India to United Kingdom: visa and entry requirements

What to get before you go

Documents

• Passport valid for your whole stay: A passport or travel document valid for the whole of your stay in the UK. When: Before applying and before travel.
• Proof of funds and return journey: Evidence you can support yourself and dependants and pay for your return or onward journey, and that you will leave at the end of your visit. When: With a visa application, and at the border.

What a day costs

Government travel allowance for London: up to US$424 a night for a hotel room and US$174 a day for meals and incidentals.

An estimate, not a price: it is what a government pays its own staff there (US Department of State, in effect from 1 June 2025). Add the government fees above, your flights and insurance. The planner works out a full budget for your dates and city.

Local laws for visitors

• Staying too long: If you are 18 or over and overstay your permission, a later application to come back to the UK must be refused for a set period: 12 months if you left voluntarily at your own expense, and up to 10 years if you were removed at public expense. An overstay of 30 days or less is disregarded if you left voluntarily at your own expense. (official page)
• Extending your stay: Standard Visitors with permission for less than 6 months may apply to extend up to a total of 6 months. You must apply from inside the UK before your permission expires, and the fee is £1,172. Staying beyond 6 months is only possible in a few cases, such as medical treatment. (official page)
• Working as a visitor: Visitors may not do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, except for a permitted paid engagement or event. Other work needs a work visa. (official page)
• Cash you carry: You must declare cash of £10,000 or more when you carry it into Great Britain from a country outside the UK, including when a family or group carries that much in total. Undeclared cash can be seized, with a penalty of up to £5,000. Arriving in Northern Ireland, the threshold is €10,000. (official page)
• Banned and restricted goods: You cannot bring controlled drugs, offensive weapons such as flick knives, self-defence sprays such as pepper spray, endangered species, or personal imports of meat and dairy from most non-EU countries into the UK; they will be seized. Firearms, explosives and ammunition need a special licence. (official page)
• Medicines: Visitors bringing medicine that contains a controlled drug must carry it in hand luggage with a letter showing it was prescribed for them, and can bring up to 3 months supply. Schedule 1 drugs cannot be brought in without a licence. (official page)
• Alcohol and tobacco: Arriving in Great Britain from outside the UK, you can bring in without tax or duty 42 litres of beer and cider, 18 litres of wine, and 4 litres of spirits over 22% ABV, plus one of: 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco. Under 17s get no alcohol or tobacco allowance. (official page)
• Drones: Overseas drone registrations are not recognised: to fly a drone of 250g to less than 25kg outdoors in the UK you must first get a Flyer ID and an Operator ID from the Civil Aviation Authority. Flying without the required IDs is against the law. (official page)
• Driving: Visitors to Great Britain with a full, valid licence from outside the EU and EEA can drive any small vehicle listed on it, such as a car or motorcycle, for 12 months from when they last entered Great Britain. (official page)
• Emergency numbers: Call 999 to report a crime in progress or someone in immediate danger, or for a life-threatening medical emergency. (official page)

Official links

• Check if you need a UK visa — Official visa/ETA checker by nationality and purpose
• UK ETA — Electronic travel authorisation for non-visa nationals
• Standard Visitor — Visitor rules, fees and visa application
• Transit visas — Direct Airside Transit and Visitor in Transit visas
• UK Visas and Immigration — Immigration authority
• Bringing goods into the UK — Customs allowances for arriving travellers
• VisitBritain — Official tourism board