EXPERT ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE - QUESTION RE: SPOUSAL MIGRATION TO CANADA via UK

[OPTIMISTIC2009]

Hi there



My spouse is immigrating from India to Canada via UK due to a connecting flight. He has a 3 hour layover however I don't want to book this flight if he will be given a hard time by UK immigration. I am wondering if he may need additional doc's or a transit visa to make things go smoothly. Anyone have info regarding this ????

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ssarah183]

If his luggage is going from India to Canada without needing to be picked up and re checked in in the UK then he shouldn't have to clear customs again. He will have to go through a security check again I think. As long as he has an onward ticket I don't see why they should have any issues, especially if he is 'landing' in Canada and has his visa in his passport, then they can clearly see he has no intent to stay in the UK.

 

[ariell]

Re: EXPERT ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE - QUESTION RE: SPOUSAL MIGRATION TO CANADA via U

I agree. I don't think it's a big deal at all. They can see that he has a connecting flight to Canada. Most flights out of India have a stop-over in Europe. My husband's flight from Delhi had a stopover in Switzerland and he didn't have any problems. I don't see why your spouse would.

 

[rjessome]

Check this website for information about transit visa requirements.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/

 

[toby]

This transit without visa issue is extremely important, and I strongly recommend you research it carefully, and not rely on opinions, no matter how sensible they may seem. If they’re wrong, and the traveler lacks a necessary transit visa to get through a country that does not allow travel-without-visa, then the traveler pays the price (being stopped at the border and returned to the home country).

Some countries (Holland, France, Mexico, and no doubt others) allow a traveler to transit their airport provided that the traveler does not exit the security area.
For that to happen, the plane ticket must take the traveler right through to the destination country (no need to exit the security area to book in with a connecting airline), and the luggage must also be checked right through to the destination country.

There are traps. In Madrid, incoming international flights land at one terminal, and if you are continuing on with Air Madrid, you must exit the airport to take a shuttle bus to the next terminal = transit visa needed. Only if you arrived at Madrid on Air Madrid and left the same terminal on Air Madrid would you be able to transit without a visa.

This is why I advise you to confirm all details with the transit county’s embassy in your country.

Getting back to England, I have read in several places that England has stopped the transit-without-visa program. If you normally need a visa to visit the country, then you need a visa to transit it too.

Consult this website:
http://skyteam.com/about/travelhelp/travelinfo.html
Then verify with the embassy.

Good luck!!

It is easier to ship a box than a human being these days.

 

[PMM]

Re: EXPERT ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE - QUESTION RE: SPOUSAL MIGRATION TO CANADA via U

Hi

I agree. I don't think it's a big deal at all. They can see that he has a connecting flight to Canada. Most flights out of India have a stop-over in Europe. My husband's flight from Delhi had a stopover in Switzerland and he didn't have any problems. I don't see why your spouse would.

To confirm that you are correct, as the OP will have an Immigrant visa for Canada, he can transit the UK without a visa.

PMM

 

[vamsi001]

