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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly find the right UK visa route.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

5 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsNo price for a regulated immigration adviser is supplied here.

If this goes wrong: you choose an unsuitable route, pay fees and lose time before discovering that a different application or specialist advice was needed.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open the GOV.UK visas and immigration pages and note the official pages that describe your intended purpose, such as work, study, family, visit or settlement.
    2. Gather your passport nationality, current country and immigration status, intended travel date, purpose and length of stay, and any previous UK applications, refusals or overstaying.
    3. Add the facts relevant to your situation, such as your job offer and sponsor, course offer, partner or family relationship, finances, accommodation and evidence of English language ability.
    4. Paste the prompt and your facts into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, then answer its follow-up questions without guessing facts or hiding adverse history.
    5. Open every GOV.UK link in the response and compare the stated eligibility requirements and evidence list with your circumstances and documents.
    6. Mark each point the chatbot cannot verify, especially exceptions, previous refusals, criminal matters, family complications and sponsor requirements, and take those points to a regulated UK immigration adviser or immigration solicitor before applying.
    7. Use the verified route and document list to start the relevant official GOV.UK application, rather than copying the chatbot's wording as legal advice.

    Prompt

    Help me identify possible UK immigration routes, not make the final legal decision. Use current GOV.UK information only, and provide the exact GOV.UK page link for every material requirement. Ask me for missing facts before reaching a conclusion, including nationality, where I am now, current immigration status, intended purpose and duration of stay, family relationships, job and sponsor details, study details, financial circumstances, previous UK applications or refusals, criminal convictions, and travel history where relevant. Separate routes that may fit from routes that do not appear to fit. For each possible route, list the eligibility requirements, required evidence, restrictions, fees or other costs only when stated on the GOV.UK page, and the points that depend on facts you cannot verify. Do not invent rules, assume eligibility, or treat this as a visa application. Flag any issue involving overstaying, refusal, deportation, criminal convictions, deception, complex family circumstances, asylum, or a sponsor as needing advice from a regulated UK immigration adviser or immigration solicitor. End with a short list of questions and documents I should take to that professional. State clearly that this is not professional advice.

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot reliably detect an omitted fact that changes the route, such as a previous refusal, immigration breach, criminal conviction or complicated family history.
  • It cannot turn a plausible route into a binding eligibility decision or guarantee that UK Visas and Immigration will accept your evidence.
  • It can miss exceptions, transitional rules and distinctions between routes when official guidance is detailed or changing.
  • It cannot carry responsibility for a refused application, missed deadline, inaccurate declaration or loss of fees.
  • It cannot replace a regulated immigration adviser or immigration solicitor in a serious or ambiguous case.

What caps this at PARTLY: regulated advice, verification cost and judgement under ambiguity.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta2
Total7 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT tell me which UK visa I need?
It can produce a useful shortlist from your purpose, circumstances and the current GOV.UK requirements. It cannot make a binding eligibility decision, so check the linked official guidance and use a regulated immigration adviser or immigration solicitor for a serious or unclear case.
Is it safe to use AI to choose a UK visa route?
It is suitable for initial research and for building questions and a document checklist. It is not professional advice, and a wrong route can lead to a refused or delayed application, so you remain responsible for checking the official GOV.UK requirements.
What information does AI need to find my UK visa route?
Give it your nationality, current location and immigration status, purpose and length of stay, work or study details, family relationships, finances, previous applications or refusals, and any criminal or immigration history that may matter. Do not omit adverse facts, because they can change the route or require specialist advice.
Should I speak to an immigration solicitor before applying for a UK visa?
You should obtain advice from a regulated immigration adviser or immigration solicitor where your case involves a refusal, overstaying, criminal conviction, deception allegation, deportation, asylum, complex family circumstances or an uncertain route. For a straightforward case, you can use GOV.UK to check the requirements yourself, with AI helping you organise the research.

Nearby answers

All Visas & immigration rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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