If you are not a citizen of the EU, EEA or Switzerland
This page explains what extra requirements you must meet when you arrive at the United Kingdom border if you do not hold a passport issued by the United Kingdom, another country in the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), or Switzerland. See Arriving at the United Kingdom border for information about what all passengers must do.
Our officer will scan your passport and check your landing card (see below) and details to make sure you have the right to enter the United Kingdom. The officer may ask you for more information about your visit to this country before giving you permission to enter.
Please put any documents relevant to your stay in your hand luggage, so they are available if the officer asks for them. This may include your travel itinerary, work permit, or university or sponsorship letter.
If you want to stay more than six months you will need a visa or entry clearance to enter the United Kingdom, even if you are not a visa national. If you are a visa national you will need a visa to enter the United Kingdom for any length of time.
You must have the correct documents for the purpose of your stay in the United Kingdom. If you break the immigration rules, we will encourage you to leave voluntarily but we will not hesitate to force you to leave the country if necessary.
If you come from certain countries and want to stay in the United Kingdom for more than six months, we will normally ask a medical inspector to examine you. If you have a United Kingdom pre-departure tuberculosis (TB) detection certificate, please give it to the officer when you arrive.
Forms (landing cards)
You will have to complete a landing card, unless:
- you hold a passport issued in the EU or EEA; or
- your final destination is not the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or Republic of Ireland (known as the common travel area) and you do not need to go through immigration controls to continue your journey.
A landing card must be fully completed for each passenger who has a passport issued outside the EU or EEA. This includes children. Please give your:
- family and given names;
- birth details and gender;
- nationality and actual occupation. If you are in business please specify your area of business;
- full contact address for while you are in the United Kingdom, including the post code. If you are staying at more than one place please give the address where you will spend most of your time; and
- signature.
You can get a landing card before you arrive in the United Kingdom from your airline, ferry, train, or coach operator. It will help save time if you complete this card fully before arriving at our border.
If we need more information
We may need to make further enquiries about your visit to the United Kingdom and you may have to wait while we do this. We will explain what we are doing and why. We will provide an interpreter if necessary. We will make our enquiries as quickly as possible and we will keep you informed of progress.
We may ask you to produce evidence of the money you have available to fund your stay and we may count your cash or travellers cheques. We will not normally ask you to give cash to the officer.
Terms explained
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European Economic Area
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the European Union (EU) but citizens of these countries have the same rights to enter, live in and work in the United Kingdom as EU citizens.
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European Union
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.