UK and USA long-distance relationships: time zones and visits

A UK and USA long-distance relationship works when you plan around a few fixed facts: a time difference of five hours on the East Coast to eight on the West Coast (more for Alaska and Hawaii), clocks that change on different Sundays in each country, and entry rules that apply every single time one of you lands. None of it is complicated. It just punishes winging it.

This guide starts from UK time. It covers the gap for each US time zone, the weeks in 2027 when the gap shifts, what ESTA and the UK’s ETA mean for visits, and how to stop long-haul trips being half jet lag. It isn’t legal advice. For anything about entry or immigration, gov.uk and official US government pages are the only word that counts, and rules change, so check them before every trip.

The UK and USA time difference, zone by zone

The UK runs on GMT in winter and BST, one hour ahead, in summer. The US spans several time zones, from Eastern through Central, Mountain and Pacific to Alaska and Hawaii-Aleutian (US Naval Observatory). Most of the US moves its clocks too, but Hawaii and the state of Arizona (apart from the Navajo Nation) don’t observe daylight saving time at all (NIST).

For most of the year, from Glasgow or anywhere else in the UK:

US time zone	Example city	Gap from the UK
Eastern	New York	5 hours behind
Central	Chicago	6 hours behind
Mountain	Denver	7 hours behind
Arizona (no clock change)	Phoenix	7 hours behind in UK winter, 8 in UK summer
Pacific	Los Angeles	8 hours behind
Alaska	Anchorage	9 hours behind
Hawaii (no clock change)	Honolulu	10 hours behind in UK winter, 11 in UK summer

The headline number is only half the story, though. The other half is the weeks it moves.

The weeks the clocks don’t match

This is the bit that catches people out. UK clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October (gov.uk). US daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November (NIST). So twice a year there’s a stretch where the usual gap is an hour smaller.

In 2027 that works out as:

• 14 March to 28 March 2027: US clocks have gone forward and UK clocks haven’t yet. New York is 4 hours behind the UK, Los Angeles 7.
• 31 October to 7 November 2027: UK clocks have gone back and US clocks haven’t yet. Same again, one hour less.
• Phoenix and Honolulu: they never change, so their gap to the UK only moves when the UK’s clocks do.
• Your standing call: if it’s pinned to one person’s local time, it jumps an hour for the other person during those weeks. Decide in advance whose clock wins.

Put both countries’ dates in a shared calendar now. It’s a two-minute job that saves a surprising amount of "where are you?" at the wrong hour.

Finding a call time that doesn’t wreck anyone

Here’s what three normal UK times look like on the other side, for most of the year:

If they’re on	Your 7am	Your 6pm	Your 10pm
Eastern	2am	1pm	5pm
Central	1am	noon	4pm
Pacific	11pm the night before	10am	2pm
Hawaii (UK winter)	9pm the night before	8am	noon

A few patterns fall out of that.

East Coast: your evening lands in their working afternoon. Weekday calls usually mean their lunch break or your late night, because their 6pm is your 11pm. Weekends are easy.

West Coast: the sweet spots are your early morning (their late evening) and your evening (their morning). Neither is glamorous. A quick call over your breakfast and their last cup of tea before bed is a lovely habit, once you’re used to it.

Hawaii and Alaska: the gap is big enough that the most reliable overlap is your evening and their morning, plus weekends.

For the wider method, like lining up two normal weekdays, taking turns with the awkward hour and doing most of your contact through voice notes and messages rather than live calls, the long-distance time difference guide goes through it step by step.

Visiting the USA from the UK: ESTA in plain English

Not legal advice, and check the official pages before each trip, not just the first one. Here’s what the official pages say today:

• British citizens can travel under the Visa Waiver Program, but you must have either an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) or a visa to enter the US (gov.uk).
• The Visa Waiver Program covers business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa (US Customs and Border Protection).
• You need an e-Passport, the kind with an electronic chip in it (CBP).
• Apply early. CBP recommends applying as soon as you start planning, or before you buy flights (CBP).
• Use the official application. The gov.uk travel advice page links straight to the official ESTA website and apps, so start there rather than from a search result.
• An approved ESTA isn’t a guarantee. Officers decide whether you’re admitted when you arrive (CBP).
• Your passport must be valid for the length of your stay (gov.uk).

The 90 days matter for couples. If you’re hoping for long stretches together in the US, or to work there, that’s visa territory, and a question for official US government pages or a qualified immigration adviser, not a blog post.

