Do I need a UK Transit Visa?

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Ancalagon

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Hi everyone,

I am travelling to Europe shortly via the UK and I am worried I might need to apply for a UK transit visa.

I have a South African passport, am travelling to a Schengen state, and do have a Schengen tourism visa for the state to which I am travelling.

I land at Heathrow Terminal 5 and leave from Heathrow Terminal 5 like 2 hours later. So, I won't be leaving the terminal building and hopefully not going through customs.

Despite this, the UK transit visa website says:
You should apply for a Direct Airside Transit visa if you arrive in the UK on a flight and leave again without passing through immigration control.

Exemptions
You don’t need a visa if you have one of the following:
Click to expand...

I think one of the exemptions applies to me but I'm not sure:
a Schengen Approved Destination Scheme (ADS) group tourism visa where the holder is travelling to the Schengen country that issued the visa
Click to expand...

That sounds like me but I'm not sure. I am going to the Schengen country that issued my VISA, but does the "group" word refer to a tour group or to the Schengen group of countries?

If I do need a transit VISA, I will never, ever transit via the UK ever again.

Any advice?
 
Just avoid the UK and their airlines then you don't need to deal with this BS

Emirates, Qatar, KLM, and Lufthansa are all very good!
 
Yeah dude, unfortunately.

Screw that noise. Fly with Lufthansa and transit in Munich. Awesome airport!

For my next trip to SA I'm considering them again or Qatar.

Technically I don't need a transit visa seeing as I have a schengen residence permit, but I'd rather not take the chance. Last thing you want is a mark on your passport saying you've been deported in the past, especially when you're applying for future visas.
 
Ancalagon said:
That is the part that confuses me. Is it the Schengen group of companies? If it is for a group, why not individuals?
Click to expand...
There is no "Schengen group of companies". It's tour groups & stuff like that.

Tour operators get special dispensations. That's the rules...don't ask me why.

A DATv cost R574 apparently. Surprised it's that expensive considering it's airside.

Then again I've had other countries attempt the same. e.g. Egypt. They march entire planes full of people through their transit visa process.
 
HavocXphere said:
Then again I've had other countries attempt the same. e.g. Egypt. They march entire planes full of people through their transit visa process.
Click to expand...

When I transited through Egypt I had 8 hour layover so the army collected everyone's
Passports and let us go to hotels or to tour Cairo free of charge. Boarding pass stub got your passport back.
 
Hosehead said:
When I transited through Egypt I had 8 hour layover so the army collected everyone's
Passports and let us go to hotels or to tour Cairo free of charge. Boarding pass stub got your passport back.
Click to expand...
Hate it when places want to keep passports.

Cairo airport is a circus anyway. Think I went through ~5 metal detector gates to get from one plane to the next. Ironically they weren't interested in collecting visa fees from Saffers...just Europeans.

Anyway...slightly off topic...soz OP
 
HavocXphere said:
There is no "Schengen group of companies". It's tour groups & stuff like that.

Tour operators get special dispensations. That's the rules...don't ask me why.

A DATv cost R574 apparently. Surprised it's that expensive considering it's airside.

Then again I've had other countries attempt the same. e.g. Egypt. They march entire planes full of people through their transit visa process.
Click to expand...

Cr@p.

Tomorrow I'm going to phone BA to see what cancelling my flight would cost. If it less than R2000, I'll cancel it and book via a European airline.

I don't even know if it is possible to get a UK transit visa in time.

Remind me to never fly BA again or even visit the UK.
 
Problem solved.

Cancelling the flight online cost me R1600 online. Original flight cost was R12800.

Booked a new flight for R11800 which is via Swiss Air/Lufthansa, which means that I don't need a transit visa because both countries (Switzerland and Germany) are Schengen states).

So, I paid something like R800 extra, but then, I don't know if it would have even been possible to get a transit visa in such a short time. At least now it is done and sorted and I can rest easy.
 
If you don't leave the airport you shouldn't need a visa is what I thought, it's bull to need one for a stop over. It is not like you're actually leaving the airport.
 
I travelled through Heathrow in Feb to the USA. Spent almost 4 hours layover going and 9 hours coming back.

I did not need a UK visa. I just stayed in the airport in one of the lounges.

Don't think you needed to cancel and book on another airline.

I guess it's too late now for OP but for anyone else considering the same route, don't worry about a transit visa.

The only time I believe you need a transit visa is if you are arriving at Heathrow and flying out from Gatwick.
 
Shellyb1 said:
I travelled through Heathrow in Feb to the USA. Spent almost 4 hours layover going and 9 hours coming back.

I did not need a UK visa. I just stayed in the airport in one of the lounges.

Don't think you needed to cancel and book on another airline.

I guess it's too late now for OP but for anyone else considering the same route, don't worry about a transit visa.

The only time I believe you need a transit visa is if you are arriving at Heathrow and flying out from Gatwick.
Click to expand...

You don't need a UK transit visa if you are going to or from the USA, or if you have a US green card. The rules on U.K. transit visas are pretty weird.
 
Lupus said:
If you don't leave the airport you shouldn't need a visa is what I thought, it's bull to need one for a stop over. It is not like you're actually leaving the airport.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't, it is just a money making scheme.
 
Ancalagon said:
Hi everyone,

I am travelling to Europe shortly via the UK and I am worried I might need to apply for a UK transit visa.

I have a South African passport, am travelling to a Schengen state, and do have a Schengen tourism visa for the state to which I am travelling.

I land at Heathrow Terminal 5 and leave from Heathrow Terminal 5 like 2 hours later. So, I won't be leaving the terminal building and hopefully not going through customs.

Despite this, the UK transit visa website says:


I think one of the exemptions applies to me but I'm not sure:


That sounds like me but I'm not sure. I am going to the Schengen country that issued my VISA, but does the "group" word refer to a tour group or to the Schengen group of countries?

If I do need a transit VISA, I will never, ever transit via the UK ever again.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Either way, you do that application at Heathrow so just find out when you're there. Either you are an exception or you will do the VISA at Heathrow, no problem.
 
Pitbull said:
Either way, you do that application at Heathrow so just find out when you're there. Either you are an exception or you will do the VISA at Heathrow, no problem.
Click to expand...

You can do that at Heathrow? You don't need to do it before you go?

In any case, still happy that I switched.
 
Jola said:
I believe that you need it before you fly.

I probably won't fly BA again or go to the UK again.
Click to expand...

The thing is, it isn't BAs fault. They don't make the rules, they just have to follow them.

The UK however is being a bunch of tools about this. Incidentally, their tourism industry complained about the new VISA requirements because they knew it would hurt tourism.
 
Ancalagon said:
The thing is, it isn't BAs fault. They don't make the rules, they just have to follow them.

The UK however is being a bunch of tools about this. Incidentally, their tourism industry complained about the new VISA requirements because they knew it would hurt tourism.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know, and I actually like flying BA, but it is just too much of a hassle.

As for the Visa costs, it is just not worth going to the UK any more. Not when there is the whole of Europe to go to.
 
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