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Denied Entry UK

This comprehensive guide describes what to do if you are refused admission (Denied Entry to UK) and held at UK immigration.

Simply call us at 02033844389 if you need help with your visa. You can also fill out the online form here.

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Summary

Here is a quick summary for Denied Entry UK

  • It’s most likely that customs will hold you at the airport because they think you might run away. Don’t do this. Instead, show proof of your return flight or next trip to the border officers.
  • The officers at immigration will need to take your biometric information and search your bags more carefully. You won’t have to worry about this if you have nothing to hide. Also, they will ask you things like how you plan to pay your bills and what your plans are for the country.
  • If you are taken to a detention place, you should definitely get assistance from a professional immigration lawyer. Someone might ask you to show proof of your plans, and a lawyer can help you gather and send that proof.
  • With our Detainee Bail package, we can help people who are being held in any transfer or detention centre in the UK, either in person or over the phone. Hiring a lawyer is your best bet for getting the result you want.

Reasons for Refused Entry to UK

One of the main reasons you will be detained at the airport is because the immigration worker thinks you might run away. This means they think you won’t follow the rules of your leave once you get there and won’t come back or move on when you’re supposed to.

When people from the US, Australia, and other countries visit the UK, they are called “non-visa nationals.” In other words, they don’t need to apply for a visa before coming to the country to visit. Visitors can stay for six months but cannot work outside of brief business meetings.

For many citizens, this makes visits to the UK much easier. However, the UK border could still be a problem if immigration officials don’t trust your plans while you’re there.

If you are detained at UK immigration, officials will look at a number of things before letting you into the country.

Let’s have a look at common reasons for refusing entry to the UK.

  • Previous UK visa refusal
  • False information
  • Criminal convictions 
  • Documentation issues
  • Insufficient evidence of purpose
  • Periods of overstaying
  • Coming to the UK illegally
  • Crime
  • UK entry ban
  • Immigration violations
  • Sham marriage or relationship
  • Failure to provide required information grounds

What will happen at the airport?

Information about biometrics

If you have been detained at UK customs, you will be asked to give them your biometric information. This includes information about your fingerprints and photos. People who want to get a UK visa usually have to give this information, but visitors who don’t have a visa won’t have to before they enter the country.

It’s important to know how to get into the UK because the information gathered here is shared with a huge database, and if you have a bad experience, it could affect your trips to other areas of the world.

Searching bags

People will look more closely at your bags. In case you are a sincere traveler with nothing to hide, this won’t matter and shouldn’t take long.

Questions from immigration officers

Immigration officials will ask you questions about things like

  • Your travel plans;
  • what you plan to do in the UK;
  • how you’re going to pay your bills;
  • how much money do you have in your bank accounts right now?

To please the officials, it’s important to give correct replies to these questions. You might not be allowed to enter the UK at the airport if your answers don’t satisfy the officials. If this happens, you will be sent back to where you left off or taken to an immigration detention camp.

Another option is to be given temporary entry, which usually lasts for one week at most. This will give you time to gather proof that you will follow the rules of your leave to enter and not abscond.

Removal & Detention Centers

If you are being held in immigration detention in the UK or given temporary entry, you should talk to a lawyer right away about what to do next. A lawyer will be able to tell you what proof the Home Office needs to believe that you should be allowed to enter. This will help you solve the problem and continue your trips.

UK Immigration Solicitors can help people with their legal issues at all UK prison and removal centres for immigrants. We’ll be there for you within 24 hours of your first contact, and we can visit you in person or give you advice over the phone.

Conditions in detention cells are good. You will be given water and food, and you will have access to a phone that you can use to call your lawyer or family.

If you are being detained because you overstayed your visa, you may be able to review the decision, but most likely you will have to go back to your home country and make a new application.

Your chances of getting in again in the future will be much higher if you follow through with the decision to be removed after you present your proof. People who don’t follow the rules and are sent back to their home country could be banned from coming back for up to 10 years.

Have You Been Refused Entry to the UK Appeal Even Though You Do Not Require a Visa?

The Official Rules Are:

If you are not a British citizen, you might need permission known as entry clearance to enter the UK. Certain nationalities don’t require a visa to enter the UK. If you are a citizen of the European Union, non-EU member states of the European Economic Area (EEA – Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland), Switzerland, or a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT); you can enter the UK with just a passport. Call now at 02033844389

Non-Visa Nationals

Citizens of 56 countries and territories outside of the EU and EEA don’t need to apply for a visa, but still need to obtain an entry certificate before leaving for the UK.

Since December 2013, citizens of OmanQatar and the United Arab Emirates have been able to obtain an Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) online. This allows them to visit or study for up to six months without a visa. For stays longer than six months, a visa is required.

