Entry Clearance Guidance - General Instructions
Chapter 11 - Transit entry requirements
| 11.1 | Types of visa for transit purposes |
| 11.2 | Requirements for Visitors in Transit |
| 11.3 | 24 hour Transit Without Visa (TWOV) concession |
| 11.4 | Direct Airside Transit |
Annexes
| 11.1 | Information Handout on Direct Airside Transit visas |
| 11.2 | Notice of Refusal for Direct Airside Transit visas |
Chapter 11 - Transit entry requirements
11.1 - Types of visa for transit purposes
Visitor in Transit
This is an entry clearance governed by Paragraph 47 of the Rules.
Direct Airside Transit visa (also known as DATV)
This is not an entry clearance (as described in Paragraph 33 of the Act). It is a requirement under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1993 (and the subsequent Immigration Transit Visa Order 1993) for certain nationals to hold transit visas even when they transit airside i.e. change aircraft without passing through UK immigration controls at a UK airport.
A traveller who uses a Direct Airside Transit is not deemed to have entered the United Kingdom.
We must not collect biometrics from any Commonwealth and Overseas Territories applicant, as it would be illegal to do so, unless they also require a visa or transit in the UK.
11.2 - Requirements for Visitors in Transit
A person who wishes to enter the United Kingdom in transit to another country must satisfy the ECO that he/she:
- Satisfies the Rules as a visitor;
- Is in transit to a country outside the UK/Eire* Common Travel Area;
- Has both the means and intention of proceeding at once to another country;
- Is assured of entry there;
- Intends and is able to leave the UK within 48 hours.
ECOs may, however, issue a visit visa to a person applying for this purpose provided you see evidence of his/her acceptability for entry (e.g. a visa) to the Irish Republic and the person meets the requirements of the Rules for visitors.
Dealing with an application
When an applicant says that onward travel out of the UK cannot be booked in advance, a visitor in transit entry clearance should not be granted. However, the ECO may consider issuing a visit entry clearance if the requirements of the Rules are met.
A passenger who wishes to enter for a short period e.g. to visit relatives, before continuing the journey, should be treated as a visitor and issued a standard or multiple visit visa, as appropriate.
Transit visitors can only be given leave to enter for a maximum of 48 hours.
If applicants qualify for a visa waiver (see below) the ECO should tell them so.
The ECO should be satisfied that the traveller will be admitted into the country of onward destination.
The ECO should normally ask to see the following:
- (if necessary) a visa for the country of onward destination,
- documentary evidence from the authority competent to grant a visa that it will be granted unconditionally after the traveller’s arrival in the United Kingdom (this is particularly important for travellers to the Republic of Ireland);
- documentary evidence that the earliest onward passage from the UK has been booked, and that it is within 48 hours of arrival;
- (in the case of a person whose travel document does not guarantee return to the country of residence and who intends to pass through the UK on his return journey):
- a re-entry visa or permit entitling him to return to the country of residence, valid for a period amply covering the proposed journey; and
- as accurate an indication as possible of the itinerary, and date, and means of travel for the return as well as for the outward journey.
Considerations on multiple or single issues and validity
A Visitor in Transit Visa may be issued to enable a traveller to transit the UK any number of times within the visa’s validity, provided that the holder’s passport and visa for the country of destination remain valid for at least two months beyond the expiry of the multiple entry clearance. To help the applicant and as a precaution, the ECO should inform him/her of the conditions on which the multiple entry clearance is given and that it will not be valid for entry to the UK if these conditions are not met on each journey through the UK.
If there is a likelihood that the person may, on one of the journeys, wish to remain longer than 48 hours and he/she qualifies for a Multiple Visits Visa, the ECO should encourage the issue of such a visa
For a Standard Transit Visa you need not insist on the minimum period of two months validity for the passport and visa, but they should have sufficient validity to enable the traveller to complete the journey with a reasonable margin to allow for unforeseen delays in travel.
ENDORSEMENT: ‘B - VISITOR IN TRANSIT’. LTE 48 HOURS CODE 3.
11.3 - Twenty four hour Transit Without Visa (TWOV) concession
An Immigration Officer has discretion outside the Rules to allow visa nationals to transit the UK without requiring them to hold a visa for that purpose.
However this waiver is not a blanket concession; it can be granted only by an Immigration Officer. ECOs should take care not to inform applicants that they do not need a visa; they should merely explain that if the applicants fulfil the criteria below they can choose to travel without a visa. Applicants should not be given guarantees about gaining entry.
