UK Family Visitor Visa: A Step-by-Step Guide to Applying With a Sponsor

To get a Standard Visitor Visa to visit a relative in the UK, you apply on gov.uk, fill out a form with your personal, sponsor, and financial details, prove your personal connection to the sponsor and control over the funds under rule V4.3, attach a cover letter with supporting documents, then pay the fee and complete biometrics.

In short

• The fee for a 6-month Standard Visitor Visa is £135, and biometrics are mandatory for every applicant.
• Interest on deposits and dividends count as income that must be declared separately — this is the most common mistake in the financial section.
• Income and expenses are calculated from the six most recent bank statements, with the total divided by six.
• When a sponsor is funding the trip, rule V4.3 applies: it requires a personal or professional connection plus the applicant’s control over the transferred money.
• For a first application, choose a 6-month visa — without a travel history, a longer period more often leads to refusal.

How to start your application on gov.uk

1. Go to gov.uk and search “visitor visa”. The first result will be the “Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor” page.

2. Scroll down past options like a business visit — for a trip to see a relative, you need the Standard Visitor Visa specifically. The fee for it is £135 for 6 months.

3. Click the green “Apply now” button and choose the language for the form.

4. Select the country where you’ll complete biometrics — usually the city where you actually live.

5. Biometrics are mandatory for every applicant: at the chosen visa application centre you’ll have your fingerprints taken and a photo captured, and the application won’t be processed without this step.

6. Enter an email address, indicate whose it is — your own or a consultant’s, if one is filing on your behalf — and a phone number where you can be reached while you’re outside the UK.

Personal details, address, and documents on the form

In the personal details section of the form, you fill in the following:

• Email and phone. Enter an email address — if a consultant is filing the application, use their email; if you’re applying yourself, use your own. You’ll also need a phone number where you can be reached, along with your preferred method of contact (call, text).
• Name and other names. Your full name is entered exactly as it appears in your passport. A separate question asks whether you’ve ever used another name (for example, a maiden name before marriage); if your surname hasn’t changed, select “no”.
• Gender and marital status.
• Home address. Enter your exact address, including floor number if applicable. The system will ask whether it matches your correspondence address and how long you’ve lived there, in years and months.
• Housing status. If the flat or house belongs to your parents rather than to you, don’t select “I am the owner” — indicate instead that it’s your parents’ property, where you’ve lived rent-free since birth. Choose “rented” only if you genuinely pay rent.
• Passport details. Enter the passport number, the issuing authority, the date of issue, and the expiry date — a standard passport is issued for 10 years.
• National ID. Besides the passport, the system asks about a valid national ID document such as an Indian Aadhaar or PAN card — if you have one, its details are entered as well.
• Nationality. You’re asked whether you’ve ever held a nationality other than your current one. For Indian citizens, this question should be answered with the understanding that India does not permit dual citizenship.

Every field needs to be filled in precisely — a mistake in the personal details section can become grounds for refusal on its own.

Employment, income, and how not to get the financial details wrong

An incorrectly stated employment status can be one of the reasons for a visa refusal (c23). The form asks you to choose one of: employed, self-employed, student, or unemployed. If an applicant is both employed and earns income from self-employment — for example, working as an accountant by day while also running a monetized blog — both statuses are selected at once (c24).

For employees, you enter the employer’s name and address with the postcode, plus a contact number — it’s recommended to use the number of an HR manager or direct supervisor who knows about the trip and can confirm the applicant’s status if asked (c25). The start date of employment should come from the employment contract, not be guessed (c26). The job duties description is limited to 250 characters — the easiest approach is to take the wording straight from the employment contract and trim it to fit (c27).

Salary and currency conversion

The form asks not for the gross salary stated in the employment contract, but for the amount that actually lands in the bank account after tax — the figure from the payslip (c28). This amount needs to be converted into pounds sterling at the current exchange rate, for instance using a currency converter. So a salary of £2,300 a month is the post-tax figure, already converted into pounds (c29).

