Types of visas for the United Kingdom

• Application method: you can apply for the Standard Visitor Visa online through this link.
• Price: the price of this visa will depend on the requested duration, but to give you an idea, you can apply for it from £95.
• Duration: typically, the duration of the Standard Visitor Visa will be up to 6 months (£95).
• Required English level: no minimum level of English is required to apply for this type of visa.
• Estimated response time: usually, you will receive a response to your application within 3 weeks after completing the in-person interview. Check here for the available interview centers in your country.

• Having a valid passport: although it may sound obvious, to apply for the Standard Visitor Visa, you will need your passport to be valid for the entire duration for which you want to apply for the visa.
• Demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay in the UK: the amount you need to demonstrate in your case should be presented through a bank statement (in English) showing that the money has been in your account for a consecutive period of 28 days prior to the date of visa application.
  • A reference amount of £1,334 per month will be considered if you plan to live in London, or £1,023 for the rest of the country’s cities.
  • If your intention is to study in the UK, you must provide proof of payment for your course or demonstrate that you have enough money to pay for it.
  • If you also intend to do tourism in the country, you may also be asked to present the necessary funds for it.

The quick answer would be “no,” but that would be only partially true. So, since you are interested in knowing whether you can work with the Standard Visitor Visa or not, we will tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

There are certain work activities that you can do with this visa. These include attending meetings, conferences, fairs, or negotiating contracts. You are also allowed to engage in certain business activities with employees of your own company if it has a branch in the UK, for example, providing training or meeting to coordinate internal projects.

However, in most cases, you will not be able to work in exchange for a salary provided by a UK company.

• Application process: The Short-Term Study Visa is applied for online. You can click on this link to start the application process for your Short-Term Study Visa.
• Price: The price of the Short-Term Study Visa is £186.
• Duration: As a general rule, the duration of the Short-Term Study Visa will be between 6 and 11 months. This will depend on the duration of your English course.
• Required English level: There is no need to demonstrate a minimum level of English proficiency to apply for this type of visa.
• Estimated response time: 3 weeks from the date of your in-person interview at the designated center in your country. Check here for available centers in your country.

• Have a passport valid for the entire duration of your stay in the UK.
• Demonstrate that you have been accepted into an English course lasting no more than 11 months and that does not include other subjects. This information will be indicated in the offer letter from the school that your Dingoos Guide will send you.
• Be enrolled in an accredited English school. At Dingoos, we only work with accredited schools, so you don’t have to worry about this if you decide to travel with us to study in the UK.
• Demonstrate that you have enough funds to support yourself during your stay in the UK without needing to work or relying on public funds. If for some reason you do not have sufficient savings in your bank account, you will need to demonstrate that you have financial support from a family member or friend.
  • A reference amount of £1,334 per month will be taken into account if you plan to live in London, or £1,023 for the rest of the cities in the country.
  • You will also need to provide proof of payment for your course or demonstrate that you have enough money to pay for it.
  • If you have not purchased a round-trip ticket, you will need to add the cost of the return airfare to your home country to the total amount you need to demonstrate.
• Obtain the mandatory THS (The Healthcare Surcharge) medical insurance, which costs approximately £470.
• Prove your identity, which can be done either through biometric tests at one of the visa application centers in your country or by using the “UK Immigration: ID Check” mobile app (Google Pay, Apple Store).

International students holding the Short-Term Study Visa are not allowed to work in the UK, either paid or unpaid.

Furthermore, you cannot enroll in a course that includes professional internships. Remember that the Short-Term Study Visa is focused only on English language students.

The only thing you are allowed to do is volunteer, but be aware of the following requirements to comply with the restriction of working with this visa.

• Volunteers do not have an employment contract.
• You should not occupy the position of an employee.
• You cannot receive a salary or payment in kind.
• You may receive reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses, as long as they are reasonable amounts.
• The volunteer work must help a charitable organization.

• Application process: The Student Visa is applied for online. You can click on this link to start the process of applying for your Student Visa.
• Cost: The price of the Student Visa is £348 if you apply from outside the UK and £475 if you apply from within the country, whether you are changing to this visa or renewing a Student Visa.
• Duration: The validity period of your Student Visa will be the sum of the duration of your course (indicated in the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies), plus the period before the start of your course, plus the holiday period after completing your studies. In the following table, you can see the duration of the pre-course and post-course period depending on the type and duration of the course you will be studying

• Required English level: To apply for the student visa with an English course, you must demonstrate that you have a minimum English level equivalent to B2.
• Estimated response time: Generally, you will receive a response to your student visa application for the UK within 8 weeks.

