UK Transit VISA

[SreeExpat]

Hello All,

I am travelling to India on an Advance Parole. I understand that I need a transit VISA. I did fill out the online application form for an AirSide Transit visa at BritainUSA.com. Subsequently, I have mailed Passports, and original AP and EAD documents. I know it sounds scary but it is a requirement.

I was wondering if anyone on this board had experienced similar situation and wondering if you knew the turn-around time for such request. It has been 6 days since the British Consulate in NY received my documents.

Thank you.

[Marais]

Can somebody please let us know how long it will take the UK consulate send Transit Visa ? What are the documents to be send other than mentioned in above said post ..

Is it required even if AIR INDIA flight stops for 1 1/2 hrs or so...!!!
Please share experiences ...

[eltoro]

This is purely a guess, but you should not require a visa in that situation. If your plane stops at Gatwick there is no passport/immigration control in the transit area. I was connecting there many times and nobody except for airline officials (at Delta check-in counter) wanted to see my passport.

I am pretty sure a transit visa would be required if you had to change airports (ie. going from Heathrow to Gatwick).

Your mileage may vary, though, as I am not required to have a visa to the UK. However I saw plenty of Indians deplaning at Gatwick and nobody singled them out for control or anything.

[Marais]

Thank you very much Eltoro for your response...!! But I found the same from
BratainUsa.com..

If you are one of the passport holders listed below (India is there in the list)and will transit the UK airside (i.e. NY-LHR LHR-destination, and not NY-LHR-LGW- destination, staying in the UK less than 24 hours) you should apply online and send your application form with all your supporting documents.

What does this means ...i.e. "NY-LHR LHR-destination, and not NY-LHR-LGW- destination, staying in the UK less than 24 hours".

Thank you

[SreeExpat]

Hello All,

I apologize for not having updated the status of my Transit VISA. I have been bit busy with my project.

I posted my message few days ago, and I was a bit nervous at that time as I mailed by passports and original documents to an unknown world.

However, I am very pleased to say that I received my passports and original documents from the British Consulate in New York. It took exactly 5 days for them to process my Transit VISA application excluding mail time and weekends(Just like they promised on their web site). I have mailed the documents by FedEx to them on 04/30/04 and I received them back on 05/10/04.

Additionally, the consulate was generous and issued a 5 year multiple entry Airside transit VISA. I consider that as a bonus to my displeasuring days I have spent since I mailed the documents to them.

I think sometimes we worry more than needed, but when I looked at the way the British consulate had handled the documents, "I worried for nothing", I said to myself. They taped my EAD cards to the passport so that the EAD cards will not be displaced while in Transit. They placed a bookmark in the passport which would make us find the VISA stamp. I don't remember the U.S. STATE department doing all this when I sent my passport for re-validation . Nevertheless, I still dissent the very idea of the Airside Transit VISA, and the coercion of that on certain countries. But that is a different story and outside the context of this thread.


To the members of this board, who may be interested in knowing the details, following is the procedure to obtain an Airside transit VISA.

Before I jump into the procedure, Ladies and Gentlemen, the answer is YES, you do need a Airside transit VISA when you are traveling on an Advance Parole via U.K.( with a few exceptions which can be found on the British consulate's website: http://www.britainusa.com/visas/othe...5&Other_ID=313 )
This is true even for Air India passengers where they would use the same flight for an onward journey. I am myself taking an Air India flight.

The following procedure is for the persons that are on Advance Parole

1. Fill the online application form at https://www.britainusa.com/ukvisas/
2. While filling out the application, the questions around the flight details may be confusing to some applicants. All of the questions related to flight details are for outbound as the Transit visa is always a multiple entry. For example, If you are traveling from JFK-London Heathrow-Bombay by AI 112, then the following would be true.

1. Inbound to London Heathrow would be AI 112
2. Outbound from London would also be AI 112

Again, you only have to fill the flight details for one direction only as the Transit VISA is always multiple entry.

3. Pay the fee using your credit card. British consulate also charges $16 for the Fed-ex. British consulate does not accept pre-paid FedEx letters like the U.S.STATE Department does.

4. You may add multiple applicants. The web site will prompt you for this at the end of the primary applicant filling process.

5. MAKE SURE TO PRINT THE APPLICATIONS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. At the end of the process, they will display three buttons at the top that. It is very easy to overlook these buttons. You have to click on of these buttons to print the applications.

The aforementioned steps conclude the on-line filling.

After you have filled everything online and printed the apps, prepare the following for EACH APPLICANT:

1. Printed on-line application
2. One passport size photograph
3. Confirmed travel itinerary. I have sent the one my travel agent had given me on their company's letterhead.
4. Original passport
5. ORIGINAL Advance Parole and a photocopy of the same
6. ORIGINAL EAD card and a photocopy of the same.

