The UK visa application asks for your travel history for the last 10 years. You must also submit your original passport that has the visas and stamps from your previous travels.
Travel history is one of the most important factors in UK visa decisions. Entry Clearance Officers (ECOs) look at your previous travels to the UK and other “VISA-STRICT” countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Schengen countries.
Travel history is not merely traveling to different countries. Travel history is about how well you have complied with the visa and immigration rules of these countries.
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Is travel history important for UK visa?
Yes. Travel history is an important factor in the UK visa decision. Travel history shows that the applicant is a genuine visitor and has complied with the immigration laws of the countries previously visited. Previous travel to the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Schengen countries is extremely important.
To consider you as a genuine visitor, ECOs have to make sure that you have complied with the immigration laws of the UK and all other countries that you have visited so far. They pay attention to the length of your stay and the frequency of your travels to the UK and other countries.
UK Visas and Immigration specifically asks for details of your travel history for the past 10 years. ECOs check for travel history in your passport and the countries you have listed in your UK visa application. They also pay attention to any previous visa refusals you have listed in your application.
If need be, UKVI can verify your previous visa refusals, visa overstays, deportations and entry refusals for all the countries you have been to. These days, many countries have data-sharing agreements and UKVI can look you up in those databases. Hiding any such information can lead to UK visa refusal and a permanent ban.
Keep in mind that travel history is only one factor among many used for UK visa decisions. If you do not have a travel history, you can still satisfy the ECO with strong personal, social and economic ties with your country.
Similarly, if you fail to prove strong social and economic ties with your country, having a great travel history will not be of much help either.
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Why is travel history important for UK visa?
The UK is a developed country. It’s politically stable and economically developed. The UK has one of the best education and healthcare systems in the world. It’s a lucrative place for many looking for a better life, especially those coming from developing countries.
Many legally immigrate to the UK every year. At the same time, illegal immigration and human trafficking are also on the rise. Many entering as tourists remain in the country illegally, work without proper authorization or seek asylum. They become a financial burden on the country. The government has to identify, shelter and deport those overstayers at the expense of their tax-paying citizens and residents.
ECOs are responsible for screening visa applicants and making sure that they are genuine visitors. They have to make sure that you have the intention and ability to leave the UK at the end of your visit. They have to make sure that you have no intention of overstaying, working illegally or seeking asylum.
In order to assess whether you are a genuine visitor, ECOs have to look at your previous travels to the UK and other countries. They focus on where you have traveled, how often you have traveled and how long you stayed in each place.
Your travel history indicates a pattern of travel and you are most likely to follow this pattern in the future. This pattern tells a lot about you, whether you are a genuine visitor or you have intentions of working, studying, finding a partner, overstaying, etc.
If you have been to the UK before, ECOs pay attention to your previous visits to the UK. They assess whether your previous visits to the UK were significantly longer than you mentioned in your visa applications. That’s an indicator that you may stay longer again or end up overstaying your visa.
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Can you get UK visa without travel history?
Yes. Travel history is only one of the many factors that ECOs consider in visa decisions. There are many other factors that are equally important. Most important is your personal, social and economic ties with your country. Your financial solvency matters too. The current security, political and economic situation in your country matters too.
If your country is in a conflict zone, politically unstable or has social unrest, you may be subject to scrutiny. If many applicants from your country haven’t complied with the UK immigration laws, you are subject to scrutiny too.
You have no control over such situations. But you can very well control your own personal, social and economic ties with your country. Proving strong ties with your country can compensate for the lack of travel history.
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What are some examples of travel history for UK visa?
For the purpose of understanding travel history, I have come up with two examples. These are, of course, fictional scenarios just to illustrate travel history. But these examples should give you a fairly clear idea of what is considered travel history.
Example 1
Meet David. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria. He holds a Nigerian passport. He is single and loves to travel.
He gets 30 days of vacation per year at his job. He takes one local trip and one international trip every year. He takes a yearly international trip for 15 days.
Each year, he travels to a new country. He has been taking these international trips every year for 10 years now. One year, he had to travel to the same country due to a friend’s wedding. In total, he has been to 9 countries so far.
He always spent pretty much the same number of days on each trip. Most of his trips were during the same time of the year. And, he never overstayed his visas.
ECOs may look at many things in their travel history. But we can clearly see that he loves to travel and he has been a genuine visitor so far.
Example 2
Meet Sara. She lives in Cairo, Egypt. She holds an Egyptian passport. She is married and does not like to travel that much.
She gets 20 days of vacation per year at her job. She mostly spends that time with family and kids. But occasionally she takes a family vacation to Europe.
She and her family went on vacations to Italy, Switzerland and France before. She also visited Dubai on a business trip.
