Travelling on Business visa to UK for tourism purposes

I already have a 6 month valid UK business visa received prior to April 24 2015. I was supposed to travel to the UK in April, but my trip was cancelled on medical grounds.

I am now planning to visit the UK in July for tourism. Would it be fine for me to do so? Will I be allowed to enter the UK? Should I carry the original invite letter and medical certificate to prove why I didn't go the first time?

visas uk change-purpose-of-travel

Best Answer

It's fine. On 24 April 2015 your visa was automatically converted to a Visitor (standard) Visa.

The Visitor (standard) Visa allows the holder to engage in any permitted activity, which includes both business and tourism.

You should always carry the original documentation in preparation for your landing interview. If the IO wants to know why you didn't go the first time (which I doubt will be asked), you can simply explain it. There's really no big deal about why or why not you went the first time and since it was medical grounds, there's no point in opening up a new can of worms.

There's a somewhat related thread here: Is it easy to enter the UK multiple times on the same Business Visitor Visa?

You can find a complete list of permitted activities.