UK visa route library
Explore UK immigration routes by purpose
Start with the reason you want to come to or remain in the UK. Every guide provides a plain-English overview and a direct link to current official guidance.
How to use this library
These pages explain published routes; they do not assess your eligibility or recommend a route. Requirements can change, so confirm the current rules on GOV.UK before acting.
Work visas
Routes for sponsored employment, talent, temporary work and eligible graduates.
Open the work hub →Skilled Worker visaA sponsored work route for an eligible job with a Home Office-approved UK employer.Read guide →Health and Care Worker visaA sponsored route for eligible medical professionals and adult social-care workers.Read guide →High Potential Individual visaAn unsponsored work route for recent graduates of eligible global universities.Read guide →Scale-up Worker visaA work route that begins with an eligible job from an approved scale-up business and later provides greater work flexibility.Read guide →Youth Mobility Scheme visaA temporary route allowing eligible young people from participating countries and territories to live and work in the UK.Read guide →India Young Professionals Scheme visaA ballot-based temporary route for eligible Indian citizens aged 18 to 30 to live and work in the UK.Read guide →UK Ancestry visaA five-year route for eligible Commonwealth and specified British nationals with a qualifying UK-born grandparent.Read guide →Minister of Religion visaA sponsored route for eligible religious leadership, missionary or religious-order roles in a UK faith community.Read guide →International Sportsperson visaA sponsored route for elite sportspersons and qualified coaches whose employment develops their sport at the highest UK level.Read guide →Seasonal Worker visaA temporary sponsored route for eligible horticulture work and time-limited poultry work.Read guide →Creative Worker visaA temporary sponsored route for eligible creative-sector work such as performance, production or technical support.Read guide →Charity Worker visaA temporary sponsored route for unpaid voluntary fieldwork that directly supports a UK charity’s purpose.Read guide →Religious Worker visaA temporary sponsored route for eligible non-pastoral religious work or work in a religious order.Read guide →Government Authorised Exchange visaA temporary sponsored route for approved training, work experience, research, fellowship or overseas-government language programmes.Read guide →International Agreement Worker visaA temporary route for qualifying work covered by international law or treaty obligations.Read guide →Overseas Domestic Worker visaA short route for eligible domestic workers accompanying an overseas employer to the UK.Read guide →Frontier Worker permitA permit for eligible EU, EEA or Swiss citizens who began working in the UK by the end of 2020 while primarily living elsewhere.Read guide →
Study routes
Student, Child Student and Graduate routes, with clear links to official rules.
Open the study hub →Student visaThe principal study route for eligible courses with a licensed UK student sponsor.Read guide →Child Student visaA study route for children aged 4 to 17 attending an eligible independent school.Read guide →Graduate visaA post-study route allowing eligible graduates to remain in the UK after completing a qualifying course.Read guide →
Family visas
General information for partners, children, parents and other eligible relatives.
Open the family hub →Partner and spouse family visaA family route for eligible spouses, civil partners and qualifying unmarried partners.Read guide →Fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner visaA family route to enter the UK for a planned marriage or civil partnership.Read guide →Adult Dependent Relative visaA narrowly defined family route for an adult who needs long-term personal care from a qualifying relative in the UK.Read guide →Parent family visaA family route for an eligible parent taking an active role in the upbringing of a qualifying child in the UK.Read guide →Child family visaA route for an eligible child joining or remaining with a parent who has qualifying UK status.Read guide →
Visit the UK
Visitor routes, permitted activities, electronic travel authorisation and transit.
Open the visit hub →Standard Visitor visaThe main visitor route for tourism, family visits, permitted business activity and certain short courses.Read guide →Marriage Visitor visaA visitor route for marrying or forming a civil partnership in the UK without settling there.Read guide →UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)Digital permission to travel to the UK for eligible non-visa nationals making short visits.Read guide →
Business & talent
Routes for founders, recognised talent, overseas businesses and high-potential people.
Open the business hub →Global Talent visaA route for recognised leaders or potential leaders in academia, research, arts, culture or digital technology.Read guide →Innovator Founder visaA route for people establishing and running an innovative, viable and scalable UK business.Read guide →Global Business Mobility routesFive sponsored routes for overseas businesses transferring staff or expanding activity in the UK.Read guide →Senior or Specialist Worker visaA Global Business Mobility route for eligible overseas employees assigned to a connected UK business.Read guide →UK Expansion Worker visaA temporary route for eligible overseas-business workers establishing a UK branch that has not yet begun trading.Read guide →Secondment Worker visaA temporary route for an overseas worker seconded to the UK under an eligible high-value contract or investment.Read guide →Service Supplier visaA temporary Global Business Mobility route for eligible contractual service suppliers or self-employed professionals.Read guide →
Settlement & citizenship
Indefinite leave to remain, long residence, naturalisation and status pathways.
Open the settlement hub →Indefinite leave to remain (ILR)Permanent immigration status available after qualifying residence on eligible routes.Read guide →Long residence and ILRA settlement route based on a qualifying period of continuous lawful residence in the UK.Read guide →British citizenship by naturalisationThe principal route to citizenship for many adults who already hold settled status.Read guide →Returning Resident visaA route for certain former settled residents seeking to return to live permanently in the UK.Read guide →Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visaA route for eligible BN(O) status holders from Hong Kong and qualifying family members to live, work and study in the UK.Read guide →EU Settlement SchemeA status scheme for eligible EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their qualifying family members connected to UK residence before the end of 2020.Read guide →Private life routeA human-rights route for people whose age, length of UK residence or obstacles to integration meet the published private-life requirements.Read guide →Settlement after domestic abuseA settlement route for certain partners whose eligible relationship permanently broke down because of domestic abuse.Read guide →Bereaved partner settlementA settlement route for certain partners after the death of the British or settled person on whom their permission was based.Read guide →
Employers & sponsors
Sponsor licences, compliance duties, right-to-work checks and sponsored recruitment.
Open the employers hub →UK sponsor licencePermission for an eligible UK organisation to sponsor qualifying workers.Read guide →Right-to-work checksThe checks UK employers should complete before employment and, where required, during employment.Read guide →Certificate of SponsorshipAn electronic sponsorship record assigned by a licensed employer to an eligible worker.Read guide →