Visa requirements
Entry rules change constantly and they depend on your nationality, not your destination alone. Here is how to check yours properly — and the traps that catch people out.
Entry requirements are your responsibility
Airlines check documents at the gate and will refuse boarding without the right ones. A refused boarding is not refundable and not something we can override, so check early — when you book, not the week you fly. If you are unsure, call us on 020 4621 8999 and we will tell you where to look.
Where to check — in this order
Three official sources. Anything else, including this page, is a starting point.
1. FCDO travel advice
The UK government's entry-requirements section for each country, kept current. Start here if you hold a British passport.
gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice2. IATA Travel Centre
The database airlines themselves check against, searchable by nationality, destination and any country you transit. Use this if you are not a British citizen.
iatatravelcentre.com3. The embassy or consulate
The final word, and the only source that can answer an unusual case — dual nationality, a previous refusal, a criminal record, working or studying rather than visiting.
What actually catches people out
These are the ones we see. None of them are obvious until they happen.
The six-month rule
Many countries require your passport to be valid for six months beyond your return date, and some also want blank pages. A passport that has not expired is not automatically enough.
Transit counts
Changing planes in a country can require a transit visa even if you never leave the airport. This is the single most common reason people are stopped, because they only checked the destination.
It depends on your passport, not your home
Living in the UK is not the same as holding a British passport. Everyone on the booking needs checking against their own nationality — including children with a different passport from their parents.
Processing time
An e-visa can take minutes or weeks depending on the country and the season. Apply as soon as your booking is confirmed, not when the trip gets close.
Only pay official sites
Search results for "visa" are full of agents charging a large fee to fill in a free government form. Go to the official government domain, which the FCDO page links to directly.
Travelling with children
Some countries require documented consent when a child travels with one parent or with someone who is not a parent. Check before the airport, where it becomes an argument you cannot win.
Our most-booked destinations
Each of these links goes to the UK government's current entry requirements for that country. We link rather than summarise deliberately — a summary on our page is out of date the moment the rule changes, and you would have no way of knowing.
- India — entry requirements
- Pakistan — entry requirements
- Ghana — entry requirements
- Kenya — entry requirements
- Nigeria — entry requirements
- United Arab Emirates — entry requirements
- USA — entry requirements
- Canada — entry requirements
- Australia — entry requirements
- Thailand — entry requirements
- Sri Lanka — entry requirements
- Bangladesh — entry requirements
- South Africa — entry requirements
- Netherlands — entry requirements
What we can and cannot do
We can tell you whether a routing involves a transit that commonly needs a visa, make sure the names on your tickets match your passports exactly, and hold a booking while a visa is processed where the fare rules allow it.
We cannot apply for a visa on your behalf, guarantee one will be granted, or advise on immigration matters — we are a travel agency, not immigration advisers. If your situation is at all unusual, speak to the relevant embassy or a regulated immigration adviser.
Unsure whether your routing needs a transit visa?
Ask before you book. It is a two-minute conversation that saves a very bad morning.