• Have a passport valid for the entire duration of your studies in the UK.
• Submit the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies as evidence that you have been accepted at the school or university where you will be taking the course (with a duration of more than 11 months) that you will be studying in the UK. Your Dingoos Guide will help you obtain this document.
• Demonstrate that you have enough money to support yourself during your stay in the UK without needing to work or relying on public funds.
  • The amount to demonstrate if you will be living in London is around £1,334 per month or £1,023 for other cities in the country.
  • You will also need to provide a receipt for the amount paid for your course and demonstrate that you have enough money to pay the rest if you haven’t paid it in full.
  • Demonstrate that you have sufficient savings to purchase a return ticket to your home country when your visa is due to expire.
• Present the mandatory THS (The Healthcare Surcharge) medical insurance policy, which costs approximately £470.
• Prove your identity through biometric tests at one of the visa application centers in your country or using the “UK Immigration: ID Check” mobile app.
• You may also be asked for other requirements such as:
  • Present a tuberculosis (TB) test if you reside in one of these countries.
  • Have no criminal records.
  • Submit all documents translated into English by an official translator.
  • Report on the jobs you have held in the last 10 years.

Whether you can work with a Student Visa in the UK or not depends on the type of courses you are going to study. In the following table, we explain the work conditions that apply to each type of course:

Likewise, holders of a student visa are allowed to do internships if they have been assessed as an integral part of the course.

• Standard Visitor Visa: suitable for tourist visits or short-term English language study for a period of 6 months or less.

• Short Term Study Visa: aimed at international students with study plans between 6 and 11 months.
• Student Visa: visa for international students with study plans longer than 11 months.
• Child Student Visa: visa for minors studying at the school level.

• Temporary Worker Visa: visa for temporary foreign workers.
• Global Talent Visa: this visa is focused on highly skilled foreigners.
• General Visa: for foreign workers who are transferred to their company’s headquarters in the UK.
• Intra-company Transfer Visa: for foreign workers who are transferred to their company’s headquarters in the UK.
• Sportsperson Visa: visa for foreign athletes.
• Youth Mobility Scheme Visa: this visa is part of the UK’s youth mobility program.
• Domestic Workers in a Private Household Visa: visa for domestic workers.
• Entrepreneur Visa: visa for entrepreneurs
• Graduate Entrepreneur Visa: visa for graduate entrepreneurs.
• Investor Visa: visa focused on investors.

• Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV): visa for non-EU and non-Swiss nationals who need to change flights in the UK without leaving the airport
• Visitor in Transit Visa: visa for non-EU and non-Swiss nationals who need to leave the airport and take another means of transport or continue their journey by land (validity of up to 4 days).
• Long-term transit visa: focused on people who need to travel regularly to the UK to reach their destination but do not intend to live in the UK (validity between 1 and 10 years).

Visa for Stateless Persons: a temporary visa for foreigners living in the UK who have either had to leave their home country due to a major event or are not citizens of any other country. This visa can only be applied for from within the UK, and its initial validity can range from 2 to 6 years (with the possibility of renewal).

On the UK immigration website, it is indicated that the maximum advance time to apply for a visa is three months (12 weeks). They also mention that the response time for your visa application can take between 3 and 8 weeks.

Therefore, at Dingoos, we recommend that our international students apply for the visa a maximum of 12 weeks prior to their travel date and a minimum of 8 weeks.

The required documentation for a specific visa may not be the same as for another. But don’t worry, on the immigration page for each type of visa for the UK, you will find a list of the documents required to apply for the visa you are interested in.

In any case, here is a list of documents that may be requested during the visa application process:

• Online visa application form: Depending on the visa you are applying for, both the information requested in the form and the documents you need to attach to your application may vary. In some visas, the form needs to be filled out on paper, but the most common method is an online process.
• Valid passport: “Valid” means that it is not expired and has at least one blank page for entry stamps by the UK border control. The passport’s expiration date should cover the entire duration of the visa you are applying for, and it is recommended to exceed the date you plan to leave the country by 3 months.
• Two passport-sized photographs: These should be in color and taken within the last 6 months prior to the visa application.
• Proof of financial funds: As explained earlier, if you want to apply for a visa for the UK, you must be able to demonstrate that you have sufficient financial backing to support yourself in the UK without working during the duration of your visa.
• Normally, the required amount is £1,334 per month if you plan to live in London or £1,023 if you travel to any other city in the UK.
• Biometric data: If you plan to apply for a visa for the UK with a duration longer than 6 months, it is highly likely that you will be required to provide biometric data. These tests are conducted at one of the official centers designated by the UK government in each country, and during the process, your fingerprints and a digital photograph will be taken for identification purposes.
• Tuberculosis testing: Depending on your nationality, you may be required to present a tuberculosis test. You can check if you need one or not at this link.
• Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies: If you intend to apply for a study visa, you will need to present the Confirmation of Acceptance letter from the school where you will be studying. Your Dingoos Guide will help you obtain this document.
• Invitation letter: If you plan to stay at the home of a family member or friend who is a British citizen or permanent resident, you will be asked for an invitation letter signed by the host.
• Travel itinerary: If you apply for a tourist visa, you may be asked for detailed information about your travel plans in the UK.
• Medical or travel insurance: Depending on the visa you apply for, you will need to present the policy of the medical insurance you have purchased, which must cover the entire duration of your stay in the UK, or you will need to present the payment receipt for the THS (The Healthcare Surcharge) fee (£470 approx).
• Employer’s letter: If you intend to apply for a work visa (employed), you may be asked for a letter from your employer specifying your job position, salary, and estimated duration of the employment contract.
• Business registration documents: If you intend to apply for a work visa (self-employed), you will need to submit the company registration document that includes your name as the owner of the company and the date the company was founded.
• Certified translations: You should know that any of the documents mentioned below may be requested to be translated by an official translator if the originals are not in English or Welsh.
• Visa fees: Lastly, as you can imagine, you will need to pay the fees for the visa you wish to apply for, and we recommend that you keep the payment receipt in case it is requested at any time during the visa granting process.

