europe, the USA, Australia and Canada now use is not open to you.
For a holiday or a family visit, the visa is the Standard Visitor visa. The same visa covers tourism, seeing family or friends, business meetings, short courses of up to 6 months and private medical treatment. Each visit is normally capped at 6 months. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), part of the Home Office, decides every application.
It is not an e-visa you buy on a portal, though it ends as one. You apply online on GOV.UK, give your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre, and if you are approved you get an eVisa: a digital record of your permission, linked to your passport. UKVI stopped putting visa stickers in passports for new applicants on 1 July 2026.
UK visitor visa at a glance
- VisaTourism, family visits, business meetings, short courses
- Standard Visitor visa
- Longest stayAlso on the 2, 5 and 10-year visas
- 6 months per visit
- Who decides
- UK Visas and Immigration (Home Office)
- Where you applyJalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Gurugram and others
- GOV.UK, then a VFS Global centre
- Visa feeNo separate child rate on the GOV.UK fee table
- £135 for up to 6 months
- Usual decision timeFaster paid services where offered
- 3 weeks
- What you receiveSince 1 July 2026
- An eVisa, not a sticker
GOV.UK Standard Visitor pages and VFS Global UK India, checked 14 Oct 2026
Should you ask for a 2, 5 or 10-year visa?
If you will visit often, for example to see a son or daughter settled in the UK, a long-term visa saves you from applying every year. It costs £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 years and £1,128 for 10 years, and every stay is still limited to 6 months. Know the catches before you pay:
- UKVI may grant a shorter visa than you asked for if it doubts you can meet the rules for the whole period. The fee is not refunded, even in part.
- A long-term visa can be cancelled if your travel history shows you are repeatedly living in the UK for long stretches.
- For a child under 18, the visa is valid only until 6 months after the 18th birthday.
The Home Office guidance sets no fixed "6 months in every 12" rule. Officers instead look at how many visits you made in the last 12 months, how long each one lasted, and whether you now spend more time in the UK than in India.
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
Online first, then in person at a VFS Global centre. VFS is UKVI's official partner in India. Punjab has a UK visa centre in Jalandhar, and there is one in Chandigarh; both work Monday to Friday. From Delhi and southern Haryana, the New Delhi and Gurugram centres are closer. VFS also runs paid Premium Application Centres in hotels, which in Punjab means the Radisson Blu in Amritsar on Thursdays and the Park Plaza in Ludhiana on Wednesdays.
There is no consulate jurisdiction to work out. UKVI decides every file, and you choose the centre when you book the appointment inside your online application. To see how appointment dates are opening up, check our UK appointment availability page.
What to expect on the day:
- You must go yourself. Anyone who has to give biometrics attends in person; VFS says you cannot send someone in your place.
- Bring the appointment confirmation with its QR code, and your passport. Security checks it at the door.
- Do not arrive too early or late. More than 15 minutes early and you may wait outside; after your slot and you may have to rebook.
- All 10 fingerprints and a face photo are taken. Fingers should be free of mehndi, cuts or other marks. A head covering worn for religious or medical reasons is allowed in the photo.
- Children under 16 must come with an adult. A child under 5 has a photo taken but gives no fingerprints.
- Documents: upload them yourself online after booking, or bring A4 copies and pay VFS for its Document Upload Assistance.
- Your passport comes back the same day, according to GOV.UK, so it stays with you while the file is decided.
Each family member makes a separate application, pays a separate fee and attends a separate appointment. A family applying together does not need to upload the same shared document several times.
Which documents depend on your situation?
GOV.UK's supporting-documents guide is a set of examples, not a fixed checklist. The officer wants four things shown: a permitted purpose, that you will leave, that you can pay for your stay, and that you can pay to get home. What proves them changes with your life in India.
