There are different reasons why people want to apply for a UK visa. That is why the United Kingdom has an organized visa system based on the purpose of visitor under multiple visa types.
Here are the UK visa types:
- Work Visas.
- Business Visas.
- Study Visas.
- Visitor Visas.
- Family Visas.
- Settlement Visas.
- Transit Visas.
Work and Business Visas
Besides of its strict rules, not allowing to get a job many of the visa holders, the UK also offers Working Visas especially for high-end professionals from other countries who wish to work and live in the UK for shorter or longer periods.
Categories of work and business visas
- Highly qualified foreigners:
- Global Talent Visa
- Skilled foreign workers with a job offer in a shortage area
- Tier 2 (General) Visa
- Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Visa
- Tier 2 (Sportsperson) Visa
- Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) Visa
- Youth mobility and temporary foreign workers
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Visa
- Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) Visa
- Other:
- Croatian National Registration Certificate
- Domestic Workers in a Private Household Visa
- Exempt Vignette Visa
- Turkish Worker Visa
The UK Business Visa types are the following:
- Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa
- Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa
- Tier 1 Investor Visa
- Turkish Businessperson Visa
Student Visas
These types of visas are issued to international students who want to study in the UK.
Categories of student visas
- Tier 4 (Child) Student Visa
- Tier 4 (General) Student Visa
- Short Term Study Visa
Tourist and Visiting visas
The UK is a very popular tourism destination, for shorter or even longer periods of visits. The UK Visitor Visas are issued for short stays, tourism visits and similar purposes. UK authorities rarely do issue a tourism visa for a longer period than six months. The foreign nationals are prohibited from getting a job inside UK with this type of visa, just as with many other types.
Short business trips are handled kind of the same way.
Categories tourist and visiting visas
- Marriage Visitor Visa
- Parent of a Tier 4 (Child) Student Visa
- Permitted Paid Engagement Visa
- Short-term Study Visa
- UK Visitor Visa
- Visa for a Chinese Tour Group
Family Visas
The UK Family Visa is issued to visit family members in the UK. This Visa type is for people who have family members working and living in the UK and want to join them for more than six months, as their dependents. The dependents can be husband or wife (spouse), partner, fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, children, parents, other family members.
Categories of family visas
- UK Spouse visa
- UK Parent visa
- UK Child visa
Transit Visas
The UK Transit Visa is for foreigners who are not from the EEA (EU countries, including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or Switzerland, and are using the UK as a transit country to pass from another country to their destination. This visa offers the opportunity to apply for a long-term transit visa if the applicant has enough evidence that he needs to travel regularly through UK to arrive at his destination, but has no intention to stay or live there permanently. Such long-term transit visas can be given from 1 to 10 years long.
Categories of transit visas
- Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV) – for those who have to change flights in the UK without leaving the airport
- Visitor in Transit Visa – for foreigners who have to leave the airport and take another means of travel, of making a part of their traveling through the land. This visa can be valid for up to 4 days.
Refugee Visa
Temporary Refugee Visa is for people who are about to enter in the UK and are at the borders because had to leave their country as their life was seriously threatened. The application for this visa is made from within the UK.
The visa is temporary, until the visa holder is not endangered anymore and can return back to their country. Visa for Stateless Persons is for foreigners living in the UK and are not nationals in any other country in the world. This visa is given for 2 to 6 years with a possibility of extension.