Non-EU citizen, student in Spain holding a residence permit. Do I need a UK visa?
I am from a non-EU country (Georgia). I have been studying in Spain for the past five years and hold a residence permit.
Next month I will need to travel to London for a job interview and I was wondering if I need to apply for a visa.
Does holding the residence permit in Spain exempt me from the visa or not?
Couldn't find the information anywhere and thought some of you guys might know this.
Best Answer
The UK government has a wizard to check whether you need a visa. It does not ask about your country of residence: just your nationality, purpose and duration of visit.
As a Georgian national visiting for less than six months for business-related purposes, you would need to apply for a standard visitor visa.
Pictures about "Non-EU citizen, student in Spain holding a residence permit. Do I need a UK visa?"
Do you need UK visa if you have EU residence permit?
EU , EEA and Swiss citizens can travel to the UK for holidays or short trips without needing a visa. In other cases, find out if you need to apply for a visa to enter the UK . You can cross the UK border using a valid passport which should be valid for the whole time you are in the UK .Do I need visa if I have EU residence permit?
As holder of a residence permit issued by a Schengen country, you need no visa for short-term stays in other Schengen countries - so you need no visa for Germany either. In any 180 days period you may stay for up to 90 days maximum in another Schengen country.Can I travel to UK with Spanish residence card?
Contents. From 1 January 2021 you can no longer use an Article 10 or 20 residence card issued by an EEA member state to travel to the UK if you're accompanying your EEA citizen family member to the UK, or joining them in the UK.Do Spanish residents need a visa for UK?
Do Spanish citizens need a visa to enter the UK? No, Spanish passport holders can visit the UK without a visa. By 2025, it will be necessary to apply for an ETA online to travel visa-free.How to Move to Spain? (EU and Non-EU Citizens Spain Residence Permit)
More answers regarding non-EU citizen, student in Spain holding a residence permit. Do I need a UK visa?
Answer 2
Schengen residents do need a visa to enter the UK, except if only in transit, connecting to a flight elsewhere departing no later than 23:59 the next day. In that case, they can be let in simply by presenting their passport, residence permit, filled-out landing card and e-ticket for the connecting flight.
Source: the GOV.UK website
However, if flying from Spain directly to the UK and then back, this doesn't count as transit, so you would need a visa.
If you need to stay no longer than until 23:59 the next day, one solution could be to book the return flight with a stopover. However, since flights within Europe are frequent, it'll be hard to prove that you need to stay in the UK for as long as you need simply for the purpose of transit. Plus, you would have to lie about the purpose of your trip, which will land you in hot water if you're caught.
So, all-in-all, get a standard visitor visa.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ivan Samkov, Anastasiya Gepp, Julia M Cameron, Andrea Piacquadio