Information for Sponsors
SPONSORING A VISITOR
The United Kingdom welcomes overseas nationals who wish to visit the United Kingdom.
If the applicant whom you wish to sponsor is a visa national, he or she must obtain a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom. Use our Do I Need a Visa? questionnaire to find out if a visa is required.
A non-visa national visiting the UK must satisfy an immigration officer at a UK port of arrival that they qualify for entry. The requirements that a visitor must meet - the Immigration Rules - can be found on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website:
Immigration Rules
This page is primarily for someone who is sponsoring a visa national, but will also be useful if you want to sponsor a visitor who is not a visa national. You may also want to read the Sponsors (INF 3) guidance note which gives more detail.
How can my visitor come to the United Kingdom?
An entry clearance officer must be satisfied that your visitor meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules, which are that:
he or she is seeking entry as a visitor for no more than six months and
he or she intends to leave the United Kingdom on completion of his or her visit and
he or she has enough money to maintain and accommodate himself or herself without working, or help from Public Funds (income support, housing benefit, etc.)
What can I do to help?
It is important for the entry clearance officer to have all the relevant information before he or she reaches a decision. Whilst the evidence you provide in support of the application is important, unless prior agreement has been obtained, the current security situation in Pakistan prevents sponsors form accompanying applicants to High Commission/ Deputy High Commission premises in the event that they are called for interview".
If your visitor is refused a visa, he or she will be told of the reasons for the decision in the form of a written notice, and will be offered the opportunity to comment.
What evidence can I supply?
There are no hard and fast rules about what documentation you should produce when sponsoring a visitor to the United Kingdom. You may wish to supply evidence of your own immigration status in the United Kingdom, and there are some other things you can do, particularly if the visit is for a special reason:
if the visit is for a holiday and you are a relative or a friend, a letter of sponsorship explaining your relationship to the applicant and why the visit is taking place at this particular time may be helpful.
if the visit is for a special family occasion (for example a wedding, a birth celebration or an important anniversary) an invitation detailing the event, when and where it is to take place and a letter of sponsorship would be helpful. If your visitor is not a close relative, or is perhaps one of several people invited, it would be helpful to know why you chose to invite them.
if the visit is for business purposes you should provide a letter from your company inviting the applicant to the United Kingdom, outlining the links between your companies, and the purpose of the trip. If you are paying for the trip you should say so and give details of where the visitor will be accommodated.
If you are offering to provide support and accommodation and/or to pay for travel to the United Kingdom, you must provide evidence of your ability to do so. The following would be helpful:
- a letter of sponsorship detailing your occupation and salary and how you will be supporting and accommodating the applicant. You do not need to have this letter attested before a solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths.
- evidence of your ability to finance the trip, such as copies of your last six months bank or building society statements and salary slips. If you are in receipt of public funds, the entry clearance officer will need to consider carefully how long you will be able to maintain additional people on limited means; you will not be able to claim additional public funds to support your visitor.
Can I give a guarantee?
You may want to give a guarantee that the person whom you are sponsoring will abide by the conditions of his or her stay in the UK and will leave at the end of a specified period. However, such guarantees are not enforceable in UK law and cannot be accepted. This is not a reflection on your integrity as a sponsor, but under the Immigration Rules, it is the visitor who must satisfy the entry clearance officer that he or she qualifies for entry.
COMING TO THE UK OTHER THAN AS A VISITOR
If the person you are sponsoring is applying to come to the UK other than as a visitor, the guidance notes explain how she or he must qualify for a visa under the Immigration Rules.
