Hi:

Could anyone please point me in the right direction for finding out the rules and regs associated with obtaining a tourist visa.

A mate of mine wants to take his long-term TGF back to the UK for a holiday, to see if she likes it. All the research that I've ever done has been more to do with me going there, so I'm a bit stuck and an initial look around didn't offer much in terms of clear regulations.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Try this link in the first instance

UK Visas

totster

Or this one.

Guidance - Visitors (INF 2)

If it's the immigration rules you're after, here they are:-

" The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a visitor are that he:

(i) is genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for a limited period as stated by him, not exceeding 6 months; and

(ii) intends to leave the United Kingdom at the end of the period of the visit as stated by him; and

(iii) does not intend to take employment in the United Kingdom; and

(iv) does not intend to produce goods or provide services within the United Kingdom, including the selling of goods or services direct to members of the public; and

(v) does not intend to study at a maintained school; and

(vi) will maintain and accommodate himself and any dependants adequately out of resources available to him without recourse to public funds or taking employment; or will, with any dependants, be maintained and accommodated adequately by relatives or friends; and

(vii) can meet the cost of the return or onward journey."

Cheers,

Scouse.

If it's the immigration rules you're after, here they are:-

" The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a visitor are that he:

(i) is genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for a limited period as stated by him, not exceeding 6 months; and

(ii) intends to leave the United Kingdom at the end of the period of the visit as stated by him; and

(iii) does not intend to take employment in the United Kingdom; and

(iv) does not intend to produce goods or provide services within the United Kingdom, including the selling of goods or services direct to members of the public; and

(v) does not intend to study at a maintained school; and

(vi) will maintain and accommodate himself and any dependants adequately out of resources available to him without recourse to public funds or taking employment; or will, with any dependants, be maintained and accommodated adequately by relatives or friends; and

(vii) can meet the cost of the return or onward journey."

Cheers,

Scouse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

THANKS SCOUSER, THAT'S JUST WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR (something easy to understand and not too scarey!).

Tell you what though Mr Bean. They don't give out those Tourist Visas very lightly. How long has your mate been seeing the Lady? Also, if it's not in one of the links provided, the cost is about £40 but someone might want to post the latest accurate figure.

Mr BoJ

Mr Bean, just to elaborate on why I asked how long he'd been seeing his Lady. You say Long Time GF but he will need as much evidence of this as possible. Examples are e-mails, Telephone bills that show he's been in contact regularly, photographs together (not in Bars p1ssed up), photocopy of Passport showing how many entries and when (to co-inside with their meeting) into Thailand. I found the telephone bills the hardest to get hold of, as when i first started seeing her i didn't think along the lines of what i would need later on for a visa application.

This one is open to debate though. Does any other member know if a receipt for a Western Union Money transaction is good to have or not? I don't know how the Embassy view it if they know you are sending your GF money?

Mr Boj