United Kingdom
Verified- Region:
- Northern Europe
- Time zones:
- Europe/London
- Last verified:
Overview
The United Kingdom is not part of the Schengen area, and time spent there does not draw on the Schengen 90-day allowance. It runs its own Standard Visitor route, under which a visitor may usually stay for up to 6 months from the date of entry.
The 6-month figure is a calendar period, not 180 days, and DAYOZA treats it as one: a stay beginning on 1 January runs through 30 June, while the same allowance beginning on 1 July runs through 31 December, which is three days longer. The same 6-month allowance applies whether a traveller needs a visa, an electronic travel authorisation, or neither - though which of those is required depends on nationality, which DAYOZA does not determine.
Stay rules
Standard Visitor
- Permitted stay
- 6 months
- How it is calculated
- A Standard Visitor may usually stay for up to 6 months from the date of entry. The period runs from the entry day, so a stay beginning on 1 January runs to 30 June.
- Effective from
- Notes
- The 6-month Standard Visitor allowance applies whether the traveller needs a visa, an electronic travel authorisation, or neither. Whether a visa or ETA is required depends on nationality, which DAYOZA does not determine. A shorter period may be granted, and where a specific date has been given, that date governs.
Source: GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor(opens in a new tab)
Last verified:
Passport validity
A passport or travel document valid for the whole of the stay.
The passport or travel document must be valid for the whole of the stay. No additional months of validity beyond departure are required.
Check your stay
Enter when you arrived and the permission you are travelling on, and DAYOZA works out the last day you may still be present. Allowances written in months are treated as calendar periods, not as a fixed number of days.
Where you are travelling to.
What you are travelling on.
Optional. Add it to check your plan against the deadline.
A stamped date always wins
Where a border officer has stamped or written a specific date in your passport or on an entry record, that date is the one that counts, not this calculation.
Source: GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor(opens in a new tab)
Last verified:
Notes
The 6-month Standard Visitor allowance applies whether the traveller needs a visa, an electronic travel authorisation, or neither. Whether a visa or ETA is required depends on nationality, which DAYOZA does not determine. A shorter period may be granted, and where a specific date has been given, that date governs.
Common questions
Does time in the UK count towards my Schengen 90 days?
No. The United Kingdom is not a Schengen country, so days spent there do not draw on the Schengen 90-day allowance, and Schengen days do not draw on the UK allowance. The two are counted entirely separately.
Is 6 months the same as 180 days?
No, and the difference matters at the end of a long stay. Six calendar months runs between 181 and 184 days depending on which months the stay covers. DAYOZA calculates the anniversary date rather than adding a fixed number of days.
How long must my passport be valid?
GOV.UK states that your passport or travel document should be valid for the whole of your stay. Unlike the Schengen area, no additional months of validity beyond your departure date are required.
What if I was given less than 6 months?
The date you were actually given is the one that counts. Six months is the usual maximum for a Standard Visitor, not a guarantee. If a specific date appears on your entry record, use the Visa Overstay Calculator with that date rather than the calculated one.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor — Last verified:
- GOV.UK — Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor — Last verified:
Report incorrect information
Further reading
Longer explanations of the rules this page applies.
Calculators for United Kingdom
Each one uses the rules published on this page.
- Visa Stay CalculatorWork out the exact date your permission to stay runs out, from the allowance your visa or entry actually grants.
- Visa Overstay CalculatorCount exactly how many days a stay runs past its permitted departure date, and how many are left if it has not.
- Passport Expiry CalculatorCheck your passport against a destination's actual validity requirement — not a one-size-fits-all six-month rule.
- Travel Days CalculatorCount the days of a trip the way border authorities do, with both the arrival and departure days included.
Nearby countries
Other verified pages in Northern Europe.