Salaried
- What to add to the common checklist
- A letter from your employer on company headed paper with your role, salary and length of service; salary account statements that show where the money comes from
Business owner or self-employed
- What to add to the common checklist
- Business registration documents or recent invoices showing the business is running; bank statements that detail the origin of the funds
Student
- What to add to the common checklist
- A letter on your college's headed paper confirming enrolment and leave of absence
Retired
- What to add to the common checklist
- Pension and savings statements that show the source of the money
Parent visiting a child in the UK
- What to add to the common checklist
- Your own income and savings; if your child pays, proof of what is paid and how, that they can support themselves and their own family too, your relationship, and their legal status in the UK
Child under 18
- What to add to the common checklist
- Birth certificate; photo page of at least one parent's passport with signature and passport number if that parent is not applying; if travelling without a parent, a signed consent letter
The consent letter for a child travelling without a parent should say who is travelling with the child, with that adult's passport number, who will look after the child in the UK, and how the child will travel. GOV.UK warns that the application may be refused without it.
What UKVI asks you not to send
This part surprises most Indian applicants. GOV.UK lists documents that are of little use, and the caseworker guidance tells officers not to consider them if you send them anyway:
- hotel bookings, and flight bookings unless you are only transiting
- travel insurance
- credit card statements, and bank statements or letters issued more than 1 year before you apply
- driving licence, car ownership papers, business cards
- personal photographs and notarial certificates
- your sponsor's utility or council tax bills
So the paid hotel booking and the confirmed ticket add nothing. GOV.UK also tells applicants not to book travel until they have a decision.
What the form will ask
Some answers are hard to collect at the last minute. The online form asks for your parents' names and dates of birth, your annual income, your home address and how long you have lived there, and an estimate of what the trip will cost. Depending on your case it also asks for your travel history for the past 10 years, your employer's address and telephone number, and the name, address and passport number of any family member in the UK. Any document in Punjabi or Hindi needs a full certified translation that gives the translator's confirmation, the date, their name, signature and contact details.
How much is the UK visa fee for Indians?
The Standard Visitor visa costs £135 for up to 6 months, paid online when you apply, and GOV.UK's fee table has no lower rate for children. Long-term visas cost £506 (2 years), £903 (5 years) or £1,128 (10 years). Priority adds £500 per person and super priority £1,000, where the centre offers them. Nothing is refunded if the visa is refused or comes back shorter than requested; GOV.UK refunds the fee only when you cancel before processing starts. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
GOV.UK's current standard is 3 weeks for a Standard Visitor visa. The clock starts on the day you attend the visa centre, not the day you fill in the form or pay, and it runs on the UK working week, Monday to Friday.
If you pay for speed, the priority service usually gives a decision within 5 working days. Super priority usually gives one by the end of the next working day after a weekday appointment, or within 2 working days after a weekend one. You are told when you apply whether either service is available for you.
A file can take longer when UKVI needs more evidence, has to verify documents, wants to interview you, or is dealing with high demand. GOV.UK says you will be contacted within the normal processing time if that happens.
When to apply:
- Earliest: 3 months before you travel. GOV.UK will not take the application sooner.
- Sensible: as soon as that window opens, because the 3 weeks only start once you get a centre appointment.
- Bookings: do not buy tickets first. UKVI does not repay travel costs if a decision is late or negative.
Why do UK visas get refused for Indian applicants?
The test sits in Appendix V of the Immigration Rules: you must satisfy the officer, on the balance of probabilities, that you are a genuine visitor. If you do not, the guidance tells the officer to refuse. The Home Office's own caseworker guidance lists what makes an officer doubt a visitor, and Indian refusals keep landing on the same few points.
Money that arrived recently or does not match the form
The guidance asks for a match between what you declare (income, large deposits, family support) and the statements you send. Where most of the money has not been in the account for long, officers check its origin. Ongoing commitments such as rent, loan instalments and dependants are subtracted first. Send statements that show the source, and paper every big credit.
Few ties at home, many relatives in the UK
An applicant with most of the family in the UK and no job or studies in India is the guidance's own example of weak ties. Answer it with your life here: the job and leave letter, the running business, the land, the people you support. Earlier trips to the USA, Canada, Australia, Schengen or similar count in your favour.
You and your host tell different stories
Officers are told to doubt a visit when the applicant's statements differ from the sponsor's, especially on facts the sponsor should know. Agree the dates, the address, who pays and how you are related before either of you writes a word.