( It is also a good idea to make a photo copies of all of the documents you are sending for your record. Just in case if the documents were lost in the mail )

Mail the above to the following address: ( I used FedEx overnight)

THE BRITISH CONSULATE GENERAL N.Y.
845 THIRD AVENUE
10TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022

kick-back and relax. You will get your documents with in 8 days

Hope this information helps.

( Note: Please use your personal judgement. The aforementioned text is for information purposes only. )

[Marais]

Thank you for your reply..!! and it is very descriptive and helpful for guys like me..
I have sent the following documents for my family
1) Aplications (4),
2) cashier check ( $51 x 4 + $16 = $220),
3) photographs,
4) passports,
5) EAD,
6) A.P,
7) Iitinerary - on company's letterhead today, I could not use credit card as it is giving me an error, instead I have used cashier check .. Is this ok?

I have to travel on 9th June , Hope I will get it..!!! It's frustrating..!!

Thank again....

[SreeExpat]

As long as you printed the applications which carries a number (automatically assigned by the web site), you should be OK. They may prefer cashier's check as with the Credit Card, one could always recall it

[Marais]

SreeExpat,
1)Can you please let me know..is there any contact number at British Consulate office, Newyork, where we can call them and inquire about the status of transit Visa ? ( I did call this number 1- 212-745 -0200, but nobody responds)

2) 'Or' do they let us know anything like we have received and it is under process, something like this by email ?

Thank you..

[SreeExpat]

The contact number is right, however, the never ceasing automated announcement is rather irritating. There is a way to break it though, but you have to be very patient. The automated announcement repeats itself after it plays each time. Just don't respond to any menu options. You have to let the announcement play for like 3 to 4 times. Once their answering system figures out that the caller is not responding, it will either transfer you to an operator or prompts you to press 0 to speak to an operator. Pressing 0 prior to this is futile.


Having said all of this, the operators discourage you from calling them. They are very succinct in their conversation and asks you to give the processing some time and will say that if there is a problem with your application, an Officer will contact you at the number you specified in the application.

Now, about the E-mail, their on-line application process is a bit buggy. You can actually see some sort of message on their web site, in which they apologize for the outage of their web site for an extended period of time some time in Feb-04 I guess.

There is a place where you can check the status of your app. For this, you must have been registered during the application filling process. Here is the link:
https://www.britainusa.com/ukvisas/r...pplication.asp

The funny thing is, for my application, after having received my passports with a VISA stamp, it still doesn't say the request has been approved. So, they are not really good at that. But, rest assured. You application is being worked on, and you will receive it in 8 to 9 days.

[SreeExpat]

You are welcome

[sg930]

SreeExpat

I found the following info in Britainusa.com for the requirement of a Transit visa:
************************************************** ****
You asked if a national of INDIA would require a visa to Transit the United Kingdom

YES - based upon the information provided, a visa WILL be required in this case unless you qualify under one the exemptions listed below.

Exemptions :

1. Holders of Valid U.S. or Canadian Visas who also hold a ticket to or from the US or Canada routed via the UK. This will include a period of 48 hours after the expiry of the US or Canadian visa for those leaving the US or Canada to allow for those who choose to leave at the very end of the validity of their visa.

2. Holders of USA I-551 permanent Resident Cards (Green Cards) issued on or after 21 April 1998

3. Holders of Canadian Permanent Resident Cards issued on or after 28 June 2002

4. Holders of Valid Category D visas issued by EU/EEA member states, which are valid for more than 3 months

5. Holders of Commonwealth format EU Residence permits issued under Council Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002

6. Holders of diplomatic or official passports issued by the Peoples Republic of China

7. Holders of diplomatic of official passports issued by the Government of India

The preceeding categories of traveler are not required to hold a Direct airside transit visa and may still benefit from the Transit Without Visa Concession.

************************************************** ****

Does it not mean that under the exmption #1, one does not need a transit visa if you hold a US or Canada visa while flying from USA. . .

Am I missing something here?

[sg930]

Also in another page it mentions the same in a more specific language -

************************************************
US or Canadian visa

As long as the US visa in your passport is not expired you are
exempt from the Direct Airside Transit visa requirement.
************************************************

Of course this is valid for people who still has a valid visa stamp in their passport.

Thanks

[MA_Labor]

Hi,
I thought I might get some relevant info regarding my situation here. I have an H1-B visa, which is valid until Nov 2005, but the H1 visa stamped on my passport has expired on Dec 2003.
I have to travel to India via UK at a short notice, and I have learnt that Indians now require an airside transit visa if they are traveling via UK. I checked the website of the British consulate in US, and it states that people who hold a valid US visa are exempt from the transit visa requirement.
Now, in my case I have a valid US visa, which I am going to get stamped on my passport during this trip to India. I am wondering if I can somehow manage to travel without the transit visa. As it is I don't have enough time to get the visa.
Any suggestions from folks who have been through similar situations would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[Marais]

MA_LABOR,

Looks like you need visa stamp and valid date should not expire in passport..!!
Click on below link.

