Getting in and visas for United Kingdom

Major airports and ferry foutes The United Kingdom is physically linked to two other countries. The Channel Tunnel connects the UK to France, and Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland.

Immigration and visa requirements

• Citizens of other member states of the European Union for the most part do not require a visa, and have permanent residency and working rights in the UK. Citizens of Ireland have additional rights allowing them to vote in elections.
• Citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland also have permanent residency rights, but may require a work permit in some circumstances.
• Citizens of American Samoa, Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, East Timor, El Salvador, Federated States of Micronesia, French Guiana, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (SAR), Israel, Kiribati, Lesotho, Macau (SAR), Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saba, South Korea, St Eustatius, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Vincent & The Grenadines, San Marino, Singapore, Swaziland, Tahiti and her Islands, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Vatican City and Venezuela do not require a visa for visits of up to 3 or 6 months, though require entry clearance for purposes other than visiting as a tourist.
• Most other countries will require a visa, which can be obtained from the nearest British Embassy, High Commission or Consulate.
• All non-EU visitors should expect to be asked by the Immigration Officer upon arrival to demonstrate that they have a) a return ticket to leave the United Kingdom, b) a valid address at which they will be staying in the United Kingdom and c) sufficient funds with which to support themselves during their stay. An inability to demonstrate these three basics may lead to a refusal of leave to enter or a grant of restricted leave.
• Commonwealth citizens who are 17 or over and have a British grandparent can apply for an Ancestry visa. This allows residency and work for five years. After this, permanent residence may be applied for.
• The UK also operates a Working Holidaymaker Scheme for citizens of the Commonwealth of Nations, and British dependent territories. This allows residency in the UK for up to 2 years, with limited working rights. Work is restricted to a total of 12 months within the 2 year period.
• Regardless of citizenship, passports are not required to enter the UK from the Republic of Ireland. Passports are required to enter the UK from all other countries, regardless of EU membership.

For more information of UK Immigration and visa requirements, see the British Home Office website [2]

By plane

London Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport and argueably one of the worst. Situated 15 miles west of Central London, Heathrow offers a large choice of international destinations, with direct flights to most countries in the world. British Airways has its hub at Heathrow and offers a wide range of international flights to Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Australia. There are fewer direct flights to South America, although many South American airlines connect to London via Spain. Other large airlines operating at Heathrow include bmi (formerly British Midland) [3], Virgin Atlantic and the main national airlines of most countries. London Gatwick Airport, 30 miles south of London in Sussex, is the second largest airport, and also offers a wide range of international flights. London Stansted Airport in Essex, and London Luton Airport are hubs for the budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet who offer direct flights to a wide range of European destinations. London City Airport is the most central airport in London, situated 7 miles east of Central London, but mainly serves business passengers to the main financial centres in Europe. Outside London, many of the regional airports offer a wide range of direct links to European and some long haul destinations. Manchester International Airport in the North of England, is the UK's third largest airport serving many European and long haul destinations. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the UK's fastest growing airport which is taking on more and more flights - located in North West England. Jet2.com is based at Leeds Bradford with many cheap flights to Europe and beyond. Cardiff International[4] is the main international airport in Wales, it is a major hub of bmibaby. Meanwhile easyjet, FlyBe, Ryanair and bmibaby maintain hubs at other regional airports. Other large airports in the regions include Birmingham International[5], Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Bristol, Southampton, East Midlands, Doncaster-Sheffield, Newcastle and Teesside/Durham Tees Valley. In Northern Ireland, Belfast International Airport is the major airport with international flights, although some transfer flights may take you to Belfast City Airport. City of Derry Airport also offers a limited number of international and domestic flights. Due to an increase in airport security and aviation security in general, long delays are possible when checking in for a flight. Additionally a passport or valid photo ID (such as photo drivers license, national ID card etc.) is required for internal flights although no visas or travel permits are required. Airport tax is applied to both international and internal flights (£20 on international flights, £14 on internal flights) so check if it is included in any quoted air fares. Since fall 2006, British Airways use the same check-in procedure around the world: all passengers flying by BA are gathered into a single queue and processed without respect to their time-to-departure. Reportedly, this is done for cost saving reasons, but brings a real hassle to checking in.

