Travelling to the UK from the US to see my GF

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some first hand experience of people travelling from the US to the UK to see there SO for the holiday period.

I am coming for 2 weeks to see my GF and having read the many horror stories of refused entries for no reason am starting to get significant anxiety.

Any who has been through this or knows of someone who has. What has your experience been like? What should I bring? Any advice?

Many many thanks

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some first hand experience of people travelling from the US to the UK to see there SO for the holiday period.

I am coming for 2 weeks to see my GF and having read the many horror stories of refused entries for no reason am starting to get significant anxiety.

Any who has been through this or knows of someone who has. What has your experience been like? What should I bring? Any advice?

Many many thanks

Hi!  . If you are visiting for a couple of weeks over the holidays and have a return ticket, there is very little likelihood you having any trouble at the border.

But just in case and to put your mind at ease, make sure you have your return ticket and evidence of commitments which you have in the US which you have to return to, so job/rent/school/family obligations etc. Also be prepared to show you have the funds to support yourself while you are there.
Most importantly, tell the truth! 

Thanks for the response .

I am Visiting for two weeks over Xmas.

How much would sufficient funds be?

I was bringing £250 cash (who uses cash still?) And my credit card which has a $10,000 limit and maybe ?$2,000? On it

I came three years ago the day after Christmas. I got grilled a ton but eventually got let through.

It's a magical time to visit I hope you have no problems and enjoy yourself.

The advice above is good advice.


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Yeah i am really worried

Will only tell the truth, i.e. purpose being Holiday with GF staying at hers etc etc

No long term plans, returning on X date.

Was bringing:

- Itinerary
- Travel Insurance for the date
- Letter from boss saying i am on holiday for the period and back on X
- Most recent payslip
- Bank Statement with $1,000 (roughly)
- Return ticket
- Letter from GF saying i will be staying at hers

Anything else you recommend?

For a 2-week visit, there's really no need to be worried - millions of people do that every day.

If you were trying to come to the UK for, say, 6 months, then you might have to be more careful, but a regular vacation of only 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays is unlikely to raise any red flags.

Just be honest with the immigration officer if they ask the reason for your visit (i.e. if you are visiting your girlfriend, say so... don't say she's 'just a friend'), and have proof of your return ticket.

Your list of documents to bring looks good to me... the only other thing you could add is evidence of your home in the US (i.e. your rental agreement, a mortgage statement etc.) to show you have somewhere to go back to.

You may not be asked to show any of it, but it's good to have it with you just in case.

Thanks Ksand,

I will also bring my apartment agreement, i just renewed it for another year so that builds an even stronger case.

Additionally, with my GF's letter she will attach the deeds to her house showing she owns it.

Definitely will not be saying any lies, when they ask:
1) Why am i here? - Vacation
2) Where am i staying? - My GF's (though we do have a hotel for a few nights but i think that would just be too picky)


I prefer to be very very prepared, we have a lot planned for the two weeks

I've heard horror stories of the IO's asking questions purposefully trying to trip the person up. I assume they will probably phone my GF and the questions will be merely Who am i too her?, am i staying with her?, when will i go back? What are we doing? do they ask anything else?.

Additionally, with my GF's letter she will attach the deeds to her house showing she owns it.

She doesn't need to include her deeds - I don't actually think I've heard of anyone doing that for a visit before.

Definitely will not be saying any lies, when they ask:
1) Why am i here? - Vacation
2) Where am i staying? - My GF's (though we do have a hotel for a few nights but i think that would just be too picky)

Yep, sounds good .

I've heard horror stories of the IO's asking questions purposefully trying to trip the person up. I assume they will probably phone my GF and the questions will be merely Who am i too her?, am i staying with her?, when will i go back? What are we doing? do they ask anything else?.

I doubt you'll get any of those questions, to be honest. And they would only ask those questions or call her if they suspected you were lying or you were an overstay risk and wanted to check your story... which usually only happens in the case that:
- you're trying to stay for several months
and/or
- you have no home or job to return to
and/or
- you don't have enough money for your trip

I imagine your immigration experience will be something like:

Immigration Officer (IO): how long are you staying in the UK for?
You: 2 weeks

IO: what's the purpose of your trip?
You: to spend Christmas with my girlfriend

IO: *Stamps your passport with a 6-month visitor visa*:
Welcome to England. Have a nice trip. Merry Christmas.

