News article
Are you intending to transit via the UK?
From:British Embassy Phnom Penh, British Embassy Manila, British Embassy Bangkok, British Embassy Pyongyang, British Embassy Vientiane, British Embassy Jakarta and British High Commission Suva + othersFirst published: 3 November 2014Part of:Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, North Korea, Philippines and Thailand
We have made some recent changes to our transit visa requirements.
From 1 December, the law is changing so you will now need a valid exemption document, listed below, or a transit visa if you need to transit landside in the UK. For example if you arrive at one airport and leave from another or you need to pass through border control to collect your luggage for your connecting flight you will no longer be able to that do with just a valid onward ticket.
There is no change for AIRSIDE transit (where you do not enter the UK through border control). You will still not need a visa to transit the UK.
To transit landside from 1 December you will need to either:
Apply for a visitor in transit visa www.gov.uk/transit-visa
Or
Fulfill all the following criteria:
NB: e-visas or e-residence permits or paper confirmation slips are not acceptable for landside transit without a visa.
You do not need a transit visa if you have a valid UK visa or are a member of the GREAT club.
Are you intending to transit via the UK?
From:British Embassy Phnom Penh, British Embassy Manila, British Embassy Bangkok, British Embassy Pyongyang, British Embassy Vientiane, British Embassy Jakarta and British High Commission Suva + othersFirst published: 3 November 2014Part of:Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, North Korea, Philippines and Thailand
We have made some recent changes to our transit visa requirements.
From 1 December, the law is changing so you will now need a valid exemption document, listed below, or a transit visa if you need to transit landside in the UK. For example if you arrive at one airport and leave from another or you need to pass through border control to collect your luggage for your connecting flight you will no longer be able to that do with just a valid onward ticket.
There is no change for AIRSIDE transit (where you do not enter the UK through border control). You will still not need a visa to transit the UK.
To transit landside from 1 December you will need to either:
Apply for a visitor in transit visa www.gov.uk/transit-visa
Or
Fulfill all the following criteria:
- you arrive and depart by air
- have a confirmed onward flight which leaves by 23.59hrs the following day
- have the right documents for your destination (e.g. a visa for that country)
- you are travelling to (or on part of a reasonable journey to) Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA and have a valid visa for that country
- you are travelling from (or on part of a reasonable journey from) Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA and it is less than 6 months since you last entered that country with a valid entry visa
- you hold a valid residence permit issued by either
- Australia
- Canada, issued after 28 June 2002
- New Zealand
- USA, issued after 21 April 1998 including: a valid USA I-551 Temporary Immigrant visa (a wet-ink stamp version will NOT be accepted by UK border control); a permanent residence card; an expired I-551 Permanent Residence card provided it is accompanied by a valid I-797 letter authorising extension; a standalone US Immigration Form 155A/155B
- An EEA state or Switzerland
- you have a valid uniform format category D visa for entry to a state in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland; or
- you have a valid Irish biometric visa and an onward flight ticket to the Republic of Ireland
NB: e-visas or e-residence permits or paper confirmation slips are not acceptable for landside transit without a visa.
You do not need a transit visa if you have a valid UK visa or are a member of the GREAT club.