By train

From Belgium and France Eurostar services run between London (St Pancras International), Ebbsfleet and Ashford and Paris (Gare du Nord), Lille and Brussels through the Channel Tunnel. Journey times average two hours fifteen minutes from Paris. A second class return from Paris to London costs between €85 and €230, although it can be cheaper to fly from London to Paris using a low-cost airline (but bear in mind that the journeys to the airports will cost an extra €40-60). There are a limited number of direct services from other destinations in France also. The main benefit of using the Eurostar is that it runs between the central zones of its destination cities, removing the necessity of accessing the relevant airports on the outskirts of cities (potentially very time-consuming!), and of undergoing several uncomfortable modal changes. From The Netherlands Stena Line (Hook of Holland to Harwich) Combined train and ferry tickets are available to travellers from stations in the Netherlands to Train Stations in East Anglia, Essex and East London. This service may be more useful alternative to Eurostar for travellers from Northern Europe, or for those wishing to travel to East Anglia. The interchange between the ferry terminal and the train station at both ports is very simple and user friendly. Express Trains from Harwich International, are timed to meet the ferry and allows a simple transfer to London Liverpool Street. The Dutch Flyer website [6]only gives prices for tickets purchased in Great Britain, it does however give timetable information. Stena's Dutch language website allows booking of tickets for journies starting from the Netherlands. [7]. From the Republic of Ireland Cross Border Rail Services to Northern Ireland From Dublin in Ireland, the Enterprise [8] takes just over 2 hours to Belfast and Irish Rail [9] is advertising return tickets from €36.50 (November 2006). Services to the British Mainland Combined Rail & Sail tickets are available from Ireland and Northern Ireland to any railway station in Great Britain. Although the SailRail [10] website only gives prices for tickets purchased in Great Britain, tickets can be bought from the railway company and ferry operators in Ireland, with a price of €35 to €41 one-way (January 2007); actual price depends on origin and destination, but (London-Dublin via Holyhead is €41). Through tickets are available via other sea corridors also. Fares are slightly higher during July and August. Virgin Trains [11] may be offering advance-purchase tickets from London to Dublin from £32 return, although these are hard to obtain and only possible for journeys starting in Great Britain. It is also possible to cross from Southern Ireland into South-West Wales on a Stena Line ferry which is met by a train on each side. The stations are immediately next to the mooring point.

By car

The Channel Tunnel has provided a rail/road connection since 1994. Shuttle trains carry cars from Calais, France to Folkestone, the journey taking around 40 minutes. Fares start at £49 one way and can be booked on the Eurotunnel website. On arrival at Folkestone, you can drive on to the M20 motorway which heads towards London. Car ferries also operate to many parts of the UK, see 'by boat' section. drivers entering Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland will usually find they have done so without noticing. There are no border controls and only the major roads will display signs stating that you are leaving one country and entering the other. It should be noted that road signs in the Republic of Ireland are in Kilometres while those in Northern Ireland are in miles so it is advisable to take note of the differences in signs and road markings when driving in border areas.

By bus

Coaches are the cheapest way to travel to the UK from France and the Benelux. Eurolines offer daily services from Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels to London Victoria coach station. Daily overnight coaches and limited day coaches travel between the UK and Ireland. Connections are available to most parts of the UK via the domestic National Express coach system, for most destinations it is cheaper to purchase this when purchasing your Eurolines tickets as discounts are available. Journeys take about 8-14 hours. Eurolines will also take you to/from other major European cities. Taking a budget flight is normally cheaper (but with a greater environmental impact), and spares you from a 24h+ bus journey. Various other operators compete with Eurolines, mostly between Poland and the UK; these come and go.

By boat

See the city articles for more details on routes, timings and costs. Ferry routes to British Mainland There are a large number of ferry routes into the UK from continental Europe. Newcastle serves a route from Bergen in Norway and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Harwich has ferries from Esbjerg in Denmark, Cuxhaven in Germany (put out of operation in November 2005) and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands. You can also sail from Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Zeebrugge in Belgium to Hull, or from Rotterdam to Rosyth (near Edinburgh). There is a regular connection between Ramsgate and Oostende in Belgium. There are 4 sailings a day and prices vary between 50 euro to 84 euro. Dover is one of Britain's most popular passenger ports with sailings from Zeebrugge, Dunkerque and Calais in France. The Dover-Calais route is particularly busy, with three companies competing and up to 50 sailings per day. The Ferry between Dover and Calais costs around £12-18 each way if on foot or bicycle, and around £80 for a car, although big discounts are available if booked in advance or with special offers. On the south coast, Portsmouth serves ferries from Le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Malo and Bilbao in Spain and there are speedy services between Dieppe and Newhaven. The other route from Spain is Santander to Plymouth, Plymouth also has ferries from Roscoff, Poole has ferries to Cherbourg as well as the Channel Islands. From Ireland, ports of entry include Swansea, Pembroke, Fishguard and Holyhead. There are sailings from Dublin to Holyhead, Mostyn and Liverpool. [NB:The service from Swansea is suspended until 2008 when the company will acquire a new ship] From Iceland, the Faroe Isles, Norway and Denmark, a passenger ferry sails into Lerwick.