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/othe...5&Other_ID=668

These days to get transit visa from UK consulate is minimum( they say "within") 10 days as per their website..!!

Good luck

[lc_woes]

Hi Marais,

Have u got your Passport (with UK transit visa) back from British consulate?

I sent 2 passports on May21 and havent received it yet. I called the consulate yesterday but they refused to check the status of the passport. The travel date is on June9th and it is worrying me now.

[rangasn]

Hello

My Mother has come here on a visitor visa and the I-94 expires on july 27th.I am planning to extend her stay but i am going to apply for the extension next week.

She is planning to go back to india by end of november and she needs a UK airport tranist visa. my question is for the supporting document if i get an itenary showing travel date as last week of november and I-94 shows due date july 27th will UK embassy issue the transit visa or not

please answer...

ranga

[lc_woes]

Hi Marais,

I think I delayed getting appointment..The earliest I am getting is on June 15th. When did u apply for appointment to get it for Monday?

I am praying that the passports arrive today!!!

BTW, if you are going on Monday, would it be possible for you to enquire my passports also (after you collect your passports and done with your formalities)? They do not allow walk-ins. If you can help me we can discuss offline!!!

Thanks

[lc_woes]

Hi Marais,

My email is kan_utils@yahoo.com. Can you please send me your email so we can communicate?

Thanks,
Kannan

[lc_woes]

Hi Marais,

I got my passport back too yesterday. Thanks for the tip.

[vjgp]

If we get Greencard stamping on our passport but we didn't receive card then also do we need transit visa?

[SreeExpat]

Hello All,

I have just concluded my trip to India and I am back to the U.S.A. I would like to share my experiences at the port of Entry.

I have landed at the JFK. I was waiting in the line that said Visitors. I walked up to the immigration officer when it was my turn. I have notified the officer that I am on an Advance Parole. The Officer then took my passport and the 2 Advance Parole documents, placed them in a file and asked me to follow him to a secondary inspection area. He handed over the file to a different officer in the secondary inspection area and returned back to his seat.

It took the officer about 5 mins to get to my file. It was a weekday and there wasn't much crowd. I was sitting in a hall like a setup but I could see the officer going thru my documents. He finally called me and asked me to collect the documents. I have noticed that he has done the following:

1. On the I-94 it says I have been paroled for a year
2. The two Advance Parole documents have been stamped in the designated area.

As a whole, it was a pleasant experience. The officer didn't even care to look at my I-485 receipt notice. All he wanted was my Advance Parole documents.

Hope this helps.

[longGC]

SreeExpat,

Thank you for posting detailed information and your experience on obtaining UK Transit Visa. However, it woud be very nice if you could describe your experience while transitting through UK airports.

The following experience may sound out of context of this thread but as it is related to UK, I am posting it anyway,

I once travelled through UK before 9/11 and here is the experience. I flew from Mumbai by British Airways. Landed at Heathrow. The connecting flight to US was through Gatwick. The officer gave me a visa which I could barely read. It said something like 14 days. Travelled from Heathrow to Gatwick though bus. I did not have any visa to UK when I boarded the plane. All I had was H1 of US stamped on passport.

I once had obtained visitor's visa of UK. I had mailed the documents and original passport to NY office mentioned in this thread. I received my visa within a week through courier. Please note that because of security reasons it is a common practice nowadays by embassies and consulates to do all transactions through courier. They take walk-ins only if it is necessary. For visitor's visa, I had to show bank statements, copy of credit card, employment letter mentioning salary.

While I was in UK the second time, I extended my H visa for an additional period of 3 years in the US embassy London.

-------------

I find the transit visa of UK a rip off. $51 per person (plus courier charges $16) even when you are not getting out of plane while travelling through Air India They already take hefty air port tax. London airport tax is one of the highest in all EU. In comparison, the transit visa for France is only $10/. Because of these reasons, I try to avoid travelling via UK. But for some folks here the other alternatives may not be attractive depending on the US city they live.

[SreeExpat]

on my way to India the following happened:

At the JFK, I approached the AirIndia counter at Teriminal 4 to obtain my boarding pass. The gentleman at the counter duly checked for my US VISA and had noticed that it had expired. He looked at me in an inquisitive manner. I had told him that I am on an Advance Parole and handed over the document to him. He wondered if I had the UK Airside Transit Visa. I told I did. He then nodded his head in satisfaction and handed over the boarding passes to me. I am pretty sure, had I not presented the UK Transit Visa he would not have allowed me to board the plane.

