When I go to the US State Department website to check how long I can stay in the United Kingdom with just a passport (no visa), it says 90 days. Every other website I look at, i.e. travel blogs and general Q&A forums say that Americans can stay 180 days. Did the rules recently change from 180 to 90 days, or is there some nuance of difference that I'm not understanding? Also, I don't understand the CTA between Ireland and the UK. Can I stay 90 days in the UK plus 90 days in Ireland or does the 90 or 180 days apply to the two countries all together instead of separately?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
State's website is manned by boobs supervised by idiots. Trust it for nothing.
Go to the embassy site for the nation you wish to visit for any information of this type.
You can spend six months anywhere within the CTA on a single visit - - assuming the visit is just for normal, leisure, tourist travel.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5326 posts
The way the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland view the CTA differs, in particular the UK sees it as applying to anyone within the CTA whereas the RoI see it only applying to UK and Irish citizens.
If entering through the UK you are most likely to receive permission to stay in the CTA for six months, and that would include any 'side' trips into the RoI, for which you can stay for a maximum contiguous period of three months.
If entering through Ireland you would in general be given permission to stay in the CTA for three months. This would not be extended if you travelled to directly to the UK, as you don't go through immigration again.
If you read down in the State Department page it does mention six months - the three months in the header is a long standing error, probably from cut-and-pasting from a different country's page. It has come up before here I think.
Posted by
Texas, California
70 posts
The State Department is a bureaucracy, manned by individuals, many of whom are intelligent, hard-working and fabulous people. I am personally acquainted with three such individuals, one of whom is a childhood friend. But, as we all know, bureaucracy has its downsides. Maintaining a steady flow of accurate information is a challenge.
I've emailed all three the information posted in this forum in regards to the information discrepancy.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you, All, for your quick replies.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Running away to the UK is sounding more and more attractive!