Her cousin in London is getting married and she was invited. She decides to travel by herself since the kids are in school.
She always traveled with family. Spent more or less the same number of days on each trip. She has quite a few Schengen visas in her passport. She never overstayed any of her visas.
That’s a perfect pattern. Her travel history is quite limited, but she has been a genuine visitor.
We can talk about many scenarios like these. Travel history varies for each of you since everyone’s situation is different. What matters ultimately is how genuine you are as a visitor. Your travel history does not lie. So even if you pretend to be a genuine visitor, ECOs can pick up indications from your travel history.
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How to build travel history for UK visa?
You can build a significant travel history within 1-2 years. The best countries to build travel history with are the VISA-FREE, VOA and eVISA countries for your passport. This is the most realistic way of building travel history quickly. It gives you a foundation and boosts your confidence to travel more.
Keep your visits short and never overstay in these countries. Research visa rules and know the number of days you can stay in each of these countries. You can travel to multiple countries in one trip and build your travel history quickly.
After that, aim for VISA-EASY countries. Once you gain a few visa stickers in your passport, aim for a Schengen visa. After traveling to a few Schengen countries, aim for VISA-STRICT countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, etc.
Below is a detailed plan to build your travel history for UK visa. I’m using Nigeria and Egypt passports in these examples, but the same steps can be applied to any “weak” passport that lacks travel history.
EXAMPLE 1: Nigeria passport
| TRIP | COUNTRIES | RESULT |
| Trip 1 | Cameroon (VISA-FREE) Chad (VISA-FREE) Niger (VISA-FREE) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 2 | Ethiopia (VOA) Kenya (VOA) Uganda (VOA/eVISA) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 3 visa stickers Gain 3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 3 | Qatar (eVisa, Qatar Airways) Cambodia (VOA) Thailand (VISA from Thai consulate in Abuja) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 2 visa stickers Gain 3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 4 | UAE (VISA through VFS Global in Lagos) Iran (VOA) | Travel to 2 countries Gain 2 visa stickers Gain 2 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 5 | 3 countries in Schengen | Travel to 3 countries Gain 1 visa sticker Gain 1-3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 6 | 3 countries in Schengen | Travel to 3 countries Gain 1 visa sticker Gain 1-3 entry/exit stamps |
- Total countries traveled: 17 countries
- Total visas: 9 stickers
- Total time: 2 years
EXAMPLE 2: Egypt passport
| TRIP | COUNTRIES | RESULT |
| Trip 1 | Iran (VISA-FREE) Jordan (VISA-FREE) | Travel to 2 countries Gain 2 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 2 | Ethiopia (VOA) Kenya (VOA) Uganda (VOA/eVISA) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 3 visa stickers Gain 3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 3 | Thailand (VISA from Thai consulate in Cairo) Cambodia (VOA) Laos (VOA) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 3 visa stickers Gain 3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 4 | Singapore (VISA from VFS Global) Malaysia (VISA-FREE) Indonesia (VISA-FREE) | Travel to 3 countries Gain 2 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 5 | 3 countries in Schengen | Travel to 3 countries Gain 1 visa sticker Gain 1-3 entry/exit stamps |
| Trip 6 | 3 countries in Schengen | Travel to 3 countries Gain 1 visa sticker Gain 1-3 entry/exit stamps |
- Total countries traveled: 17 countries
- Total visas: 8 visa stickers
- Total time: 2 years
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Just to wrap up, I would like to reiterate that travel history is one of the important factors in UK visa decisions. Travel history shows that you are a genuine visitor and have complied with the immigration laws of the countries you have visited. Previous travel to the UK and other “VISA-STRICT” countries such as US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Schengen countries is essential.
Travel history is only one factor among many others used for UK visa decisions. You must still prove that you have strong personal, social and economic ties with your country.
If you have any questions about travel history, leave a comment below. I will answer them as soon as I can.
Andre says
Hi, in the past 10 years, I have traveled to Iraq (for work purposes) on average 6 times a year, so in total over 60 times. Do I have to list each and every travel I did to Iraq?
Thirumal Motati says
Hi Andre! No. Mention just the most recent one. So you will mention Iraq just once in your travel history.
Upasya Mukherjee says
Hello, I am a doctor from India applying for a VISA to the UK to take my PLAB 2 examination in December. I have traveled to 4 Schengen countries in 2016 on a single visa. Do I need to mention the visits to each country separately in my Visa application or count it as a single trip to the European Economic Area and mention the duration of stay in any one country?
Thirumal Motati says
Hi Upasya! For that question, you will mention “once”. But to the question after that, you will mention all the countries you have traveled to in EEA and the duration in each country.