When your partner visits the UK: the ETA

The UK has its own version for visitors, so the paperwork runs both ways.

• US citizens usually need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) rather than a visa to visit the UK (gov.uk).
• An ETA lets you travel to the UK for up to 6 months (gov.uk).
• It doesn’t guarantee entry (gov.uk).
• Visitors can see family or friends, and can usually stay for up to 6 months (gov.uk).
• Visitors can’t do paid or unpaid work for a UK company, or marry or register a civil partnership (gov.uk).
• Visitors can’t live in the UK for long periods through frequent or successive visits (gov.uk). That’s the one to watch if you’re stacking long stays back to back.

There’s a fee for an ETA, and fees change, so check the current one on gov.uk when you apply. Again: not legal advice. If the plan is for one of you to move, that’s a different set of gov.uk pages entirely.

Flights, jet lag and making a visit worth the trip

There are no flight prices here, because they swing too much to be useful in a guide. What doesn’t change:

• Book early and compare routes. Check flying from your nearest airport against connecting through a bigger hub. The obvious route isn’t always the cheapest or the least faff.
• Know about preclearance in Ireland. Dublin and Shannon airports have US preclearance: you go through US border inspection in Ireland before boarding, and skip it when you land (CBP).
• Shift your sleep before you fly. The NHS suggests going to bed and getting up earlier or later than usual in the days before, closer to the time zone you’re heading for (NHS).
• On the flight, drink plenty of water, stretch and walk around the cabin, and go easy on caffeine and alcohol, which can make jet lag worse (NHS).
• On arrival, switch to local time straight away. Get outside in daylight, don’t sleep during the day, and set an alarm so you don’t oversleep (NHS).
• Plan for the first couple of days to be slow. Jet lag usually improves within a few days as your body adjusts (NHS), so a very short long-haul trip can end up mostly tired. Save the big plans for the middle of the visit.

When the visit comes, things to do when your long-distance partner visits has ideas that aren’t just "show them the sights".

Making a UK and USA long-distance relationship work between visits

Agree who travels, out loud. Money, annual leave and paperwork rarely split evenly across two countries, so one of you often ends up flying more. That’s fine if it’s said and balanced some other way: the other person covers more of the cost, handles the booking faff, or takes the rough end of the time difference on calls.

Always leave with the next visit pencilled in. A long gap with a date in it is far easier to live with than a short one with "soon".

Mind the calendar clash. Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July mean nothing to a UK diary, and Boxing Day means very little to a US one. Swap your public holidays early, because a long weekend on one side is often the only realistic window for a longer call. December is the big one, and spending Christmas apart has its own post.

Let most contact happen while the other one sleeps. A voice note on your walk home, a photo of the rain, two lines about your day. They wake up to it. Live calls can then be for the things that need a voice.

There’s more on keeping distance liveable on the long-distance page.

This week, do two things: put the 2027 clock-change dates for both countries in a shared calendar, and check that both passports have a chip and enough time left on them. Ten minutes, and two avoidable headaches are gone.

Questions people ask

What is the time difference between the UK and the USA?

It depends on the US time zone. For most of the year the UK is 5 hours ahead of New York, 6 ahead of Chicago, 7 ahead of Denver, 8 ahead of Los Angeles, 9 ahead of Anchorage and 10 or 11 ahead of Honolulu. Because the two countries change their clocks on different Sundays, the gap to most of the US is an hour smaller for about two weeks in March and about a week around the start of November.

Do you need a visa to visit your boyfriend in the USA from the UK?

For a short visit, British citizens can usually travel under the Visa Waiver Program, but you still need permission before you fly: an approved ESTA or a visa. The program covers business or tourism stays of up to 90 days, and you need an e-Passport. Check gov.uk and US Customs and Border Protection before every trip. This isn’t legal advice.

How long can an American partner stay in the UK?

US citizens usually need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK, which lets them travel to the UK for up to 6 months, and visitors can usually stay up to 6 months. Visitors can’t work, can’t marry or register a civil partnership, and can’t live in the UK through frequent or successive visits. Check gov.uk for current rules; this isn’t legal advice.

How do you make a UK and USA long-distance relationship work?

Learn your exact time gap and the weeks each year it shifts, protect one or two regular call slots in your overlap, and do most everyday contact through messages and voice notes. Book visits early, sort out ESTA or an ETA well before flying, allow a couple of days for jet lag, and agree openly who travels and who pays for what.