Interest and dividends — a common mistake

The section on additional income and savings is where applicants most often slip up (c32). A typical scenario: someone states there’s no additional income or savings and moves on. But when the officer reviews the bank statement, they see credits in the form of interest on a deposit or dividends — and that’s income too (c33). If it wasn’t declared, this is treated as withholding a complete picture of the applicant’s financial situation (c34).

The section on additional income and savings is where applicants most often slip up

To avoid this, the form should honestly list every source: salary income as well as regular investment returns — for example, interest on a fixed deposit totalling £2,000 a year (c30, c31, c35). Interest on fixed deposits is also converted into pounds sterling and entered as proof of income (c36). Savings are entered separately — for example, savings of £12,000 (c37).

Calculating average monthly income and expenses from bank statements

The form requires the six most recent bank statements before the application date (c44). From these, two averages are calculated: monthly income and monthly expenses.

Average monthly income is calculated like this: all credits over six months are added up, and the total is divided by six (c45). Expenses are calculated the same way — all spending for each month is added up, and the total is divided by six (c46).

Recurring payments need to be identified separately — those that repeat every month: mobile phone bills, EMI or loan payments, utility bills (c47, c48). Accounting for them fully matters, because the officer isn’t only looking at the balance on the account but at whether the applicant lives within their means (c50). If some mandatory spending is hidden and the expense picture is understated, this is treated as incomplete disclosure (c49).

A modest budget on its own can be grounds for refusal — even if there’s technically enough money for the trip. The officer’s reasoning runs like this: with too tight a budget, the applicant would be in an economically unstable position after returning from the UK, which means there’s no confidence the trip is funded without the risk of recourse to UK public funds (c51, c52, c53, c54).

The form also asks for the total cost of the visit — including flights and day-to-day expenses (c38) — and separately for the total of monthly outgoings, including payments to dependants, rent, or a mortgage (c43). As a reference point: in the worked example, the applicant’s average monthly expenses, once converted into pounds, came to £800 (c55).

If a sponsor is funding the trip: rule V4.3 and the family connection

If a relative or friend is covering part of the cost, the form needs to state this separately — the question about the cost of the visit requires clarifying who is paying and how much (c39, c56). If the host is funding the entire trip, the applicant enters zero in the field for their own contribution; if it’s partial, a specific figure is entered — for example, £1,000 for the flight, while the relative covers the rest (c41, c42).

A separate question on the form asks whether anyone else is contributing to the cost of the visit. This covers both employer-funded costs and transfers from private individuals (c57). For a business trip paid for by a company, the corresponding option is chosen along with the organisation’s details (c58, c60). If a relative or friend is paying, their name, UK residential address with postcode, and the amount set aside for expenses are entered — for example, £1,500 for accommodation, food, and daily spending (c62).

When a third party — a sponsor — is involved, rule V4.3 applies: the applicant must satisfy three conditions, A, B, and C (c118). Condition A concerns the nature of the relationship with the sponsor: under rule V4.3A, there must be a personal or professional connection between the applicant and the person paying for the trip — for example, a family relationship or an employment relationship (c63, c150). The family connection is proven with documents: if the sponsor is a sibling, the application should state the exact degree of relationship directly, not simply the transfer amount.

If the sponsor transfers money to cover the flight or other costs, the form must not state that the applicant is paying for these expenses themselves — it needs to show that the funds came from the sponsor by transfer (c162). This is backed up with a record of the transaction: a debit on the sponsor’s UK bank statement matched by a corresponding credit on the applicant’s account (c163).

The key requirement for transferred funds is control: money sent by the sponsor must be fully at the applicant’s disposal, not simply sitting in someone else’s account with no access to it (c164, c165). An additional condition concerns the bank itself: the institution holding the applicant’s funds must keep electronic records of transactions. If the bank doesn’t maintain electronic records, this can become a standalone ground for refusal — the visa officer is entitled to contact the bank directly to verify the statement (c166, c167).

money sent by the sponsor must be fully at the applicant’s disposal, not simply sitting in someone else’s account with no access to it

Purpose of visit, itinerary, and family details on the form

Travel dates are entered as specific numbers: the arrival date and the departure date (c72, c73). In the worked example this is 20 December 2026 to 1 January 2027 — an 11–12 day trip (c65, c68, c98).

