Creative Visit
Artists, entertainers and musicians can carry out certain unpaid activities under visitor rules. Paid gigs require other routes.
- Screening A few questions about your work, your family and your plans.
- Documents A checklist built around your route and who is coming with you.
- Expert review A qualified adviser reads every document before anything is filed.
- Application Every answer is checked against the published rules for your route.
- Submission Filed, with everything that went with it kept in one place.
- Arrival We stay with you through the crossing and the first steps after.
Application fee
£135
GOV.UK, up to 6 months
Maximum stay per visit
Up to 6 months
GOV.UK, Standard Visitor route
Paid engagement window
30 days
From entry, GOV.UK paid engagements
Can I perform or do creative work in the UK as a Standard Visitor?
Yes. As a Standard Visitor you can give performances, take part in auditions and promotional activities, and, if formally invited by a UK-based creative organisation, agent or broadcaster, carry out a paid engagement directly related to your profession, provided it's arranged before you travel and completed within 30 days of entering the UK.
Who this is for
This route is for a working artist, entertainer or musician whose profession is their main occupation overseas, whether they are visiting to perform or promote their work without extra payment, or coming for a specific paid engagement arranged and invited by a UK-based creative organisation, agent or broadcaster. As with every Standard Visitor purpose, the decision maker must be satisfied that the applicant is a genuine visitor who will leave the UK at the end of the visit, will not make the UK their home through frequent or successive visits, and has enough money to cover the visit without working outside the permitted activities or claiming public funds.
Payment and permitted paid engagements
A Standard Visitor cannot normally be paid by a UK source, but the published rules carve out specific exceptions for creative professionals: prize money, reasonable travel and subsistence expenses, a paid performance at a festival on the Home Office's published permit-free festival list, and the permitted paid engagement itself. A permitted paid engagement must be arranged before the visitor travels, declared as part of the application, evidenced by a formal invitation, and completed early in the visit. This route does not cover longer or ongoing paid creative work in the UK, which is arranged through a separate, sponsored published route.
Requirements
- Genuine visitorYou must satisfy the decision maker that you will leave the UK at the end of your visit, will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits or make it your main home, and are genuinely coming to do a permitted activity.
- Funds without workingYou must have enough money to cover your visit (including your return or onward journey) without working outside the permitted activities or accessing public funds.
- Age 18 or over (for a paid engagement)If you're coming for a permitted paid engagement, you must be 18 or over when you enter the UK.
- Formal invitation (for a paid engagement)A permitted paid engagement must be arranged before you travel, declared as part of your application, and evidenced by a written invitation from a UK-based creative organisation, agent or broadcaster.
- Relates to your professionThe engagement must relate directly to your expertise, qualifications and main occupation overseas, an activity carried out by a professional artist, entertainer or musician that is directly connected to their profession.
- Payment only in permitted circumstancesYou cannot otherwise be paid by a UK source for creative work as a Standard Visitor, aside from prize money, reasonable expenses, a paid performance at a permit-free festival, or the permitted paid engagement itself.
- General suitabilityThe application must not fall for refusal under the general suitability rules that apply across UK immigration routes.
Documents typically needed
- Passport or travel documentValid for the whole of your stay in the UK.
- Written invitationFrom a UK-based creative organisation, agent, agency or broadcaster, for a permitted paid engagement.
- Evidence of your established professionFor example published work, publicity material for recent performances, media coverage and reviews, or awards you've received.
- Evidence of your fundsShowing you can support yourself without working outside the permitted activities.
- Evidence of what you'll be doing in the UKSuch as letters from the inviting or sending organisation, particularly if a UK organisation is meeting any of your costs.
- Certified translationsFor any document that is not in English or Welsh.
How to apply
Check the permitted creative activities
Confirm that what you plan to do (performing, auditioning, promotional work, or a specific paid engagement) is a permitted activity for a Standard Visitor.
Arrange any invitation in advance
If you're coming for a paid engagement, get a written invitation from the UK-based organisation, agent or broadcaster before you travel.
Check if you need a visa or an ETA
Depending on your nationality, you may need a Standard Visitor visa, an electronic travel authorisation, or neither.
Apply online
Apply for a Standard Visitor visa online if you need one, and provide the required supporting documents.
Prove your identity and wait for a decision
Confirm your identity using an identity-checking app or at a visa application centre, then wait for the decision within the published timescale.
Fees & costs
- Standard Visitor visa (up to 6 months)
- £135
- Extend your stay (up to a total of 6 months)
- £1,172
Fees are set by the Home Office and can change. Source: GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor/apply-standard-visitor-visa
Processing times
- Apply from outside the UK
- Usually within 3 weeks
- Extend your stay from inside the UK
- Usually within 8 weeks
Standard service times published by the Home Office; a faster decision may be available for an extra fee.
What you can and can't do
Permitted
- Give performances, either individually or as part of a group
- Take part in competitions or auditions, make personal appearances and take part in promotional activities
- Take part in a cultural event or festival on the Home Office's published permit-free festival list, including a paid performance
- Carry out a permitted paid engagement related to your profession, if formally invited by a UK-based creative organisation, agent or broadcaster
- Bring personal or technical staff who are employed to work for you outside the UK, provided they attend the same event
Not permitted
- Take or fill a permanent role with a UK organisation
- Receive payment from a UK source outside the specific permitted circumstances
- Access public funds
If the application is refused
A refusal decision explains why the published requirements were not met. Most Standard Visitor refusals do not carry a right of appeal, although a right of appeal on human rights grounds can apply in some cases, and the refusal notice sets out what, if anything, follows.
Common questions
Can I get paid for a creative performance as a Standard Visitor?
What's the difference between an unpaid creative visit and a paid engagement?
Can I be paid for performing at a UK festival?
Can my support staff or crew travel with me?
Do I need a visa or an electronic travel authorisation to visit for creative work?
Can I do ongoing or longer-term paid creative work in the UK this way?
Talk it through with one of our solicitors.
Book a consultation and one of our immigration solicitors will go through your situation, the documents involved, and what happens next.
Permitted Paid Engagement Visit
For experts invited to do pre-arranged paid work in the UK, such as a lecture or a performance. You must finish it in your first 30 days.
Read the guide →Sportsperson Visit
Compete, train or make promotional appearances in the UK as a Standard Visitor, for up to 6 months, without taking UK employment.
Read the guide →Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
Digital permission to visit the UK for up to 6 months. Most travellers from Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia need one, not a visa.
Read the guide →