Nationals of the following 10 countries don’t need a visa unless they are staying in the UK longer than six months:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Hong Kong (SAR)
  • Japan
  • Malaysia
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • USA
UK Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

The Reality

Non-visa nationals are generally allowed to travel to the U.K. without a visa if they are coming only for tourism and only for a short time. However, the decision on admission to the U.K. is made by British authorities (the UK Visas and Immigration – UKVI) in accordance with British law. Under British law, some common activities may not be considered “tourism.” Religious volunteers, charity workers, interns, prospective students and others pursuing special programs may need to get a visa before traveling to the U.K.

Although most non-visa nationals who travel to the UK for tourism are admitted without incident, British authorities have the right and responsibility for enforcing their laws and as a result not everyone who arrives at a U.K. port of entry is permitted to enter. When travellers are refused entry, the U.K. authorities usually order them returned to the airport from which they last departed, regardless of nationality or place of residence.

If you have been denied entry, then it is important that you are aware that neither your respective Government nor its representative Embassies in the UK can intervene on your behalf nor can they attempt to influence the U.K. Government’s decision. For details, call 02033844389

Denied Entry UK
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

What to Expect If You Are Denied Entry to the U.K

Being denied entry to the U.K. can be upsetting for travellers and their loved ones. It helps to know what to expect, and what you can do to make the experience less stressful.

If you are denied entry into the U.K., you will be held at the airport until you can be returned to the location from which you departed. You are not under arrest and no criminal charges will be filed, you are simply not eligible to enter the U.K. on this visit. Call 02033844389

Refused Entry to UK
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

What can I do about being denied entry?

We regularly receive calls from travellers who are in complete shock about being denied entry especially as they are frequent U.K visitors with a good history of compliance.

Travellers frequently ask us whether it is fair that they can be denied entry even though the rules say they didn’t require a visa in the first place.

Our view is that although it is not necessarily fair, the UKVI are well within their legal right to deny travellers entry if they feel they shouldn’t be permitted entry.

In practice, this is about far more than just having the inconvenience of cancelling a trip as the effects of entry refusal are far reaching.

As well as financial loss, stress for the traveller and their loved ones, exhaustion and inconvenience, there is also a bigger issue to contend with – your immigration record and the impact on future travel!

The denial is likely to affect all your future travel plans irrespective of where you are travelling to.

If travelling to the UK in the future, you will now almost certainly require a visa following your denial and there may also be a waiting period before you can re-enter the U.K again.

If you have previously been denied entry to the UK, contact our assessment team now on 02033844389 for a free no-obligation assessment of your circumstances and requirements.

If you are currently in the UK and are actively being denied entry, get in touch with us immediately to explore your options. We can offer immediate assistance 24 hours a day.

We may be able to negotiate UK entry for you temporarily thus allowing you precious time to carry out important tasks or meet loved ones prior to returning. Demonstrating compliance with this arrangement can also have a positive effect on your immigration history for future travel.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

What You Should Do If You Are Denied Entry to the U.K

Stay calm. Do not attempt to dispute the UKVI official’s decision. Once you have been found inadmissible, The UKVI will not negotiate with you.

You will generally be returned to your departure location on the next available flight offered by your carrier. However, in cases where you would have a long wait for your return flight, UKVI may put you in a temporary detention centre until your flight departs.

Listen, and ask why you were not admitted and always ask for documentation of the refusal. Call 02033844389 for support.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Most of the time, a child needs a visa in order to live in the UK. For instance, if their parent is a foreign national working or studying in the country, the child may need a Child Dependant Visa.

Refusal entry means that border officials at a port of entry refuse to let you in. As the frontline of border control in the UK, Border Force officers can reject entry at air, sea, and rail ports.

The Home Office doesn’t give visas to people who don’t have enough money, can’t show why they want to visit, don’t have relations to their home country, have a criminal record, have been turned down before, give fake information, or are sick.

The officials may only let you into the UK at the airport if your answers please them. This will either take you to an immigration holding camp or back to where you left off.



You can apply for a UK visa again after being turned down the first time. Before applying again, it’s usually best to find out why your first application was turned down and make it stronger. This could save you time and money and improve your chances of success.

 If your answers don’t satisfy the officials, you might not be allowed to enter the UK at the airport. In such a case, you will be returned to your point of departure or sent to an immigration detention facility.

It is required that the carrier transport you back to your point of origin. Before your flight, airlines take extensive measures to verify that you possess the proper documentation to access the country you are visiting.

Reply to the Rejection Notice for a UK Visitor Visa

The email telling you that your visa was denied explains why it was denied. And this is the exact tip you need to use again. You can send in a new application once you’ve fixed all the problems the Home Office called attention to.



The main reasons for not letting someone in are listed in Part 9 of the UK’s Immigration Rules. Along with the validity and eligibility requirements, these are the suitability requirements that must be met for all UK immigration paths.

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