anyone familiar with passports?

[the darkness inside me]

so im flying to see my gf Hannah in Wales at the end of July. and im in the United States.

so when i get my US passport does that mean i dont need to acquire a general visitor's visa to the UK?

or do i need both my passport and the visa?

[Liar.]

I dont think you need to get one if you are only visiting for a short period of time. Go to a travel agent and ask them though as you may need to get a tourist travel visa.

[The One Who]

If you are only visiting for a holiday then I'm sure there is a reciprocal arrangement between the UK and US which allows residents in to the country without visas. All the information will be on the embassy website though.

[Childerbeast]

Anything more than 6 months you need a visa, anything less and your fine :)

[Casper_Fading]

It's 3 months I think. But are you booking your tickets through a travle agency? They're supposed to sort all the visa stuff for you!

[Asura]

Yeah you don't need to get a Visa unless you are staying for more than 3 months. I believe you can check the English consulate's website for more details. A couple years ago I stayed as a student in France for two months and I didn't have to get a Visa. I did last fall, however, because I was there for 4 months.

As a side note, I haaaate the new US Passports. They have a chip in them so that a satellite can track your location. Bloody government... x_x

[the darkness inside me]

thank you all for your help!!! you have no idea how much help you all have been.

I am purchasing my ticket from Travelocity.com and am staying for two weeks. Ill check with a travel agency though, just to make sure I dont get in trouble with my gf's government. that would make it hard to visit now wouldnt it?

again thank you for all your help, it means a lot

[ksdfjhlksajf]

I think you need only your passport, unless you are planning on staying for a long time, getting a job, studying, etc... then you need a visa (when I went to Italy for 5 weeks, I needed a student visa since I was sharing an apartment and going to school there).

But if you are just visiting, I think you'll be fine. You can always call the UK consulate and ask (err I'm assuming, Italy had a consulate I went to to get my visa)

[Casper_Fading]

You actually do get a visa btw. It's a visitors visa, and is valid for 3 months. Part of your ticket or something (I don't know the exact details) but if you check with a travel agent, you'll be fine :)

[rockaroni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harvest

As a side note, I haaaate the new US Passports. They have a chip in them so that a satellite can track your location. Bloody government... x_x

Bullcrap. It's just a chip, not a massive conspiracy. It really can't do that. It stores your data- name, photo, date of birth, visa information etc. Basically only things that are written in the sodding thing. So where on earth did you hear that? I don't have a chip in my US passport, I renewed it a couple of months before all that came in. However, my UK one does, and literally all it has is DOB, name and photo. REALLY not a big deal. The only thing people are getting paranoid about is the fact that it's contactless reading, so theoretically, it could be read without you knowing. But really, who would do that.

To the OP- as everyone said, you should be fine. One thing I would check is if you have at least 90 days on your passport. Some places are funny with people travelling on the last 3-6 months of their passports, so it's possible you may need an emergency one.

[88shelz]

you need a short stay visa...