Visitors and Transit Visas

You can apply for a Standard Visitor visa if you want to visit the UK for business-related activities, eg:

• you’re coming to the UK for a conference, meeting or training
• you want to take part in a specific sports-related event
• you’re an artist, entertainer or musician and coming to the UK to perform
• you’re an academic and are doing research or accompanying students on a study abroad programme
• you’re a doctor or dentist and are coming to the UK to take a clinical attachment or observer post
• you want to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test or sit the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
• you want to get funding to start, take over, join or run a business in the UK

You can:

• take part in any of the business-related activities mentioned in the Visitor Rules.
• study for up to 30 days, as long as it’s not the main reason for your visit
• take part in an exchange programme or educational visit (if you’re under 18)
• convert your civil partnership into a marriage

You can’t:

• do paid or unpaid work
• live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent visits
• get public funds
• marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership

You may be able to get a Permitted Paid Engagement visa if you’ve been invited to the UK as an expert in your profession.

You can apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement visa if you:

• are invited by a UK-based organisation or client
• want to come to the UK to do specific paid work without having to be sponsored under the points-based visa system

You can stay in the UK for up to 1 month. 

You can be invited by a UK-based organisation or client to:

• be a student examiner or assessor
• take part in selection panels as a highly qualified academic if you’re invited by an education, arts or research organisation
• give lectures at a higher education institution, as long as it’s not a part-time or full-time role
• examine UK-based pilots so they meet the standards of the country you come from if you’re invited by an approved UK training organisation regulated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority
• provide advocacy in a particular area of law
• take part in arts, entertainment or sporting activities including broadcasting
• take part in fashion modelling assignments 

You can also do minor activities related to your work or business overseas, eg attend meetings. 

You can’t:

• do specific paid work unrelated to your main job or area of expertise at home or sell merchandise, other than what’s allowed by your visa
• extend this visa or switch to another visa
• live in the UK for extended periods
• get public funds.
• study for more than 30 days – studying can’t be the main reason for your visit
• marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership
• bring family members (‘dependants’) with you on your application – they must apply separately

You must apply for a Marriage Visitor visa if:

• you want to get married or register a civil partnership in the UK
• you want to give notice of a marriage or civil partnership in UK
• you’re not planning to stay or settle in the UK after your marriage or civil partnership

You don’t need a Marriage Visitor visa to convert your civil partnership into a marriage – you can apply for a Standard Visitor visa.

South African nationals are required to have a transit visa to transit/connect in the UK but there are certain exemptions to the rule.  One such an example is:

• You may be able to transit the UK airside without a visa. To qualify for this exemption:
• you must arrive and depart by air; and
• your onward flight must be confirmed, and must depart within 24 hours; and
• you have proper documentation for your destination, including a visa if necessary.

1) a valid entry visa for Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA, and a valid airline ticket for travel via the UK, as part of a journey to or from one of those countries;