Documents for a UK visa in 2021

Correctly filling out a UK visa application requires careful preliminary preparation. Along with the mandatory and correctly selected list of supporting documents, the visa application form is the main document for making a decision on opening a British visa.

Filling out an application form for the UK
How to correctly fill out an application for a visa to England
Sample form for a UK visa
UK visa application website
Errors in the UK visa application form
Online visa application
Fill out the application form for an English visa

Download the UK visa application form

To start cooperation with our company, you just need to download the questionnaire presented below. You can fill it out in free form in Russian. It is important to fill out all the fields specified in it. Based on it, we will fill out a visa application form on the Embassy website in the required format.

Questionnaire/Questionnaire for a British visa (Download)

DOC format, File size 216KB, Number of pages - 2. Filling language - Russian.

It will take you no more than 10 minutes to fill out this file. If you have any questions while filling it out, please call us.

Self-registration procedure

Any visa to England on your own in 2021 is done only through authorized Teleperformance visa centers. The British Embassy and its Consulates do not accept applications directly.

An algorithm explaining how to obtain a UK visa on your own is described below:

Register on the UK Visas&Immigration website;
Log in with your account, select the type of visa;
Fill out the visa application online and click on the “confirm application” button;
Submit an electronic application by clicking “submit application”;
Make an appointment for a free appointment to submit documents by clicking “Book Appointment”;
Pay the cost of a visa to England online;
Register again and create an account on the Teleperformance website, enter your e-mail;
Receive by e-mail an invitation sheet with a number, according to which you have the right to come to the visa center and submit documents;
Come at your appointed time, taking with you a completed application form, which must first be printed, a receipt for payment of the full cost of a UK visa and all the necessary documents prepared in advance.

As you can see, to apply for a visa to England on your own, you will need some knowledge of the English language in order to understand all the questions on the application form and correctly fill out all the necessary forms. Some people prefer to use the services of intermediary agencies because they do not feel they have sufficient strength and knowledge, but if the applicant speaks English and spends a little time understanding the procedures, then applying for a UK visa on your own will no longer seem so difficult process.

Filling out an application for a visa to England

There are three main points when filling out a UK visa application, which is why we recommend turning to professionals in these matters.

The first, important point is the filling language. A questionnaire with more than 100 questions on the embassy website is filled out in English. Often people who know English try to fill out the form on their own.

But here a second point arises, which is worth paying primary attention to. Namely, the form for filling out this questionnaire. There are rules of the British Immigration and Visa Service, which clearly indicate the format for filling out the fields of the application form. And the point here is not about knowledge of the language. It's all about strictly following the format of correctly filling out each field of the questionnaire.

The third important point that you should pay attention to is the frequent changes in the rules for filling out documents. Materials listed on free information sites or forums, as a rule, become outdated very quickly. Current updates are extremely difficult to find. Even on the UK government website, information in English often arrives several days late.

Summary

That is why it is much safer to entrust the filling out of your application to our company, which has been specializing only in the preparation of documents for British visas for more than 15 years. After all, if, when filling out a visa to England, errors are made in the spelling or format of filling out, the chances of receiving a refusal increase significantly, even if all the attached supporting documents are in order.

Where to submit documents

You can obtain a Great Britain visa at one of the visa centers. You can get acquainted with additional services and decide on the method of providing the accompanying package of documentation on the official website of the British Embassy. In 2021, submitting documents is possible in two ways:

free online (this means uploading scans of documents into the system yourself, we recommend that you read the instructions first);
paid at the time of submitting an application on the spot (all scanning and downloading procedures are performed by specialists, the cost of the service does not exceed £24).

Attention! Visa officers at British missions do not accept original documents, only photocopies. If they are missing, you can always make duplicates directly at the visa center. It is prohibited to staple sheets together. Copies must be of good quality, without mechanical damage or blots.

