4 ms·

I hold an Indian passport and I recently got thrown out of a plane to Spain via Heathrow right before it took off. They said, I didn't have a transit visa. I w

by prpon 15y ago

I hold an Indian passport and I recently got thrown out of a plane to Spain via Heathrow right before it took off. They said, I didn't have a transit visa. I was changing planes in the same terminal and the total time I was to spend in Heathrow was 2 hours. I have a Schengen visa. No, that doesn't work for London. I begged and pleaded for hours at the gate. Nothing. The worst part is, I did the same route for years with no problem. Apparently rules changed recently. Trust me, It really is awful being that person who gets discriminated based on where you are born.

evangineer 15y ago
The UK isn't part of Schengen, that's a continental Europe thing rather than covering all EU members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area
- sapper2 15y ago
  Yeah... I learned that the hard way, too. I can't describe how stupid I felt at that moment...
- Lucadg 15y ago
  Bangkok, Buenos Aires or Sydney are not Schengen neither but they don't require a visa for airport transit. That's just politicians covering their assess in case some terrorist blows up a plane on transit flight.
bjelkeman-again 15y ago
Yeah the whole transit visa thing in the UK is pretty stupid. Especially when you go through terminal 5 at Heathrow. You can get out without passing an immigration officer. So why do you need a visa? Idiots.
- bjelkeman-again 15y ago
  That was supposed to be "can't get out [of the terminal] without passing an immigration officer". Sorry. :)
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
bluesmoon 15y ago
The rules haven't changed recently, it's just that they enforce it randomly. Most airlines will actually make sure you have all necessary documentation before you get onto the first leg of your itinerary. Also, if your trip starts or terminates in the US or Canada, you don't need a transit visa for the UK (even though you need to change terminals). Weird, but true. This is true for other countries as well. For example, when I had to travel to Australia last year from the US (I have an Indian passport too, but have an E-visa for Australia, which is not normal for Indian passports), the person at the United Airlines terminal had to call Australia to make sure I could get onto the plane. There was a girl in the queue in front of me travelling on a Chinese passport. She had to travel to New Zealand, and had an NZ visa, but she'd missed her direct flight and was switched to an alternate flight that stopped in Sydney for 4 hours. United managed to get her a special waiver from the Australian government to transit Australia under supervision. Trying to travel the world on business with an Indian passport has been very educational.
Lucadg 15y ago
I feel for you. I am Italian and my wife is Thai. Just to change planes in London on the way to Mexico, she should have applied for a Visa or... "go and hope the immigration officer in London let her trough". This is actually stated, with other words, in the law. Same for the US. We could not buy a KLM ticket to Mexico from Italy because the stopover was in Los Angeles. I still wonder why they made this rule... probably terrorism. Anyway, closed countries inevitably collapse, remember the Soviet Union?
visakhcr 15y ago
Is this a new rule? Couple of years back, I was flying to the USA from India via Heathrow and had around 6 hours transit in between. There was no immigration check..and it was from Terminal 5.
simprared 15y ago
Hi, I am an indian passport holder. I have a spain national visa (issued for students)valid for 5 months and I am going back home to india but my flight is through london heathrow so do I need the airport transit visa too? I have read that I dont require it (http://www.immihelp.com/visas/nonustransit.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/nonustransit.html) but your case is exactly mine so can you please help me out here
- prpon 15y ago
  Your best bet would be to go to the nearest airport and talk at the ticketing counter. They have a chart on who is allowed to board and who is not. In my case, my spain visa was category C which apparently requires transit visa. HTH.

by prpon 15y ago

evangineer 15y ago

The UK isn't part of Schengen, that's a continental Europe thing rather than covering all EU members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

sapper2 15y ago
Yeah... I learned that the hard way, too. I can't describe how stupid I felt at that moment...
Lucadg 15y ago
Bangkok, Buenos Aires or Sydney are not Schengen neither but they don't require a visa for airport transit. That's just politicians covering their assess in case some terrorist blows up a plane on transit flight.

bjelkeman-again 15y ago

Yeah the whole transit visa thing in the UK is pretty stupid. Especially when you go through terminal 5 at Heathrow. You can get out without passing an immigration officer. So why do you need a visa? Idiots.

bjelkeman-again 15y ago
That was supposed to be "can't get out [of the terminal] without passing an immigration officer". Sorry. :)

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

bluesmoon 15y ago

The rules haven't changed recently, it's just that they enforce it randomly. Most airlines will actually make sure you have all necessary documentation before you get onto the first leg of your itinerary. Also, if your trip starts or terminates in the US or Canada, you don't need a transit visa for the UK (even though you need to change terminals). Weird, but true. This is true for other countries as well. For example, when I had to travel to Australia last year from the US (I have an Indian passport too, but have an E-visa for Australia, which is not normal for Indian passports), the person at the United Airlines terminal had to call Australia to make sure I could get onto the plane. There was a girl in the queue in front of me travelling on a Chinese passport. She had to travel to New Zealand, and had an NZ visa, but she'd missed her direct flight and was switched to an alternate flight that stopped in Sydney for 4 hours. United managed to get her a special waiver from the Australian government to transit Australia under supervision. Trying to travel the world on business with an Indian passport has been very educational.

Lucadg 15y ago

I feel for you. I am Italian and my wife is Thai. Just to change planes in London on the way to Mexico, she should have applied for a Visa or... "go and hope the immigration officer in London let her trough". This is actually stated, with other words, in the law. Same for the US. We could not buy a KLM ticket to Mexico from Italy because the stopover was in Los Angeles. I still wonder why they made this rule... probably terrorism. Anyway, closed countries inevitably collapse, remember the Soviet Union?

visakhcr 15y ago

Is this a new rule? Couple of years back, I was flying to the USA from India via Heathrow and had around 6 hours transit in between. There was no immigration check..and it was from Terminal 5.

simprared 15y ago

Hi, I am an indian passport holder. I have a spain national visa (issued for students)valid for 5 months and I am going back home to india but my flight is through london heathrow so do I need the airport transit visa too? I have read that I dont require it (http://www.immihelp.com/visas/nonustransit.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/nonustransit.html) but your case is exactly mine so can you please help me out here

prpon 15y ago
Your best bet would be to go to the nearest airport and talk at the ticketing counter. They have a chart on who is allowed to board and who is not. In my case, my spain visa was category C which apparently requires transit visa. HTH.