Posts should be vigilant for applicants who may choose to apply for a Commonwealth or OT visa, and then utilise the Transit Without Visa (TWOV) concession and transit the UK, solely in order to evade Biometrics capture and subsequently seek to remain in the UK. Please advise UK Border Agency, Visa Services Directorate Control Quality team, UK Border Agency, Visa Services Directorate, WH4.7, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH, of any rise in suspected cases.
The requirement to hold a visa is normally waived for passengers who are:
- Travelling through the UK by air, and whose sole intention is to pass in transit through the UK (such passengers may travel by road or rail between 2 airports in the UK), if
- they have a confirmed booking on a flight departing within 24 hours to their country of destination;
- they have the necessary documents (visa/passport) to gain entry at that destination;
- they have the necessary documentation including, if appropriate, transit visas for any other country en route;
- arriving in a cruise ship and who intend to leave in the same ship within 24 hours (see Visits chapter and Crew members for more details).
The waiver does not apply to:
- Nationals of countries required to hold Direct Airside Transit Visas (see below).
11.4 - Direct Airside Transit
Nationals of certain countries when in transit through the UK must either obtain a Visitor in Transit Visa or, if they are remaining airside during transit (i.e. do not pass through immigration control) must have a Direct Airside Transit Visa. Use the link below to see an up to date list: DATV Nationals
| DATVs should not be issued to any other nationality |
Considering Direct Airside Transit applications
The Form IM2G should always be used for DATV applications (not the VAF 1). A separate application form is required from each applicant who will need to supply one photograph.
Applications may be “pre-assessed” (details of pre-assessment sift are given in Chapter 8), i.e. before the fee is taken, and the ECO should advise an applicant when the application is unlikely to succeed.
ECOs should bear in mind that the vast majority of applicants will be genuine and will be inconvenienced by the requirement for a DATV. A different approach from that for deciding entry clearance applications is therefore necessary.
ECOs will need to consider only whether the proposed route meets the requirements for airside transit as follows:
- the applicant has a confirmed onward booking on a flight leaving the same day and from the same airport as arrival in the UK (including a confirmed booking for the proposed flight to the UK);
- the necessary documents are held (passport/visa) to gain entry to the country of onward destination;
- there is no change of airport;
- no need to pass through immigration control;
- Eire is not the next destination (DATVs should not be issued to visa nationals en route to Eire even if they hold visas to enter the Republic);
- it is the applicant’s intention to so proceed;
- the transit does not involve an overnight stay.
It will very often be possible to determine DATV applications on papers alone.
An unusual routing with no obvious need to transit London will warrant closer scrutiny e.g. an applicant travelling from a point of origin in South East Asia transiting London on the way to a proposed destination in the Middle East. You must be satisfied as to the plausibility of choosing such a route.
Similarly, an unusual final destination may suggest that the applicant should be interviewed e.g. many Caribbean and Latin American countries do not have visa requirements for Chinese, South Asian and African nationalities. ECOs will need to be satisfied that the applicant truly intends to proceed to the country of final destination and is admissible there.
Applications from Iranians, Iraqis and Libyans do not need to be referred but you should restrict DATVs to a maximum validity of one year.
ENDORSEMENT: ‘A - DIRECT AIRSIDE TRANSIT’
ECOs have discretion to determine the validity of the visa, depending on the applicant’s travel details, within the minimum period of one month and the maximum of 2 years. First time travellers should normally be issued DATVs of three months validity. Regular travellers (e.g. those on business) should be given the maximum validity.
| A DATV is valid for any number of journeys within its validity. |
The flat rate fee applies in all cases (fee 20(1)(a)).
A stock letter (example at Annex 11.1) should be reproduced locally for issue with every DATV. It should be translated into the local language where appropriate.
Refusal of Direct Airside Entry
As a DATV is not an entry clearance it does not attract a right of appeal against refusal. Although there is no statutory requirement to do so, a standard notice of refusal (Annex 11.2) should be given to all applicants who are refused.
Passports of refused applicants should be endorsed with the ‘ECAF’ stamp underlined with the letters ‘DAT’ endorsed above.
Statistics and Retaining Forms
Separate statistics of the number of direct airside transit visas issued, refused and withdrawn should be maintained, together with the time taken to process applications.
Application forms should be stored in date order, retained for two years and then destroyed.
The Immigration Service Intelligence Unit do not require details of refusals.
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