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I am non EU national, living in a Schengen country for past 5 years. I hold Indian passport and EU permanent residence card valid for 5 years.

Can i go to UK for few days to visit friends without a visa?

I am aware that UK is not in Schengen, and Schengen visas and residence permits issued by Schengen country is not valid for United Kingdom? But what about the PR card issued by a Schengen country?

I am also aware that EU citizens carrying EU passport have no restrictions to visit UK.

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You can check if you need a visa using a tool provided by the UK government. If it doesn't ask a question, this is likely because it is not relevant to your requirement for a visa. In this case you almost certainly do require a visa.

Your permenant residency and (presumably) good reasons to return to the Schengen country in question should help improve the liklehood of being granted a visa however.

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  • i did check. No option for Third country nationals as EU residents. – pbu Nov 3 '15 at 14:15
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    This is probably as EU resident status does not effect visa requirements. – CMaster Nov 3 '15 at 14:17
  • Thank you CMaster :) UK is not in schengen, so yes does not effect visa requirements. – pbu Nov 3 '15 at 14:44
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    The visa tool does not incorporate several exceptions into its questioning. For example, someone who normally requires a transit visa learns that holding a visa for certain other countries will exempt them from the requirement only by reading the fine print on the final page, which appears below a statement that they need a visa. – phoog Nov 3 '15 at 16:39
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    @toing_toing for the purpose of EU free movement law, an immediate family member is a spouse, registered civil partner, child under 21, or dependent parent or grandparent. Also, to qualify for the visa exemption, you would need a residence card that notes that you are the family member of an EU citizen, which I suspect you do not have. So it seems that you need a visa. – phoog Jan 6 '19 at 13:00
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No -- having permanent residence (but not citizenship) in another EU country or a Schengen country does not in itself give the holder any right to enter the UK.

... except if you have a residence card that explicitly says it is issued to a "family member of a union/EEA citizen".

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