United Kingdom

Indian ordinary-passport holders need a visa. India is on the Home Office Visitor visa national list. They cannot use an ETA instead. Usual staff path: Standard Visitor visa on https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor for tourism, family, some business, short study (courses up to 6 months), and other permitted activities.

Apply online, pay, then biometrics at a visa application centre (VFS in India). Each family member files and pays separately and attends their own appointment. They must show they will leave, can support themselves, can pay the return, and will not live in the UK through frequent visits. No paid work for a UK employer (except a permitted paid engagement). No public funds. No Marriage Visitor on this type.

gov.uk — apply for a Standard Visitor visa

• Passport valid for the whole stay
• Online form: travel dates, where they stay, trip cost, home address, parents’ names if known, income, any criminal/civil/immigration record
• At the centre: passport, fingerprints and photo, papers that show they qualify
• Translations into English or Welsh if needed
• TB certificate from an approved clinic if the visit is more than 6 months

Passport comes back the same day. Some other papers may be kept while UKVI decides.

Use this when they change flights in the UK and stay airside (no UK border). Ordinary Indian passports need a DATV unless they already hold a Standard Visitor or Marriage Visitor visa, an ETA, or another exemption on https://www.gov.uk/transit-visa (for example a valid visa or residence for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the USA, as that page lists).

The airline says whether the connection is airside. Travel to Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man is not this DATV — they need another visitor visa unless exempt.

gov.uk — Direct Airside Transit visa

• Apply on https://www.gov.uk/transit-visa/direct-airside-transit-visa
• Confirmed onward flight from the same UK airport
• Papers for the next country (visa if that country requires one)
• Biometrics at the visa centre in India

Use this when they must go through UK border control (for example to re-check bags or change airports) and will leave within 48 hours. Indian ordinary-passport holders need it unless they already have a Standard Visitor or Marriage Visitor visa, an ETA, or another exemption on https://www.gov.uk/transit-visa.

Frequent connections over more than six months: long-term Standard Visitor, not this type.

gov.uk — Visitor in Transit visa

• Apply on https://www.gov.uk/transit-visa/visitor-in-transit-visa
• Onward travel within 48 hours
• Biometrics at the visa centre in India