UK Visa Day Calculator
Add your trips to the United Kingdom and see how your days add up against the common ~180-days-in-12-months guideline, with a rolling window, a stay planner, and your reset date.
Updated July 18, 2026
The UK has no fixed day count; ~180 days in any 12 months is a common rule of thumb. Discretionary.
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Example: stays inside your rolling 365-day window
How it works
How counting days in the UK works
No single fixed day limit
Unlike the Schengen 90/180 rule, the UK has no hard statutory day count for visitors. A widely used rule of thumb is that visitors should not spend more than about 180 days in any 12-month period, and frequent or back-to-back visits draw extra scrutiny.
A rolling 12-month window
This calculator treats the guideline as a rolling 365-day window. On any day it looks back over the previous 12 months and totals the days you were in the UK, so you can see whether you are approaching the ~180-day mark.
Arrival and departure days count
Both the day you arrive and the day you leave count as full days of presence. The calculator counts them the same way, so your totals reflect how the days actually add up.
It is discretionary
The UK visitor rules are about intent, not just a day count. The Standard Visitor route is for visits, not for living in the UK through repeated stays. Border officers make the final decision, so treat 180 days as guidance and keep a buffer.
The real rule: 6 months per visit, plus the genuine-visitor test
The Immigration Rules allow Standard Visitors to stay up to 6 months per visit, and that is the only hard number in them. The 180-days-per-year figure so often quoted is a guideline, not law: officers refuse people for patterns that look like living in the UK through frequent or successive visits, and staying under roughly half the year is the practical way to keep that question from arising.
Enforcement has sharpened since February 2026: most visa-free visitors now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (£20, valid two years) and carriers deny boarding without one, so your travel pattern is better documented than it ever was under stamps alone.
There is a separate 183-day cliff worth tracking: spend that much of a tax year in the UK and you are generally UK tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test, which is a different regime with its own counting rules.
Go deeper
Go deeper
FAQ
UK visitor days FAQ
Is there a 180-day limit for visiting the UK?
Not as a hard statutory number. UK guidance does not set a fixed maximum number of days per year for visitors, but about 180 days in any 12 months is a common rule of thumb, and spending more time than that as a visitor can raise questions about whether you are really just visiting.
How long can I stay in the UK as a visitor?
A Standard Visitor can usually stay for up to 6 months per visit. There is no fixed annual cap, but repeated or very long stays can lead a border officer to refuse entry if it looks like you are living in the UK rather than visiting.
Do my arrival and departure days count?
Yes. This calculator counts both the day you enter and the day you leave as full days of presence in the UK.
Does this calculator give an official UK limit?
No. It applies the common ~180-days-in-12-months guideline as a rolling window to help you plan. The actual decision is discretionary and made by UK Border Force, so always check official guidance for your situation.
What about studying or working in the UK?
Studying or working generally needs a different visa route, not the visitor route, and those have their own conditions. This calculator only models visitor-style day counting, not work or study permissions.
Tracking days in the Schengen Area instead?
This calculator is a planning aid, not legal advice. Border officers make the final decision on entry and length of stay. Always confirm the rules with official government sources before you travel.