There are five branches of visa centers operating on the territory of the Russian Federation:

Moscow, Central Federal District (Syromyatnichesky lane, 1, Business);
St. Petersburg, Northwestern Federal District (Liteiny Prospekt, 26, near Brodsky’s house);
Novosibirsk, Siberian Federal District (57 Sibirskaya St., next to the Novosibirsk Circus hotel);
Rostov-on-Don, Southern Federal District (Suvorova St., no. 93, between the “League Park” and the monument to the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna);
Yekaterinburg, Ural Federal District (Bolshakova St., 70, not far from the memorial house-museum of P.P. Bazhov).

You should apply for a UK visa 30-90 days before your intended trip. A visit to the visa center should be approached with all responsibility and seriousness. Even a minute late, the interview can be postponed for several days. If a visa is needed urgently, then such a turn of events can become critical. Don't forget to take with you:

foreign passport; printed confirmation letter about the approved visit; checklist and receipt for payment of the consular fee; scans of documents or confirmation of their self-upload into the system; printed applicant application form with correct translation.

The application procedure includes several mandatory points: registration, acceptance of documents, provision of biometric data. Photography and electronic fingerprint scanning takes place on site.

Visa to England: how to fill out the application correctly in 2021

Those applicants who seek help from professionals in the field of visa services have a greater chance of successfully reviewing their application. Filling out the questionnaire yourself requires spending a lot of time and effort searching for up-to-date information. When you contact our company, you guarantee yourself the successful receipt of a visa, confirmed by a cooperation agreement, which specifies the financial responsibility of our company in the event of a visa refusal.

We do not recommend that you enter false information into the application form, as this greatly increases the chance of receiving a 10-year ban. It is always better to explain the absence of a document rather than attach a false one.

Our company is an expert in UK immigration and visa matters. We are confident in the quality of the services provided and bear full financial responsibility for the improper performance of our work. That's why we give a 100% guarantee that the consular form will be filled out correctly and you will receive a UK visa.

Samples of translations of documents for visa applications

certificate from place of work
certificate of registration of a private entrepreneur
pensioner's ID
certificate from school
certificate from the institute
Bank account
sponsorship letter
sample personal income tax certificate
apartment ownership certificate
land ownership certificate
vehicle registration certificate
birth certificate
Marriage certificate
divorce certificate
consent for the child to leave

If you have relatives or friends in the UK, you must provide

A photocopy of the first page of the international passport (with photo) + a photocopy of the visa of a relative located in the UK.
In the application form, be sure to indicate: full name, family relationships, address and telephone number of the place of stay, length of stay.

Persons under the age of majority

Photocopy of birth certificate.
A notarized copy of the consent for the child to leave (if leaving with one parent - from the 2nd parent, when leaving with an accompanying person - a power of attorney from both parents in the name of the accompanying person) IT IS RECOMMENDED TO DO THE ORIGINAL IN TWO COPIES, BECAUSE THE CONSULATE MAY REQUIRE THE ORIGINAL CONSENT AND WILL NOT RETURN (with translation into English);
If the child is traveling accompanied by an adult (including a parent, other relative or school teacher), the name of the accompanying person will be written on the child's visa. The visa will be invalid if the child attempts to travel alone or accompanied by an adult other than the one specified on the visa. It is important that the names of the accompanying persons in the travel consent are indicated correctly and that these are the people accompanying the child;
In the event of the death of a parent (parent) or if the child has a single mother, it is necessary to provide a photocopy of a document confirming this fact (death certificate or certificate of form No. 25 from the registry office) (with translation into English);
if the whereabouts of one of the parents have not been established, it is necessary to provide a notarized copy of the court decision that the person has been declared missing (with a translation into English).

For students and schoolchildren

a certificate from the educational institution on letterhead with the address and telephone number (with translation into English), which must indicate the dates of school holidays occurring at the time of the trip, or a phrase allowing the student to be absent from classes during the trip (for students, additionally a copy of the student card );
bank statement of parents or sponsor;
a certificate from the work of parents or a sponsor with the obligatory indication of company details (including telephone numbers, faxes and e-mail addresses), position, date of employment, salary, terms of the next vacation. The certificate must be certified by the signature of the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant (with translation into English). A certificate drawn up in accordance with Form 2-NDFL of the sponsor is welcome;
sponsorship letter (with translation into English);
confirmation of relationship with the sponsor.

