The UK visitor visa from Pakistan

The short answer. The United Kingdom is not in the Schengen Area, so a Schengen visa does not work there and a British visa does not work in Europe. A Pakistani passport needs a Standard Visitor visa, applied for online, with biometrics given in person at a visa application centre. There is normally no interview, so the file is the whole case.

The UK is the visa most often bundled wrongly into a European trip, and the one where the file has to do the most explaining.

It is not Schengen, and it never was

Britain was never in the Schengen Area, even before it left the European Union. That has one practical consequence that catches families every year.

A trip to London and Paris is two visas: a British Standard Visitor visa and a Schengen visa, each with its own fee, its own appointment, its own timetable and its own decision. Either can be refused without affecting the other, and the refusal of one leaves you holding a trip you cannot take as planned.

It also means your London nights do not count towards the Schengen main destination rule, which decides which European consulate you apply to. Only Schengen nights count for that. We work both out from the itinerary before anything is booked.

What a Standard Visitor file has to prove

Three things, as with most serious visitor visas: that the trip is genuine, that you can pay for it, and that you will leave at the end of it.

• Your position in Pakistan. Employment letter with salary and length of

service and approved leave for the dates, or business registration and tax

papers if you work for yourself. Property, dependants, anything that is

waiting.

• Money. Bank statements, usually six months. The pattern matters more

than the balance, and a large sum that arrived recently invites exactly the

question it was meant to answer. If a relative is funding the trip, their

statements go in too, with their relationship to you stated.

• The trip itself. What you are coming for, where you will stay, and when

you leave. Bookings rather than intentions.

• Travel history, if you have any. Previous visas used properly and

returned from are the strongest thing a file can carry, which is why a

first application to the UK is harder than a fifth.

For a family visit the host in Britain provides the invitation, proof of their status, proof of their accommodation and, where they are paying, proof of what they earn.

There is no interview, so write the letter properly

Standard Visitor applications are normally decided on the papers. Nobody will ask you to clarify anything. That makes the covering letter the only place you get to speak, and most of the letters we are shown before we rewrite them say nothing useful.

A good one says who you are, why this trip, who is paying, where you will stay, what you are returning to, and the date you return. In that order, in plain sentences, on one page.

Can I use my Schengen visa to visit London?

No. They are different systems and have always been different systems. A Schengen visa is not valid for the United Kingdom and a British visa is not valid for the Schengen Area. A trip to both is two applications.

Which visa should I apply for first, the British or the Schengen?

Usually whichever has the longer wait for an appointment, because that is what sets the date. But there is a second consideration: a held British visa is useful travel history for the Schengen file and the reverse is also true. If your dates allow it, doing them in sequence rather than together is often the stronger play. Bring us the dates and we will say which way round.

I was refused before. Does that count against me?

The refusal itself is less damaging than people fear. What matters is whether the new application answers what the old one did not. UK refusal letters set out the reasons, and most of them point at something fixable: ties not evidenced, finances not explained, purpose not clear. Bring the letter. A second identical file gets a second identical answer and costs you the fee again.

How long is a Standard Visitor visa valid for?

The standard grant is six months, and longer validities of two, five or ten years exist for people who travel regularly. You do not get the long one by asking for it on a first application; it follows a history of using visas properly and coming back.

Do I need travel insurance for the UK?

It is not a condition of the visa the way the thirty thousand euro cover is for Schengen. It is still a bad idea to travel without it, because healthcare in Britain is not free to visitors and an unplanned hospital stay is a bill you will remember. We arrange it either way.

Before you pay anything

Fees, the application route and the arrangements at the visa application centres change, and they change more often for Britain than for most. We confirm the current position before every submission rather than trusting any list, including this one.

Bring the passports, your employment or business papers, and any previous refusal letter. We will tell you plainly what the file needs and whether we think it is ready.