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I am an Indian passport holder living and working in the US on a green card (permanent resident). I am considering traveling to UK to visit family and friends, so I believe I need to apply for a UK General Visitor Visa. I am planing to fly from the US to UK, and then onward to India on vacation. I will stay in the UK with my relatives and friends for about 3-4 days before flying to India. However, one particular eligibility condition on the uk.gov website which confused me is something relating to transiting to another country, or rather not being in transit. The clause says that I can apply for a General Visitor Visa if I am "not in transit to another country, except for Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands".

Here is the link to the site: https://www.gov.uk/general-visit-visa/eligibility

So does that mean that I cannot travel from US to UK to India? This doesnt make sense at all.

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Yes, you can travel from the US to India and stop for a visit in the UK. The question is which type of visa will you need...

What they are trying to say is that if you are visiting the UK enroute to a 3rd country and your length of time in the UK is 48 hours or less then you should be using a transit visa and not a general visitor visa.

Based upon what you wrote, you will be enroute to a 3rd country (India), but you will be staying 72 - 96 hours. That length of time exceeds what can be granted by a transit visa, so you will need a General Visitor visa.

Note that in about 4 weeks time the UK General Visitor visa will be abolished and replaced with the UK Visitor (standard) visa. This is in concert with a new set of visitor rules. If you are applying after 6 April, it's advisable to read the new rules. They will be posted on the same site given in your link in about 2 or 3 weeks time.

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