Supplying contact lenses without a prescription, on the other hand, generally is illegal.  Certainly in the UK and the US.

Less clear is the legal status of companies willing to supply contacts without a prescription to people in a different country.  Which law applies, if any?

There are certainly businesses outside the UK prepared to supply contact lenses to UK residents without any evidence of a current prescription, or indeed an out of date one.  In the age of the internet this is likely to be true throughout the world.

Whatever you may think about the laws, it is worth thinking about why it is so difficult to get contacts without prescription.  Putting anything into your eye is potentially dangerous and carries with it the possibility of blindness.  Not everyone is suited to wearing lenses and even if you are able to wear contacts, not every brand will be suitable for your eyes.  It is essential to get a suitable lens and also to get one that fill fit the curvature of your eye.  Obviously it makes sense to get lenses with the correct strength to correct your vision.  Having a regular eye test, which will not usually be more than once a year and sometimes only every two years, will enable your optician to spot any problems or more serious conditions in your eyes.

If you put a bit of effort into it you can get contacts without a current prescription, but it makes more sense to put this effort into going for a test to get a new prescription.

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