To obtain a student visa to the UK you must provide

statement from the sponsor paying for the course of study, accommodation and any other expenses during the training period (with translation into English);
original and copy of a letter from an educational institution in the UK about enrollment in a course of study. The letter must contain detailed information about the course of study, its duration and cost (in English). The original letter is returned to the applicant;
diplomas and certificates (copies) of previous training in the UK (if available), as well as copies of diplomas and certificates of studying English, both in Russia and abroad;
confirmation of relationship with the sponsor.

For individual entrepreneurs

Certificate of registration (photocopy) of an individual entrepreneur;
Certificate of registration with the tax authority (photocopy);
Tax returns confirming the income received, or a 3-NDFL certificate (preferably);
A certificate from work on company letterhead indicating the address, telephone number and monthly or annual income of the individual entrepreneur, certified by the individual entrepreneur’s seal (if any) and the signature of the individual entrepreneur himself (with translation into English).

For pensioners

Copy of pension certificate;
An extract from your own or your sponsor’s bank account;
A certificate from the sponsor's employment with the obligatory indication of the company's details (including telephone numbers, faxes and email addresses), position, date of entry into work, salary and terms of the next vacation. The certificate must be certified by the signature of the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant (with translation into English). A certificate drawn up according to the sponsor's Form 2-NDFL is welcome;
Sponsorship letter (with translation into English);
Confirmation of relationship;
If the pensioner works, then in addition to a certificate from the place of work, it is necessary to provide a pension certificate.

Foreign citizens legalized on the territory of the Russian Federation must have

A work visa in your passport issued by the Russian Embassy abroad,
An extract from a bank account, yours or your sponsor’s,
Registration card of the Federal Migration Service (for processing documents you must provide a copy of the card and the original must be presented at the visa center of the British Embassy when passing biometrics)

Business trip

A copy of a certificate of employment (with translation into English) indicating the position, purpose of the trip and guarantee for payment of travel expenses;
A copy of a bank statement or a copy of a certificate of availability of a bank account indicating the currency;
An invitation from a business partner can be sent by fax or email; An invitation from a company in the UK must contain information explaining why you are invited, for what purpose and where you will be staying for the duration of the trip. If your company or UK company is paying for the trip, this must be confirmed in writing. Please note that the invitation letter does not need to be sent to the Visa Department. The invitation is submitted along with all documents when applying for a visa;
Accompanying documents (children's birth certificates, marriage certificates, property certificates).

Please note: If a tourist is traveling to the UK to attend an event, exhibition, concert, sporting event or match, etc., they must provide a reservation or a copy of the tickets for that event.

Transit visa

Visa-free transit is allowed if:

entry and exit into the UK is carried out on the same vessel within 24 hours of arrival;
Entry and exit from the UK is carried out by plane within 24 hours of arrival. In this case, it is allowed, if necessary, to use rail or road transport when moving between airports.

When passing through border control, you must present tickets confirming the need for transit, a valid passport with at least one blank page and a visa to the country of final destination, if required.

However, please remember that direct visa-free airport transit is a concession under UK immigration rules and Immigration reserves the right to refuse entry into the country without a visa.

If the intended transit time is more than 24 hours, a transit visa must be issued in advance. This requires the same set of documents as a visitor visa, but instead of an invitation or voucher, you must provide air tickets to your final destination and a visa for the destination country, which must be outside the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland.

If the travel companion has a valid English visa, a copy of the visa must be provided.

UK visa application form

There are many examples of filling out forms on your own on the Internet. If you decide to start filling out the visa application yourself on the Gov.uk website, we recommend that you pay special attention to the relevance of these tips. After all, without proper preparation, it is not easy to understand the rules for filling out a questionnaire. It can be even more difficult to correctly determine the format of some of the fields to be filled out in the form and their content. After all, sometimes the tips in Russian on the site itself do not correspond to the essence of the original English question.