This issue of transit visa is really tricky and I would advise you OPTIMISTIC2009 not to rely on people's opinion here just like toby has advised you. I am not from india, rather am from nigeria. I will tell you my personal experience regarding holland and france.
I've always been flying from u.k to nigeria through klm and air france, to transit in holland for outband and paris for return. This has been on-going since 2004 and i never experienced any issue until august 2009!!!
I bought a flight ticket from uk to nigeria via BA (to pick up my wife in nigeria) then bought another one for me and my wife from ABUJA-nigeria to TORONTO and it was a KLM flight meaning it would transit in HOLLAND, then PARIS and straight to toronto.
I received a shock of my life in HOLLAND!!!
I and my wife had just 2days to land in canada otherwise our immigrant visas were gone.
We got to holland on sunday morning (2/8/09), Our LUGGAGE was checked in in abuja staright to TORONTO so we were not expecting any problems.
At the immigration in holland, the lady looked at our passports and said to us point-blank that 'where are your PARIS transit visas'?
She said she would not allow us to board our connecting flight from holland to france then toronto as we didn't have transit visas for france. She said we need to apply fro france transit visa from french embassy and because today is sunday we would need to wait for some few days! I made her to be aware our immigrant visas (canadian) only expire on tuesday, she said she is very sorry but nothing she can do. I was sweating as i never before. My wife was shaking!!!!
The immigration officer then advised to go to our airline counter (KLM) as they should not have booked our flight without seeing the transit visas on our passports! This was really strange to me as it never happened since 2004 that i have been passing through hooland and france.
To cut the story short, the klm people apologised to us, offload our luggage from paris flight, re-booked our flight from holland to toronto, put us on FIRST CLASS as economy was full. The last 2seats in first class for that matter. The woman at klm counter told us that we would have forfeitted our immigrant visas if there were not available seats on that flight.
Optimistic2009, no one in this forum can certainly tell you your wife won't have problems in the u.k, you need to speak to the u.k high commission yourself or get a transit visa for her. This is my honest advise for you. If we could have such problems in 'holland' then be prepared for the worst in the u.k. All the best.

 

[toby]

The curious thing is that according to the website I consult, there should have been no problems transiting through France without a visa. Look at the following URL:

http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&HEALTH=&page=both&NA=IN&AR=CA&TR=FR&TR=GB&DE=CA&VT=IN&EM=IN&PASSTYPES=PASS&user=SKYWEB&subuser=SKYWEB1

I wonder whether the immigratin officer was wrong, or the URL?

That's why it's good to confirm with the transit country's embassy in your departure country. Print out their email replies, and show them to immigration if necessary.

TOby

 

[vamsi001]

I agree with toby to first contact the transiting country by phone/e-mail and have print outs of their replies(e-mails),
i didn't do because i never had any problems transiting in holland and france until that day!
The airline told me, though, to have transit visas but my friends told me no i don't need it as they have also passed through holland and france without any issues so this is why i think the issue is just too tricky and complicated. Maybe i was unlucky with my wife, maybe the IO was having a bad day, she might be wrong as well but it caused us so much trauma, you don't want to experience such especially when you don't have so much time left on your visa.
due to that experience, i would always call the transiting country frist regardless of what friends say. Once beaten, twice shy.

 

[toby]

To second (or is that third?) what vamsii001 says, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! AIrline offcials don't always know immigration law, and what they say may in fact be wrong. Always check with the embassy, if the consequence of error is huge.

I monitor a Yahoo Group on Costa Rica. One interesting topic was how to prove to a Costa Rican Immigration official that you (as a tourist) would leave the country at the end of your stay if you were entering on a one-way airline ticket. There was a wide range of suggested solutions, the most interesting being a one-way open bus ticket out to a neighbouring country.

This ticket satisfied Immigration Law, but often airline offials would not know this, and insist on a two-way airline ticket. So, don't assume that people who should know really do know. Carry a copy of the rseponse email from the embassy.

 

[whoopi83]

You may be able to transit through the UK if you hold one of the following:

A valid visa for entry to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel through the UK as part of a journey from another country or territory to the country for which you have the entry visa.
A valid visa for entry to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel through the UK as part of a journey from the country for which you have the visa to another country or territory.
A valid airline ticket for travel through the UK as part of a journey from Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America to another country or territory, as long as you do not transit (pass through) the UK on a date more than six months after the date on which you last entered Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America with a valid visa for that country.
A valid USA I-551 permanent resident card issued on or after 21 April 1998.
A valid Canadian permanent resident card issued on or after 28 June 2002.
A valid common format category D visa for entry to an EEA state – see our 'EEA and Swiss nationals' leaflet for a list of EEA states.
A valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA state under Council Regulation (EC) number 1030/2002.
A diplomatic or service passport issued by the People’s Republic of China.
A diplomatic or official passport issued by India.
A diplomatic or official passport issued by Vietnam.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf20transit#Q1

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/visitingtheuk/datvleaflet.pdf