Family vs general visa

Whether or not a person can travel to the United Kingdom as a family visitor will depend on a number of factors. You should be aware that a family visitor comes under the immigration category of 'general visitor' and only nationals of countries outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland can be family visitors. If you are an EEA or Swiss national, or a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, the European Nationals travelling to the United Kingdom are dealt with differently.

If a person would like to travel to the United Kingdom as a family visitor, then that person must be able to show that he or she will be visiting the following family members in the United Kingdom: a spouse, civil partner, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister; and/or a grandfather, grandmother, grandson, or granddaughter; and/or a spouse or civil partner's father, mother, brother, or sister; and/or a son or daughter's spouse or civil partner;Formalities for Student Visa USA are Pertinently Different to Students Visa UK and/or a stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, or stepsister; or a person that the applicant has been living with in a genuine and subsisting relationship like marriage or civil partnership for at least two years before the day prior to he or she applying. Also, if a child is adopted under an adoption order that is recognised in United Kingdom law, the authorities will treat the child as if he or she were the natural child of the adoptive parents.

It should be noted that if the applicant would like to visit a family member who is not in the above-mentioned lists, then he or she should apply to go to the United Kingdom as a general visitor. In addition, the family member that the applicant would like to visit must be a British citizen, or be settled in the United Kingdom, or have been granted asylum in the United Kingdom, or have Humanitarian Protection status.Also, the applicant must be able to show that during the visit, he or she does not intend to: live in the United Kingdom for extended periods through frequent or successive visits; take paid or unpaid employment, produce goods or provide services, including the selling of goods or services directly to members of the public; do a course of study; marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership; carry out the activities of a business visitor, a sports visitor, or an entertainer visitor; or receive private medical treatment.