A simple example: in English, the question in the questionnaire reads “type of work undertaken” (job responsibilities), and in the Russian prompt you are asked to enter the educational institution in which you received your education. Agree, the different interpretations of this question are radically opposite.

To fill out our questionnaire, you don’t have to go into these details. You will not waste time studying the correct answer and will not make a mistake when filling out.

All you need to do is reflect the data in the questionnaire in Russian as correctly as possible. That's all. The rest is our work, for which we bear full financial responsibility.

It is easy to make a mistake when filling out the questionnaire yourself - it contains more than 100 questions that require answers in English in strict accordance with the filling format. Difficulties can also be expected at the initial stage when choosing a visa type - there are about 20 of them, and for each type the application form has its own separate blocks of questions. To be more likely to successfully obtain a visa to the United Kingdom, we recommend that you entrust the filling out of the application form to specialists.

Document submission deadline

Most visa requests are processed by the consulate within 15 working days from the date of biometrics. Currently, the processing times for visa requests comply with the requirements specified in the Customer Service Standards posted on the UK CC website. By decision of the Consulate, this period may be extended. Therefore, we ask you to submit documents for a visa in advance in accordance with the dates specified in the order form! Submission of documents for registration is possible 3 months before the date of expected entry, but no later than 2 months before the start of the tour.

UK visa application website

Official website for filling out the UK visa application yourself: www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration. On the pages of this resource you can try to fill out a visa application online yourself. It is important to initially select the type of visa you require, since this choice will determine the questions you need to answer.

This resource is owned by the UK Government and is the best source for official immigration and visa information and visa services.

Required documents

The list of documents for a UK visa is quite extensive. You will have to provide a lot of information about yourself to convince decision-makers of your honest intentions.

The relevant documents for a UK visa in 2021, their number and requirements will depend on the specific type of entry permit. There is a mandatory list for everyone, which is the main one, as well as separate additional papers that must be provided depending on the purpose of your trip.

Basic list of documents for a UK visa

A completed UK visa application form, which can be filled out on the Embassy’s website in the “UK Visas & Immigration” section. After filling it out, you need to print it out;
A foreign passport that is valid for at least another six months after departure, it must also have at least a couple of blank pages to be able to insert a visa;
Old passports, if available;
Photocopies of all pages of the provided passports;
One photo measuring 3.5 by 4.5 cm, strictly meeting the requirements;
Confirmation of financial status and sufficiency of money for the trip: an extract from an existing bank account where there has been movement for the last three months, a salary certificate indicating its amount for the last six months, a tax certificate, a credit card statement, any papers showing the ownership of real estate ;
Confirmation of social status: a certificate from work indicating the position, which must confirm the fact that the job is reserved for the applicant, a certificate from study, papers showing the existence of a legal business;
If available, proof of marital status: certificates of divorce/marriage, death of a spouse, and so on;
Confirmed reservation from a hotel or other place of residence;
Air tickets or tickets for other transport or travel plans;
A certificate stating that the applicant is not sick with tuberculosis if the visa is requested for a period of more than six months.

The list above is suitable for a tourist trip.

Additional for visitor and family visa

Invitation from a friend/family member;
Information confirming the status of the inviting party: a copy of biometric data from the passport containing the first and last name, a copy of the visa stamp or a letter authorizing stay in Britain;
Papers confirming the stable financial position of the inviting party.

Additional for work visa

An official invitation from a British company must be on letterhead with the dates and purposes of the visit;
Papers confirming the activities of the organization;
A letter from the employer confirming work experience and type of activity;
Diploma or professional certificate.

Additionally for English student visa

A letter from the educational institution on enrollment, which must include the following information: duration and dates of training, its cost, name of the course;
A diploma in the name of the applicant about previously obtained education or an academic certificate;
Certificate of English language proficiency: IELTS, TOEFL and others;
Information about the sponsor in the UK, if any: a copy of the passport details, financial documents that confirm the fact that he legally resides in the UK.

Additional for marriage visa

Confirmation of filing an application for marriage registration with the competent organizations in the UK;
Marriage details;
Receipts for payment of all required marriage fees;
Evidence that the applicant has the right to marry, that is, does not have a valid marriage with other persons and has reached the age of 18;
Certificate of proficiency in English at the proper level.