Main reason for the visit

The form asks you to pick a category from a list (c74):

• Business — a business trip, including sporting and entertainment events (c75).
• Tourist — if you’re not visiting a specific person but simply travelling (c77).
• Family — if the purpose of the trip is to see a family member, for example a sibling (c78).
• Friend — if you’re visiting a friend (c79).
• There’s a separate option for medical treatment and other purposes — choose whichever fits the situation (c76).

After selecting a category, the form asks you to describe exactly what you plan to do during the trip (c80). Specifics matter here: simply writing “going on holiday” leaves the officer reviewing the case unclear about the purpose of the visit (c81). The right approach is to list specific places and dates: for example, mention particular London landmarks and separately note cities and dates for travel elsewhere in the country, such as 26–29 December 2026 (c82). The more specific the itinerary, the more grounds the officer has to assess the application clearly.

Financial dependants

A separate item on the form asks whether anyone is financially dependent on the applicant, whether or not they’re travelling together or staying home (c83). Dependants include: children under 18, children over 18 living with the applicant, children the applicant cares for, and elderly relatives, including parents who need housing and financial support (c84, c86). If minor children with no income of their own are travelling along, their details are entered here too (c85).

The form separately asks for details about the applicant’s parents — surname, first name, and date of birth — and names must be entered exactly as they appear on official documents (c87, c88, c90, c91).

Relatives in the UK

The form separately asks whether the applicant has relatives permanently residing in the UK (c89, c92). This list includes a spouse, civil partner, parents, children, siblings, and grandparents (c93). If such relatives exist, their degree of relationship and status are entered — for example, UK citizenship.

The form also asks whether the applicant is travelling as part of an organised group — musical, educational, or sporting (c94, c95), and whether they’re travelling with someone who isn’t their partner or spouse (c96). It separately asks exactly whose home the applicant will be staying at during the trip (c97), and whether there are other places of stay in the country — for example, if independent travel with hotel stays is planned after visiting the relative (c99).

As for the third party paying for the trip: if, say, a relative is covering the flights, the form requires selecting “yes” on the relevant question and entering that person’s details — to confirm they aren’t breaching UK immigration law (c66, c70). It’s worth avoiding listing too many sponsors: the more people named in the application, the more separate documentation is required for each one of them (c69).

Travel history, past refusals, and social media checks

The form requires stating whether the applicant has visited the UK in the past 10 years (c100). To answer this, just check the stamps and visas in your passport: if there were no trips, select “no”; if there were, their details need to be entered. A separate question covers trips to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or countries in the European Economic Area (c101), followed by one about any other countries over the same 10 years, excluding those already listed (c102). If, say, the applicant visited Thailand or China, that’s entered here too.

Next, the form asks whether the applicant has ever been refused a visa, refused entry at the border, refused asylum, or deported — in the UK or any other country (c103). You can’t give a false answer here: lying on this question can be a standalone ground for refusal, even if the original reason for the past refusal was minor or based on a misunderstanding (c104). If such a case happened, it needs to be described, not hidden.

The next block concerns compliance with immigration rules: whether the applicant has ever entered the UK legally, previously provided false information on a visa application, or broken immigration rules (c105, c106).

The form separately requires disclosure of any criminal record — in the UK or any other country (c107). An undisclosed record can count against the applicant when the application is assessed (c108). You must also answer “no” to questions about war crimes and involvement in terrorist activity (c109).

Visa officers may additionally check an applicant’s social media (c111) — reviewing posts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (c112). If anything there could be read as extremist views, it can become grounds for refusal (c113). The same group of questions covers declaring work in state-linked structures: the armed forces, intelligence services, media, or the judiciary (c114).

The cover letter and rules V4.2/V4.3 in your body of evidence

A separate cover letter with supporting evidence is attached to the application (c115, c129) — this isn’t a mandatory field on the form but a recommended additional document (c119). The form itself is made up of yes/no questions and short input fields, while some circumstances need a fuller explanation — that’s exactly what the letter is for (c119, c125).

