Tourism visa & short trip from the UK

[trindajae]

I was told that there are recent changes to the visas for tourists to the UK, but I'm having a very hard time finding clear guidelines on the border agency website. My mother and I will be traveling to London from the US for tourism for 16 days, but part of those days we were going to spend on a 3-day trip to Belgium. Is there a visa that we

Comments

[dreamkate1]

"Do nothing" seems like a rather broad term. You do need to do "something" every time you enter a foreign country. Whilst you don't get a visa you do get a stamp. Yours will most likely be the standard 6 month visitor stamp which reminds you about no working or recourse to public funds. Yes, as a US citizen you are eligible for the VWP (provided you don't go against their terms, the main ones I can think of are being denied entry previously or any convictions.) However to enter the UK (or any country) it's fairly standard to provide:

Your return ticket
Your itinerary upon request (for example the UK will ask you for an address, your hotel will do)
Proof of funds to support your journey. Proof of paid hotel plus some funds or a bank statement usually will suffice.
Proof of ties to the US. This is mainly for those staying longer or without typical tourist itineraries (read- visiting friends/boyfriends/girlfriends, bumming around, etc) A letter from your employer, work contract, mortgage/rent statement etc.

You may or may not get asked for these things, depending on your IO and well, frankly, their temperment and how they read you as a person. Prior to becoming a resident here, I travelled with these as standard. Sometimes I got asked, sometimes I didn't. The first time I didn't carry them I got held for 5 hours before being released. It was horrible. Granted I was going for a longer stay than you so I suppose I hit up some red flags. Next time I had every piece of paper under the sun and wasn't asked a thing.

[trindajae]

That makes sense, thank you. We were already planning to have all of that information readily accessible because we'll be using it when we land, but I'll make extra certain that it's somewhere I'll be able to grab it from our carry-on luggage.

[fox_c]

Just a note on hotel arrangements - my friends and family have mentioned that this seems to have gotten much more strict in the past year. Just your hotel name (or the name of friends/relatives) is not sufficient, you have to have the full address. My brother almost didn't make it into the country at Christmas (they got the special screening) because he didn't have my address. Just so you know. . .

[trindajae]

Duly noted, thanks. :)