How much money do I need to show as proof of support when applying for a UK visitor in transit visa?

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Accepted answer

How much money do I need to show as proof of support when applying for a UK visitor in transit visa and will go to Barbados the next day?

There is no magic number.

Do not put money into your bank account simply to make the visa application look better; this will probably result in a refusal even if your bank balance would have been adequate without the money. That's because visa officers have to satisfy themselves that the money in your account is yours and that it was obtained legitimately. An unexplained deposit makes that impossible.

If you're paying for your own trip, the balance in your account probably should be at least a few times larger than your total costs for the trip. Otherwise, the visa officer will suspect that you are not telling the whole story.

And also which documents do i need to provide?

Have a look at the visitor in transit visa page:

Documents

You must provide a current passport or other valid travel identification.

You may need to provide additional documents depending on your circumstances - read the guidance for a full list.

The guidance, in turn, notes that a transit visa applicant should include

Evidence that your onward journey from the UK has been booked/confirmed, and that it is either within 24 hours of arrival in the UK for Direct Airside Transit or 48 hours of arrival in the UK for Visitor in Transit such as:

  • travel booking confirmation (can be email or copy of tickets)
  • travel agent confirmation

Evidence that you are assured entry into the onward country that you are travelling to, such as:

  • a residence permit
  • ‘green card’
  • valid visa

If you are not a national or resident of the country of destination, you may wish to provide evidence of reason for travel, such as:

  • holiday booking confirmation

In other words, the guidance is consistent with this general principle: Be forthcoming about your plans and circumstances, and include documents that demonstrate your stated intentions.

Also pay attention to the next section of the guidance, documents you should not send unless specifically requested:

This page provides guidance on the types of documents that are not required to consider your application.

  • if you are applying as a family/group you do not need to provide multiple copies of the same documents
  • bank statements or letters issued more than 1 year before the date of application
  • driving licence
  • photographs (other than passport photographs required in section 1)
  • notarial certificates
  • business cards
  • hotel bookings
  • flight bookings
  • photocopies of bank cards
  • credit card statements
  • certificates relating to leisure activities
  • evidence of car ownership
  • travel insurance
  • sponsor’s utility bills
  • sponsor’s council tax bills
  • educational certificates (unless specifically listed in section 3)

Note that the instruction to include travel bookings for a transit visa application can be taken as a "specific request" to include them. You might want to mention that in your cover letter, just in case, something like "as instructed by the guidance for transit visitors, I have included my flight booking to show that I will be leaving the UK within 48 hours of my arrival."

The main lesson to be learned from the section, though, is that it's not always better to include more evidence. Too much evidence will overwhelm the visa officer and make it difficult to find the evidence that really matters to establish your intentions.

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