The United Kingdom has updated its Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor, reaffirming the list of countries and categories of travellers who must obtain a visa before travelling to the UK for visits or any stay of less than six months.
Under the rules, nationals and citizens of more than 100 countries and territories are required to obtain entry clearance before travelling to the UK unless they qualify for specific exemptions contained elsewhere in the immigration rules.
The updated guidance obtained by our correspondent on Saturday also states that “stateless persons and people travelling on documents other than a national passport or, where applicable, a national identity card must also obtain entry clearance before travelling, unless the document has been issued by the UK.”
The Home Office in the July 1 release noted that some exceptions apply to nationals of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, as indicated by an asterisk in the Immigration Rules, with the exemptions set out in subsequent provisions of the appendix.
Countries whose nationals require a UK visa
The countries and territories listed in the updated Immigration Rules are:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
People’s Republic of China*
Colombia
Comoros
Republic of the Congo
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
North Korea
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Pakistan
Palestine
Philippines
Russia
Rwanda
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St Lucia
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
Other categories requiring visas
The Immigration Rules also specify that the following categories require entry clearance before travelling to the UK:
Stateless persons.
Individuals travelling on any document other than a national passport or, where permitted under the rules, a national identity card, regardless of whether the document is issued by or shows the nationality of a country not listed above, except where the document has been issued by the United Kingdom