Thanks Ksand,

For the first time in weeks i finally don't feel as anxious.

Got to keep telling myself, all the horror stories are probably biased in some way.

The facts with me are it is a holiday, i have the money, i definitely will be leaving when i say and we have nothing to hide and will be honest and truthful through out.

Thanks,

Thanks Ksand,

For the first time in weeks i finally don't feel as anxious.

No problem . For the most part, short trips of a couple of weeks are no big deal - because it's normal for people to take a 2-week vacation. Even if you have a GF in the UK, as long as you are only staying for a short time, have a return ticket and can show you have a job and a home to return to, UK immigration are unlikely to see any reason to question you.

So, as long as you are honest and have your documents to hand in case they do ask to see them, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Got to keep telling myself, all the horror stories are probably biased in some way.

The thing is that you are going to see a lot more 'horror stories' online than you'll see 'happy stories' because the people who have no issues getting into the UK don't go online to post about it, because they are off enjoying their holiday.

It's the ones who are detained and questioned and/or refused entry who come online to post about it and tell their 'horror stories' because they need to know what to do next and are usually asking for help.

The number of people from the US who are actually refused entry to the UK is extremely tiny.

Looking at the immigration statistics, just 1,845 of 4.59 million US citizens were refused entry to the UK in the whole of 2016... that's a 99.96% approval rate and just a 0.04% refusal rate.

I completely agree that you have nothing to worry about.  I think it's highly unlikely you'll have any issues.

Just be sure you leave when you say you will.  They may check that the next time you enter. 

Yeah, the reason it's two weeks is i got to get back to work.

100% will be making sure i bring all the documentation i mentioned.

It's really strange, i think it's the uncertainty but it gives me the most anxiety.

Haha as sad as it is i looked at the ONS data for refusals. Can't remember my exact calculation, but i came up with a refusal rate of about 0.05% - 0.08%. I think our difference is because instead of all visitors from America i did, all visitors from america coming in on the waiver program, which i think is 2.6m?. I am very sad.

Then i was thinking how many of those being people wanting to stay for a long period, have no return ticket or have a criminal record. Which i believe would be the majority.

People keep saying to me i am being an idiot.

Yeah, the reason it's two weeks is i got to get back to work.

Exactly .

It's the people who want to come for several months that raise flags because the immigration officer will wonder how they managed to get so much time off work... especially in the US, where generally people don't get a whole lot of paid leave.

And often, those people won't have a job to go back to, so then there's the worry that they may not have a reason to leave the UK at all and may not be able to support themselves during their trip... so they might be tempted to overstay and/or work illegally.

Haha as sad as it is i looked at the ONS data for refusals. Can't remember my exact calculation, but i came up with a refusal rate of about 0.05% - 0.08%. I think our difference is because instead of all visitors from America i did, all visitors from america coming in on the waiver program, which i think is 2.6m?. I am very sad.

Yeah, I did both calculations actually, but it got confusing because the number of refusals seems to be for ALL visa types and not just visitors, so I wasn't sure if it was an accurate calculation... though there wasn't much in it - I got 0.04% for both.

Yeah it is even very common in the US not to have any paid leave (like me). So if i do not go to work, i do not get paid.

I think i went with the numbers coming in on the visitor waiver as i assumed (maybe wrongly) that those who have been issued a physical visa are far more unlikely to be refused.

Hopefully in a few weeks time, i will be able to post a quick update stating i am currently enjoying my vacation

I think i went with the numbers coming in on the visitor waiver as i assumed (maybe wrongly) that those who have been issued a physical visa are far more unlikely to be refused.

Yeah, that's like to be the case.

Just to note though:
There's no such thing as a visitor waiver for the UK - that's a US-only program. For the UK, you either apply for a visitor visa in advance (sticker in your passport) or you are issued with a visitor visa when you arrive at the airport (stamp in your passport). Either way, you still get a visa .

Hopefully in a few weeks time, i will be able to post a quick update stating i am currently enjoying my vacation

I'm sure you will .