Although the UK Immigration Department reserves the right to request any documents they deem necessary to justify the purpose of your trip to the UK, the most common ones are:

• If you are a citizen of the EU or EEA, showing your passport will be sufficient.
• If you are NOT a citizen of the EU or EEA, in addition to the passport, you will be asked for the landing card. This card will be given to you on the plane before landing, or you will find it on tables before going through border control.
• Your visa (if you needed to apply for one).
• A COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a PCR test conducted within 72 hours prior to travel.

In most cases, you will need to apply for your visa online through the UK Immigration website. Although the website provides detailed instructions on how to apply for each visa and the documents you need to attach to your application, these steps usually follow a similar order in most cases.

To give you an idea of the steps to follow, here is a summary:

1. Find out which visa you need to apply for to travel to the UK (if you need one):
   For this, it is best to contact one of our Dingoos Guides by filling out the form on this page. We will provide you with free advice, so don’t hesitate to ask.
2. Complete the online application form:
   You can easily do this by following the instructions provided throughout the form once you click the “Apply now” button on the specific visa page you are applying for.
   One of the pieces of information you will need to provide in the form is a phone number, and it is normal that you do not yet have a UK phone number. However, you can request a preloaded UK SIM card for free through this link.
3. Upload the documents requested throughout the application form:
   As mentioned earlier, these documents may vary depending on the visa you are applying for. Therefore, we recommend that you read the section “What documents do I need to submit to apply for a visa for the UK?” on this same page to get an idea of the documents that may be required before starting the application process.
   Schedule an appointment for an in-person interview at one of the authorized centers
4. Book the appointment for the in-person interview at one of the authorized centers:
   Once you have filled out the application form and attached all the requested documents, you will be asked to select a date and location for the in-person interview at one of the authorized centers in your country. Keep in mind that the nearest center may be in another city, so you will need to arrange your schedule accordingly to be able to attend on the selected date.
5. Attend the in-person interview on the scheduled date and time:
   It is recommended that you bring a printed copy of the appointment confirmation email that you received at the email address provided in the online application form. In that email, you will also be informed of any other documents you need to bring on the day of your appointment. Once at the selected authorized center and after submitting the required documents, simply follow the instructions of the person guiding you during the interview process. Remember to answer all the questions honestly.
   After the interview is completed and your fingerprints have been taken, you just need to wait for a response to your application within a period of 3 to 8 weeks from the date of the interview.

First and foremost, we want you to know that this is perhaps the most frequently asked question by our students, and every time we hear it, we are still surprised that even before arriving in the United Kingdom, you are already thinking about renewing your visa to extend your experience. Haha.

Nevertheless, we understand perfectly well that this happens, as it is very common for students who initially come for 2 or 3 months to find it insufficient and want to stay longer in the United Kingdom.

Therefore, you will be delighted to know that the answer to whether you can renew your visa from within the United Kingdom is a resounding YES. However, the process may vary slightly depending on the type of visa you have.

Continuing with the previous example, if you come with a Standard Visitor Visa to study for 2 or 3 months and decide to extend your stay, you can apply for a visa renewal as long as the total time of your stay in the United Kingdom does not exceed 6 months.

To avoid having your visa for the United Kingdom rejected, the first thing you should do is be very careful when applying, and if you have any doubts, that’s exactly why we are here. Contact us, and we will help you resolve them free of charge.

But if for any reason your visa is rejected, you should know that the fees you have paid to the UK Immigration Department will not be refunded. That money is charged as administrative expenses for reviewing your application, whether or not your visa is granted.

The most common reasons for visa rejection are applying for the wrong visa, not submitting all the required documents or not doing so in the specified format, not having sufficient financial funds, having a criminal record, or not complying with the conditions of a previous visa for the United Kingdom.

However, whenever a visa for the United Kingdom is rejected, the “visa refusal” letter explains the reasons for the rejection. Therefore, if you believe that the reasons for rejection are unjustified, you can appeal the decision or apply for a new visa (paying the fee again) by attaching documents that help prove that the reasons for rejection were unjustified.

If you decide to apply for a new visa, you already know the steps to follow. If you choose to appeal, you must fill out the IAFT-2 appeal form, send it to the UK Immigration and Asylum Chamber, and wait for a new decision, which will be communicated to you in writing.