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UK Visa Planning Platform

Choose the right UK visa route before you spend time or money.

VisaPrep maps route fit, document prep, fee planning, and timeline checkpoints so you can move through your UK visa application with fewer surprises.

Start your route plan Browse all visa routes
Checklist builder Fee finder Timeline planner

We track published updates and refresh this site regularly. Final decisions always come from official UK government services.

Routes Visit, study, work, family, settlement, and special schemes.
Documents Route-specific checklist flows with save progress support.
Costs Fee rows, optional service speeds, IHS, and trend context.
Timing Inside-UK and outside-UK planning windows from one planner.

Start here: choose your visa objective

Pick the objective that matches your case first, then use checklist + fees + timeline in that order.

I have a UK job or sponsorSkilled Worker, Health and Care, GBM, and temporary routes. I am joining family in the UKPartner, parent, child, permit, and dependant pathways. I am planning studyStudent and Child Student route planning. I need a short stay routeVisit, ETA, business travel, and transit checks. I am preparing settlement or statusILR, settlement routes, and return options.

  1. Choose your route objective

    Pick visit, study, work, family, settlement, or a specialist route.

  2. Check route conditions

    Validate sponsorship, funds, language level, and route eligibility criteria.

  3. Build your working plan

    Generate your checklist, map dates, and confirm fee totals before applying.

Browse by category

Start broad, then narrow quickly. Each category page breaks down route options, route detail pages, and related checklists.

Visit

Tourism, business travel, family visits, and transit applications.

Study

Student and Child Student routes plus related study options.

Work

Sponsored routes, talent pathways, mobility, and temporary work.

Family

Partner, parent, child, dependant, and permit pathways.

Settlement

ILR, residence-based pathways, return routes, and status options.

Special schemes

Special permissions, legacy pathways, and niche categories.

Compare core routes quickly

Filter by route family, click a card, and use the side panel for key checks and next actions.

Standard Visitor

Short stay route for tourism, visits, and eligible business activities.

Visit

Student

Full-time study route with a licensed sponsor institution.

Study

Skilled Worker

Sponsored employment route for eligible roles and salary thresholds.

Work

Family Route

Join or stay with a partner, parent, child, or dependant in the UK.

Family

Graduate

Post-study route for eligible graduates already in the UK.

Study to work

UK Ancestry

For eligible Commonwealth citizens with UK-born grandparents.

Settlement track

Global Talent

For recognised leaders and emerging leaders in approved fields.

Talent

Innovator Founder

Business route for founders with endorsement and scaling plans.

Business

Planning tools

These tools are built to answer practical application questions: what to prepare, when to submit, and how much to budget.

How to use this toolkit

  • Start with route selection and shortlist the route you likely qualify for.
  • Use checklist + timeline together so evidence and dates are aligned.
  • Confirm costs with the fee finder, including service speed and IHS where relevant.

Checklist builder

Load route-specific document lists and save your progress.

Fee finder

Filter by location, route, option, and service speed.

Timeline planner

Generate inside-UK or outside-UK planning windows from your travel date.

ILR checklist

Route-specific ILR evidence and settlement sequencing checks.

Citizenship guide

Naturalisation and registration planning with checklist support.

UK passport guide

Apply, renew, identity requirements, and photo quality checks.

Build your visa checklist

Select a route to load a focused document and process checklist.

Use this as your working checklist and confirm route-specific requirements before submission.

Your progress

0 of 0 completed

Timeline planner

Enter your intended travel date and application location. The planner recalculates checkpoints for inside-UK and outside-UK cases.

Set your baseline

Choose your target travel date and where you are applying from.

Outside-UK planning mode
Choose your date and location to generate route-aware planning checkpoints.
1

Document prep start

Select a date

2

Submission target window

Select a date

3

Identity step window

Select a date

4

Decision-safe buffer

Select a date

Location-specific checks

  • Select a date to load checks.

Immigration data snapshot

High-level migration context from ONS releases. Use this as trend context only, not as route eligibility guidance.

Year ending June 2025

Arrivals, departures, and net migration (thousands).

Source: ONS, long-term international migration (provisional), year ending June 2025.

Net migration change

Comparison between year ending June 2024 and June 2025 (thousands).

Source: ONS, long-term international migration provisional estimates.

Knowledge library

Route-specific guidance on evidence, sponsorship, absences, fees, and processing timelines.

Open knowledge library

Route fit and eligibility

Compare similar routes and choose the one that matches your purpose and status.

Evidence and document quality

Prepare identity, financial, relationship, and sponsorship evidence in a clear structure.

Costs, timing, and next steps

Review fee components, service options, and common delay risks before you submit.