The application needs to satisfy appendices V4.2 and V4.3 (c116). V4.2 is the genuine-visitor test: the applicant must meet five conditions, A through E (c117). V4.3 applies when a third party — a relative or friend — is funding the trip, and it has its own conditions that must be confirmed separately.

The letter explains how the average monthly income and expense figures were arrived at: data for six months is added up and divided by six, and the total is then converted into pounds sterling (c120, c121, c122). It separately notes investment income from a fixed deposit, which is paid once a year and can fluctuate because of interest accrual (c123) — this also needs supporting documents, as does a letter from the employer stating the salary (c124).

If bank statements are simply uploaded without an explanation of how the income and expense figures were derived from them, the visa centre staff won’t work through the calculations themselves — they don’t have the time (c125, c126). Any discrepancy they can’t explain to themselves becomes grounds for refusal (c126). Referencing the specific conditions of V4.2 and V4.3 in the letter shows the applicant is familiar with the rules, which also works in their favour (c127).

There’s no automatic right of appeal if refused, so it’s important to satisfy every appendix condition already at the application stage (c128). The letter also includes the sponsor’s details — in the worked example, the applicant’s brother: a birth certificate proving shared parents, a copy of his British passport, his NI number, proof of employment, a tenancy agreement, and bank statements showing he can cover the applicant’s expenses (c130, c131).

There’s no automatic right of appeal if refused

Documents from the sponsor and host in the UK

A sponsor in the UK needs to provide a set of documents proving three things: who they are, how settled their status in the country is, and that they can cover the guest’s expenses (c132, c134).

Sponsor’s identity and status:

• a copy of the British passport and NI (National Insurance) number — these let the officer verify nationality and identity (c132, c136, c155, c157);
• if there’s no passport, a copy of the ILR stamp (indefinite leave to remain) as proof of the right to be in the country (c168, c169);
• if the sponsor is a British citizen, that fact alone is enough that there’s no need to separately address the absence of immigration breaches — though written consent to have their details verified is still included with the application (c154, c156, c158).

Employment and housing:

• proof of employment, a tenancy agreement, and bank statements covering the last six months — these are what show income regularity and the monthly rent payment (c133, c148, c149);
• the statement should show a monthly salary credit, the rent amount, and landlord details that can be verified (the source material points to both of these);
• the accommodation must be adequate: for example, a two-bedroom flat with no other occupants and no overcrowding — this shows the guest has somewhere to stay without the address being overloaded (c184).

Proof of the family relationship:

• copies of the applicant’s and sponsor’s birth certificates, where they share the same parents — this is direct proof of a personal connection (c152);
• photographs as additional confirmation of the relationship (c153).

Invitation letter:

• sent by the sponsor by email, and it must state the exact address where the guest will stay and the proposed dates of the visit (c160);
• the letter should spell out who is paying for what — for example, who’s covering the flight and who’s covering accommodation (c161, c159);
• it should also note that the sponsor has sufficient savings to support the guest for the whole trip and confirm the guest’s return date (c185, c186).

The more closely these documents match what’s stated in the cover letter, the easier it is for the officer to cross-check everything once the evidence is uploaded (c135).

If the bank doesn’t keep electronic records, this can be one of the reasons for refusal — the visa officer is entitled to contact the bank directly to verify the statement (c166, c167).

Documents from the sponsor in the UK

• Copy of the British passport and NI numberrequiredor an ILR stamp if there’s no passport
• Proof of employmentrequired
• Tenancy agreementrequired
• Bank statements for the last 6 monthsrequiredshowing salary and rent amount
• Copies of the applicant’s and sponsor’s birth certificatesif related through shared parents
• Photographs confirming the relationshipadditional evidence
• Invitation letter by emailrequiredaddress of stay and dates of the visit
• Written consent to verify the sponsor’s detailsrequiredrequired even if the sponsor is a British citizen

How to scan documents and submit them through the TLS partner centre

Every passport page — old and current — needs to be scanned separately and in colour, including blank pages (c143, c145). Every page should show a visible page number at the bottom — 1, 2, 3, and so on — even if the page is blank (c144). The reason is strict: this lets the reviewer check whether the passport holds any travel stamps that weren’t declared on the form (c143). For compressing files, medium compression and free tools such as SmallPDF or iLovePDF are recommended if there’s no Adobe PDF subscription (c146).