As the AirIndia flight landed at the London Heathrow, all of the transit passengers with onward journey to Mumbai had been asked to deplane. For your information, with AirIndia, you just have to deplane and board the plane at the same gate. AirIndia stops at Heathrow for re-fueling the Aircraft and to take in the passengers starting from London. As I deplaned, I streched my legs, refreshed a bit and I was in the line again to board the plane. At the counter, AirIndia had checked my boarding pass and let me in. Please note that my UK transit visa has not been checked.


On my way back to the USA, the following happened:

My flight started from Hyderabad and I had to change a plane at Mumbai that would take me back to the JFK. However, all of the immigration formalities had been done at Hyderabad. When I approached the AirIndia counter for my boarding pass, the lady over there noticed the expired visa and wondered about that. I showed her my Advance Parole document. She then asked if I had UK transit VISA. I said I did. She then checked my baggage, handed over the boarding pass and asked me to proceed to the immigration and customs. I relived the experience again at the immigration as the officer asked for my Advace Parole. However, he didn't care for the UK transit VISA. I cleared customs and I was on my way to board the plane to Mumbai.

At Mumbai, after landing, I proceeded to the board my next flight. An immigration officer there asked me for my Advance Parole when I was passing thru the security. He didn't check my UK transit visa.

The flight in Mumbai departed late and when I landed at the London Heathrow, all of the transit passengers had been asked to remain in the Aircraft as the plane landed in London tardily. I had to sit in the plane and watch the cleaning crew clean the Aircraft and change the pillow covers. I sat in the plane for about 3 hrs. My boarding pass was checked by some personnel and I had been asked to identify my hand baggage that was in the overheard bin. However, no body had asked for my Transit VISA. But I have a strong feeling that, had I been asked to deplane at London I am pretty sure I would have been asked to present my Transit VISA to re-board the plane.

I hope this helps.

[longGC]

Thanks SreeExpat for the detailed description.

Per your experience, the UK transit visa was not cheked in UK but in US and India!!! What a waste of money in the form of transit visa. As it is they take toomuch in air port taxes. This is just like extortion.

Three hours sitting inside plane is tiring. We try to use Air India as it is mother airline. Some revenue goes to India. But they do not lose anything if they allow us to deplane and use the air port facility for restrooms. Why should the airport tax be charged in that case? Airline also pays a lot to hosting air port authority for landing and departing fees.

I hope I do not have to pay for UK Transit Visa as I am a GC holder now. Do I? ( I am an Indian Citizen).

[SreeExpat]

longGC,

Actually, the burden is on the Airlines to make sure that they check all of the immigration related documents before they take in the passengers. You can actually see the text pertinent to this on an Advance Parole application, which says that the applicant is allowed to the USA and that the Airline is not liable etc ect.. This indicates that there exist an international law that requires Airline companies to check the immigration related documents to see if a passenger has appropriate permissions to land at a destination country.

To answer your question, I think you might not need an UK Airside Transit VISA. I am posting an excerpt from the site http://www.britainusa.com/visas/othe...5&Other_ID=313

Exemptions: You are exempt from this requirement if:
"You hold a USA Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21 April 1998. To calculate this subtract ten years from the expiration date on your Alien Registration Card (example)."

[Marais]

SreeExpat,

Thank you very much for sharing the experience..!!

I have following questions..., please clarify

1) Did you hand over any of the original AP to anybody or did you give them a photo copy?

2) Do we need to get I-94 on way back?

Thank you in advance...

[SreeExpat]

Nobody has asked neither for an original AP nor a photocopy. Never ever give out your original AP to anyone, except for the officer at the POE for inspection. However, I did carry some photocopies just in case.

Yes, AP travelers do require to fill in the I-94 form. You will get this form from the flight attendant on your way back to the U.S.

[Marais]

Thank you SreeExpat, you are very helpful..!!!

[budboy]

ShreeExpat,

Did you send your original I-94 card (attached to your PP) too, or did you keep the I-94 card with you when you mailed your PP to the Bristish Consulate for the UK transit Visa? Thanks in advance.

[SreeExpat]

I did send my I-94 which was stapled to my Passport. However, it was expired long time ago as it was issued based on my H1B. At the time I sent my application to the British Consulate, I was on EAD. Neverthless, you have to send the I-94 regardless of it's nature, as it displays that you had entered the United States by having completed the legal formalities at the POE. In the case of an expired I-94, you need to send a document such as EAD or a anyother document as a supplement which shows that you are in status.

In the cases where the applicant is on EAD, you must also send the Advance Parole document. Please read my previous posts in the same thread.