Additional for transit visa

Travel route;
If required, visas from the countries of final residence.

All certificates and letters that the applicant provides to the visa center must be translated into English and signed with the personal signature of the translator. Self-translation is also allowed. If the translation was carried out by third-party persons/organizations, then it is necessary to indicate the full name of the translator and his contact information.

If documents for a UK visa are not submitted in Moscow, then you need to make 2 photocopies of each document.

Sometimes an applicant may be called to the Embassy or Consulate for a special interview.

Rules for filling out the form

Filling out the UK visa application yourself is a rather labor-intensive and slow process. It consists of many points, some points contain several questions. A lot depends on how accurately and accurately the questionnaire is filled out. If the decision-making employees find any inconsistencies in the application form and in the package of documents, then there is almost a 100% probability of getting a refusal.

The questionnaire is written in English and consists of several sections:

Passport / Travel Document – passport details;
Personal Details – personal data, contacts, information about earlier visits, and so on;
Family Details – information about family members;
Employment - information about employment;
Family and Friends - here you should write about whether there are friends or relatives in England, what the applicant plans to do in the country, and so on;
Medical Treatment – information about whether the applicant applied for medical care if he had previously been in Britain;
Additional Information – any additional information that the applicant would like to provide can be recorded here.

Each section of the application has a variety of questions in English that you must answer “correctly” to increase your chances. If you have doubts that you will not be able to translate the questionnaire yourself, it is better to seek help from a person who knows the language well.

UK visa photo: 2021 requirements

Photos must meet certain criteria, otherwise they will not be accepted and will have to be redone.

The current photo requirements for a UK visa are as follows:

The photo must be in color and taken less than one month ago;
Only light gray or cream background is allowed;
There should be only one person in the frame;
Photo size: 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm;
Facial expression should be strictly neutral: without positive or negative emotions, the gaze is directed directly at the camera;
The distance from the chin to the crown should be 29-34 mm;
The face must be open; glasses, hairstyles, and accessories that cover parts of the face are not allowed;
Head coverings are allowed only for religious reasons;
Children in the frame must be without their parents;
Children under one year old can be photographed with their eyes closed;
Children under six years of age are not allowed to look directly at the camera when taking photographs.

Errors in the UK visa application form

There are errors of varying importance that an applicant may make when filling out the consular application form. Some errors can be ignored because they may relate to a section of secondary or unimportant information. And some errors must either be corrected or, in critical cases, the form must be refilled.

Thanks to our accumulated experience in close cooperation with representatives of the British consulate, we minimize the risk of errors in the preparation and submission of documents. We increase your chances of obtaining a UK visa to 100%, otherwise we guarantee a refund.

In our company, when filling out a visa application, there is a two-stage verification. After filling out the documents on the website of the UKVI consular center by our visa manager, our proofreader once again reads the application form to look for any typos and identify incorrect formats for filling out the fields, taking into account the current requirements of the migration department of the Embassy.

Types of UK visas

For different purposes of travel, different types of British visas are issued, which in turn have different validity periods and periods of permitted stay in the Kingdom, as well as a slightly different set of required papers for submission.

Tourist

A tourist visa to England is one of the most common types of visas requested by Russian citizens. It gives you enough time to travel around the country and see interesting sights. With a UK tourist visa, you can stay in the country for up to six months or up to a year. There are a number of restrictions that this document imposes on its owner; they must not be violated under any circumstances, otherwise they may be deported from the country.

On a tourist visa, it is prohibited to work, register a marriage, study, receive any income, and so on. You can simply travel or visit acquaintances/relatives/friends.

Guestbook

By and large, in terms of its parameters, this type of document is the same as a tourist visa to the UK; it gives the right to the same period of stay. It makes sense to apply for it if there is no desire to spend money on a place to stay/hotel in England and the receiving party is ready to accommodate a visiting Russian citizen and also act as a guarantor of his return back. To obtain a visa of this type, you will need some additional paperwork.

