debsy

Hi
I have checked the U.K. websites, but I am not sure if an Australian passport holder needs a visa for a short visit to the U.K. - does any one have any idea? As someone I know is in Europe and wants to go to the U.K. for a few days.

Thanks.

MonandMike

I've done it a few times and no, you just rock up and can get a 90 day tourist visa. Haven't done it for awhile though. You may need to produce a return ticket or bank statement to show funds to get you through your visit.

Hope this helps.

Pollyana

As MonandMike said, no need for a visa if its just a quick visit as a tourist. The only thing The Bloke got asked on his trips was how long he intended to stay and did he have a ticket to leave the UK.

moneypenny20

Yup as long as they have a return ticket to wherever and enough money to supoort themselves, they'll be fine. How you doing hon? We seem to have lost touch a bit but that's what happens when life gets in the way. Hope Uni is going well

debsy

Thanks everyone.

Fine thanks Pen. Will give you a call and maybe catch up for a coffee after 20 November.

moneypenny20

Cool. Most days not Fridays. Other days after 11 is generally safe.

SNH

Just be prepared to be treated like a criminal as you go through. Seriously, they make Australian immigration people look like angels!! Most Europeans have no idea what it's like, because if you're European you just drift through and flash an ID card.

I personally know a number of people who have turned up with lots of money and onward tickets and everything, and been sent straight back home.

I know a fourteen year old girl who flew over on an Australian passport to visit her father, and she was taken away to a room and interrogated for an hour or so - without supervision.

On my last trip over on an Australian passport I was with my brother. We had onward tickets for less than a week later (to France), hundreds of pounds AND euros in cash, a full printed itinerary for our entire trip - right down to our domestic flights when returning to Australia, and even theatre tickets for other countries in the weeks to come. We were stopped at immigration for about half an hour, in which time my brother had the contents of his wallet counted and I had every single one of my passport stamps and visas inspected and queried. We had to tell them every single thing we planned to do and on which day during our time in London, and I was even asked about my career aspirations!!

British immigration despises people from outside of the European Union.

If you have a European passport, I would recommend travelling on that.

Of course some people get lucky, but I have been travelling for years and years, and each visit to Britain has been more unpleasant than the one before it.