Flight to UK with Visa: what else do I need?

Visa in hand (yay!), I'm about to fly over to start my new job. All the visa documentation has me nervous enough to ask: what else should I have in hand at the immigration checkpoint in Heathrow? Just the passport+visa and the UKVI 01 letter that came with it? Is it a good idea to have anything else? Proof of residence? Relationship to spouse? (She won't be with me on this trip)

No, you don’t need anything else - just your passport (with visa inside) and letter.


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Will your wife have already relocated before you?

As it's okay for her to move before or together, but not after.  They will likely ask.

Make sure the name on the ticket exactly matches the passport name.

I was wondering. In the way that BA remind me to fill in ESTA details when I fly to the states, do people flying into the UK get a similar thing to do? I know there's the blue declaration documents that are given out by air staff before landing in the UK but that's all I can think of.

Nope - there’s nothing to do in advance of flying to the UK.

You just get given the landing card on the plane and you fill it out then.

It used to be the same in the US - you filled out the landing card on the plane... but then they changed it to the ESTA for the Visa Waiver and it’s all electronic now.


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Wait...I’m getting a bit confused and slightly paranoid now. 😂

As the proud new owner of a spouse visa, do I need ESTA clearance as well?

I visited my husband twice this year in the UK but I can’t for the life of me remember if I did the ESTA thing online.

Wait...I’m getting a bit confused and slightly paranoid now. 😂

As the proud new owner of a spouse visa, do I need ESTA clearance as well?

I visited my husband twice this year in the UK but I can’t for the life of me remember if I did the ESTA thing online.

No, an ESTA is the visa waiver program for UK citizens (and other eligible countries) traveling to the USA.

Wait...I’m getting a bit confused and slightly paranoid now.

As the proud new owner of a spouse visa, do I need ESTA clearance as well?

I visited my husband twice this year in the UK but I can’t for the life of me remember if I did the ESTA thing online.

You’re a US citizen so you don’t need a visa, ESTA visa waiver or landing card to enter the US... you just show your passport when you land . But when you fly to the UK, you need a visa and you have to fill out a landing card.

Whereas I’m a UK citizen, so I don’t need a visa or a landing card to enter the UK... I just show my passport. But if I visit the US I need a visa/ESTA Visa Waiver because I’m not a US citizen (but they don’t have landing cards for the US anymore because they replaced them with the ESTA).


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Will your wife have already relocated before you?

As it's okay for her to move before or together, but not after.  They will likely ask.

This is really important. I have a feeling she's still in the US? If so, you're going to need to change your plans and bring her with you on this first trip.
After that, you can come and go on your own as you please.

Thanks for the clarification! One less thing to worry about. 😊

This is really important. I have a feeling she's still in the US? If so, you're going to need to change your plans and bring her with you on this first trip.
After that, you can come and go on your own as you please.

Ok wow. This is important. Where is the info telling me this? No way around it? I fly on Sunday!!

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Ok wow. This is important. Where is the info telling me this? No way around it? I fly on Sunday!!

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I’m afraid you will not be able to travel without her - you will not be allowed to enter the UK unless she is entering at the same time or is already there.

Your visa is for you to JOIN your wife in the UK (or be travelling with her).




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From the immigration rules:

Spouses or civil partners of persons present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

Requirements for leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-8-family-members



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Ok wow. This is important. Where is the info telling me this? No way around it? I fly on Sunday!!

You aren't the holder of a points based work visa ( a Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa) who must work to comply with their visa. To comply with the visa you have, you join your spouse sponsor who is settled in the UK and can then work if you want to.

This is why a couple who are still sorting the move, leave the non-Brit to do that and it's the Brit who returns to the UK and sorts out their UK house, and then the visa holder joins them in the UK. Or they move to the UK together, as a Brit returning to live in the UK, is "settled" when they return to live in the UK.

Well in our situation, my job needs me over there ASAP, so my trip Sunday was to get onboarded, etc. and then hop back at Christmas time to bring the family back. Not thinking that she was literally part of my passport/visa for first entry - I thought that was the point of all the documentation, application, and the actual visa. It proves I've already demonstrated that I'm joining a British citizen in the UK.

Anyway, @ksand24 has convinced me not to risk it, and air miles +$700 have come to the rescue. Mom and dad get a few days away to ourselves