Colour copies of the passport showing stamps from previous trips to other countries are also attached to the application (c139, c141, c142), along with proof of funds available to the applicant (c140).

Control over funds

For savings, you need to show not just the amount but also that the account is held in the applicant’s name, is linked to their address, and that the funds are genuinely accessible to them — this is called control of funds (c174, c176). If, for example, there are savings of £12,000 in the account, this needs to be backed up with a document showing the account holder’s name (c175).

For a fixed deposit, the proof works differently: it should state that interest accrues annually and that the deposit can be closed early — getting that decision from the bank takes around two working days (c177, c178). A deposit certificate showing the total amount, the interest rate, and the deposit terms is attached to the application — this removes a potential reason for refusal (c179).

Submitting through TLS

Once the form is submitted, the documents need to be handed over to the commercial partner — the TLS visa centre (c170). There are two ways to do this: upload the scans yourself, or hand over paper copies to staff at the partner centre, BFS (c171). The second option costs money — the centre charges per document uploaded — so it’s recommended to do it yourself (c172).

BFS staff are not legal advisers. If they say a particular document “won’t work” and suggest removing it, it’s best not to give in to that pressure — responsibility for the content of the application rests with the applicant (c173).

What visa length to choose and how much the application costs

When applying, the system lets you choose a visa length: 6 months, 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years (c189). If the applicant has never visited the UK before, it’s not worth choosing a two-year visa — the visa officer simply has no travel history on which to approve a longer period (c190).

For a first application, a 6-month visa is recommended (c191). Some applicants apply straight away for 5 years, assuming the length will just be approved automatically — and end up refused for exactly that reason. A longer period is worth requesting only if there’s a specific reason for it, not on the off-chance it will be granted.

One such reason is medical treatment that will last longer than 6 months (c192). In that case, a longer visa length is chosen, but medical documentation confirming the need for and the duration of treatment must be attached (c193).

The fee for applying for a family visa (a 6-month visa) is £135.

Staying in the UK beyond the permitted period carries the risk of detention (c187). On top of that, someone in the country without lawful status may have to pay for medical treatment themselves, without access to the terms a lawfully present guest is entitled to (c188).

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to apply for a UK visa to visit a relative

The fee for a Standard Visitor Visa lasting 6 months is £135. This is the cost of applying under the family category — the one chosen when the purpose of the visit is to see a relative.

What should I do if I’ve already submitted the application and spotted a mistake in the details

A submitted form can’t be corrected, so every field — including income, employment, and address sections — should be double-checked before submission. If a mistake is found after submission, it can still be addressed when preparing the cover letter and supporting documents, so the discrepancy is explained upfront rather than looking like withheld information when the officer reviews the case.

Do I need to do biometrics again if I already gave them for another UK visa

No, biometrics aren’t tied to the visa category as a whole but are taken as part of a specific application — when choosing a visa centre, the system asks for the country where the applicant is actually located and arranges fingerprints and a photo for the current application.

Can I apply if the host isn’t a relative, just a friend

Yes, among the reasons for the visit on the form there’s a separate Friend category — if the purpose of the trip is to see a friend rather than a family member. Funding from a friend is also allowed: their name, UK residential address, and the amount they’ve set aside are entered, and the relationship with them must meet the personal-connection condition of rule V4.3A.

What happens if the applicant forgot to list a trip to a country but there’s still a stamp in the passport

The passport is scanned page by page and in colour, including blank pages, precisely so the reviewer can check for any trips not declared on the form. A mismatch between the stamps and the answers in the travel history section looks like incomplete disclosure, so it’s worth checking every passport page against what’s entered on the form before submitting.