Transit

Recently, or more precisely since 2014, a new rule on transit through UK airports has been introduced for Russians. Now, in order to be able to transfer, a visa to England is required for Russians if they plan to issue visas to international airport zones. The document also costs a certain amount of money.

Visa-free transit is only possible when there are no plans to leave international zones or you have a valid Schengen, American, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand visa.

Working

This English visa is required for those Russians who have received the opportunity to work in the UK and intend to work there. It is done with the assistance of the employer who has already hired a Russian employee and assumes that the applicant has sufficiently high qualifications and good education. The validity period of a work permit can be a year or more.

Student

There are many good educational institutions in the UK, so some of our fellow citizens prefer to send their children to study there. It is precisely for them that they will need a visa to Britain, which will give them the right to be an English student for more than one year.

There are two types of student visa: regular and Tier 4. The first is intended for students of language schools and courses, the second is necessary for students for long-term study.

Family

This type of document is requested by those Russian citizens whose spouses, parents, children, grandparents and other close relatives are British citizens or legally live in the Kingdom. It gives the right to stay in the UK for quite a long time.

Visa for marriage

This document will be required if you are planning to marry a British citizen or a citizen of another country legally residing in Britain. This visa is valid for six months, during which you must get married. After which you will need to apply for a visa for your wife/husband.

Urgent visa

Any type of entry document listed above can be issued in a special order, that is, urgently. This option is available to all applicants who request a six-month or one-year visa. The advantages of an urgent visa to the UK are that for a certain fee in addition to the cost of a visa to England established by law, the application is processed without a queue, that is, faster. For promptness, an additional amount of pounds sterling must be added to the amount of the consular fee.

Urgent processing is possible only at the visa center in Moscow. In other branches, applications are processed in the standard manner.

Required documents to be submitted with the application form

When submitting your package to the visa center, you are not required to provide:

health insurance;
civil or foreign passport (in the form of a copy), however, if passports are lost, attaching photocopies will help in review;
a copy of the completed application form;
travel documents, reservations (required only when issuing a transit visa).

To prepare a package of documents for a tourist visa:

Information about booking a hotel to stay during your visit to the country. Confirmation can be either an official invitation letter, a regular printout from specialized sites that provide international booking services, or an email confirming the reservation. The main thing is that the letter contains all the information about the upcoming stay and contact information about the hotel.
Documents confirming the applicant’s income and his financial capabilities, allowing him to provide for himself while on a trip. It is this point that causes a large number of complaints from the reviewing party - without confirmation of financial security that allows the citizen to travel without any problems, a visa will not be issued. An employed person encloses certificates from the employer about his or her labor income. For students, pensioners, and the unemployed, you will need to provide certificates of income from the provider.
All certificates, including personal income tax, are subject to translation.

Cost and validity period

There are many different types of entry documents to the UK, but they are all subtypes of a tourist, visitor, student, work, family or transit visa. They all have different expiration dates and prices.

The corresponding UK visa costs and visa fees in 2021, as well as the validity periods, are shown in the table. How much a visa costs depends on its type, as well as its validity period.

Visa type	Validity	Consular fee for visa in US dollars
Short-term any type	6 months	135$
Long-term visa of any type	2 years	515$
Long-term any type	up to 5 years	935$
Long-term any type	10 years	1172$
Bride's visa	6 months	135$
Transit	6 months	89$
Urgent	—	Plus 100 British pounds to the amount of the consular fee

There are single-entry and multiple-entry visas, that is, those with which you can enter the UK many times. The cost of the consular fee for a visa to England in 2021 does not depend on whether the document is single or multi-entry.

The visa center charges a fee for its services, since a package of documents is sent through it to UK Visas & Immigration. In addition to the cost of a visa to England, the applicant must also pay a visa center service fee. The Teleperformance website itself states that some visa centers charge a fee for services, but does not clearly indicate the amount of the fee. The cost of a UK visa can only be paid by bank transfer in rubles.

The amount of the consular fee for consideration of the application in case of refusal is not refunded. The price is not tied to the ruble exchange rate.