Document checklist
Cape Verde → United Kingdom: Short-stay tourist
What you need before you submit, checked against official requirements, not guesswork.
Checked by our automated verification on 20 Oct 2026: every source on this page resolves and the data is structurally complete. This does not confirm a person re-read the source text for accuracy.
Required documents
13 itemsIdentity
Completed online application
RequiredThe Standard Visitor visa application, completed online. You can apply up to 3 months before you travel.
If you're under 18 and travelling with an adult: name them in your application
If you need a Standard Visitor visa, you identify the adult travelling with you in your visa application. You can name up to 2 adults, and their names appear on your visa. If the adult isn't your parent, you give specific information about them. Each of you completes your own application.
Source: UK Home Office: Standard Visitor visa, if you're under 18
Valid passport or travel document
RequiredA passport or travel document that stays valid for your entire visit to the UK.
Financial
Proof you can support yourself
RequiredEvidence you can support yourself and any dependants for the whole trip, or that someone else will fund you. Bank statements are the usual way to show this.
Purpose of travel
Explanation of your visit
RequiredA clear statement of why you're visiting, your travel dates, and what you'll do in the UK.
Accommodation
If you're under 18 and travelling alone: proof of where you'll stay
Your parent or guardian provides proof that you have somewhere suitable to live: the name and date of birth of the person you'll stay with, the address, your relationship to that person, and their written consent for you to stay with them.
Source: UK Home Office: Standard Visitor visa, if you're under 18
Proof of accommodation
RequiredWhere you'll be staying for your visit, a hotel booking, or details of a host if you're staying with family or friends.
Employment
Proof of employment, business, or study
RequiredEvidence of your job, business, or studies at home, a payslip, employer letter, business registration, or enrolment letter.
Travel
Proof you can pay for your return or onward journey
RequiredEvidence you can pay for your journey home or onward, or that someone else will pay for it.
Other
Children: their own application and fee
Each family member, including children, needs their own application and pays the fee, and attends their own appointment at a visa application centre. You can apply on behalf of your child if they can't apply for themselves.
If you're under 16 and will stay over 28 days with someone who isn't a close relative
If you're under 16 (or under 18 with a disability) and someone who isn't a close relative will look after you for more than 28 days (private foster care), your parent, guardian or school must tell the local authority about your visit. Include the local authority's reply if you have one. The same applies to education exchange visits of more than 28 days, unless you travel in a school group or with an adult such as a teacher. The rules are different in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Source: UK Home Office: Standard Visitor visa, if you're under 18
If you're under 18 and travelling without a parent: your parent or guardian's consent
RequiredShow that your parent or guardian agrees to your travel and to where you'll stay. If you travel alone, you need their written consent to travel and their full contact details. If you don't need a visa, you show this at the border.
Source: UK Home Office: Standard Visitor visa, if you're under 18
Proof you'll leave the UK at the end of your visit
RequiredEvidence you intend to leave the UK when your visit ends and won't use repeated visits to effectively live there, property, family, or job ties at home.
Why applications on this route get refused
Incomplete documentation
Missing a required document is a common reason for refusal or delay.
How to avoid it: Work through this checklist and confirm every item is included before applying.
Weak or insufficient financial proof
Bank statements that don't clearly show enough funds to cover the trip raise doubts about your ability to support yourself.
How to avoid it: Provide recent, clear statements showing a stable balance that covers your planned stay.
Purpose of visit not clearly justified
Caseworkers can refuse an application if they can't tell why you're visiting or your documents tell inconsistent stories.
How to avoid it: Make sure your cover letter, bookings, and other documents all support the same, clear story.
Weak proof of ties to your home country
If a caseworker isn't convinced you'll leave the UK at the end of your visit, they can refuse on that basis alone.
How to avoid it: Include proof of stable employment, property, or family ties at home.
Visit pattern looks like an attempt to live in the UK
Frequent or successive visits can make it look like you're using visitor status to live in the UK rather than genuinely visit.
How to avoid it: Keep visits genuinely temporary, and be ready to explain your visit history if you've travelled to the UK often before.
Sources
- UK Home Office, Standard Visitor visa · checked 9 Sept 2026
- UK Home Office: Standard Visitor visa, if you're under 18 · checked 4 Oct 2026
- UK Home Office: Apply for a Standard Visitor visa · checked 4 Oct 2026
Check your documents against this list before you pay the United Kingdom application fee.
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