Too much time spent in the UK
On repeat visits, officers count your visits in the last 12 months and how long each lasted, and ask whether the UK has become your real home. Back-to-back six-month stays invite that question. Keep each trip to what its purpose needs, and show what brings you back to India.
Information the officer cannot trust
Past deception by you, your sponsor or close family, details that could not be verified, or a removal or refused entry in another country all weigh against you. Declare every earlier refusal and send only documents that can be checked.
Where doubts remain but the rules are met, the guidance lets the officer issue a shorter visa instead of refusing. If you are refused, there is usually no appeal: appeals to the tribunal are for protection, human rights and a few other decisions. The refusal letter tells you whether you can ask for an administrative review. If it does, you have 28 days and the fee is £80, but GOV.UK says the result can take 12 months or more, and a new application cancels the review. Given that wait, a fresh application that answers each reason is usually the quicker route. Our guide to a UK visitor visa refused from India goes through that step by step.
Tips for a stronger file
- Tell one money story. The income on your form, your salary credits or business receipts, and your employer's letter should all agree. If you file ITRs, they help show the declared income is real.
- Explain big credits. A plot sale, an FD maturity or a loan disbursal needs its own paper: sale deed, maturity slip, sanction letter.
- Be honest about commitments. Officers deduct EMIs, rent and dependants. A modest trip that clearly fits your income reads better than an expensive plan.
- Plans, not bookings. No itinerary is required, but you should be able to describe what you will do. Give dates, where you will stay and an honest cost estimate.
- State your main reason. You may do several permitted things, but the guidance expects one main purpose you can explain.
- Sponsor papers. If someone in the UK pays, add their bank statements, proof of their status (British passport or residence document) and a letter on what they cover.
- Travel history. Upload clear colour copies of old and current passport pages that show visas and stamps. VFS recommends exactly this.
- Leave out the clutter. Skip everything on the do-not-send list above. It adds pages, not weight.
Can parents stay 6 months to help with a new grandchild?
Usually yes, if it is a family visit and not a job. The caseworker guidance says a family member may come to look after a child or relative provided the arrangement is temporary and informal and does not amount to employment as a child-minder or carer. Say so plainly in the cover letter: you are coming as family, for a set period, and nobody is paying you to do it.
Two cautions. First, the same guidance tells officers to check that you are not living in the UK through frequent or successive visits, so a pattern of six months there, six months here will be questioned. Second, the parents' file is still judged on its own: their money, their ties in Punjab, and the son's or daughter's sponsor papers. Parents coming to see children who live in the UK on work or study visas apply as Standard Visitors, like any tourist.
What happens after approval, now that the UK uses eVisas?
You get an email with the decision. To see your eVisa you create a UKVI account, confirm your identity and link the account to the eVisa; GOV.UK says access is usually immediate but can take up to 24 hours. There is no sticker to collect. If UKVI also issues a Form for Accompanying an eVisa (FAV), you usually go back to the visa centre to collect it.
Before you fly:
- Check the eVisa: name, date of birth, permission and expiry.
- Travel on the passport that is linked to your UKVI account. If you renew your passport, update the account first.
- Make sure the details you give the airline match your account exactly. GOV.UK warns that a carrier may not let you board if they do not.
- Generate a share code if you want backup proof. A share code for travel stays valid for 90 days.
More on this in our UK eVisa guide for Indians. For business trips, see the UK business visa guide, and for every UK route, start at the United Kingdom country page.
Official sources
- Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor: overview, GOV.UK
- Apply for a Standard Visitor visa, GOV.UK
- Visiting the UK: guide to supporting documents, GOV.UK
- Visit caseworker guidance, Home Office
- Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list, GOV.UK
- Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), GOV.UK
- Visa processing times: applications outside the UK, GOV.UK
- Get a faster decision on your visa application, GOV.UK
- Ask for a visa administrative review, GOV.UK
- Appeal against a visa or immigration decision, GOV.UK
- Updates on the move to eVisas, GOV.UK
- Travel with your eVisa, GOV.UK
- VFS Global UK India: visa application centres
- VFS Global UK India: what happens at the centre
