Transitting in London Heathrow

hostmax · Post by **hostmax** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:41 pm

Hi,

I am a Vietnamese studying in Finland and I am on my way back to my country next month. Somehow I bought a ticket from BA (which is why I am feeling very sorry now

)
I have read on their website regarding transit visa: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... transit#Q4

I found that I may be exempted from the visa requirement if I hold:

Code: Select all

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.

That looks like that I can transit without visa since I have a 1-year residence permit for student. However the problem is that I will need to change terminal at Heathrow (from 3 to 5). Somebody told me that I will need to pass through the immigration control to change terminal, some others say don't. Has anyone got any experience with this case? Any help would be appreciated

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Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:33 am

http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/p ... 00357e120a____/

(from terminal 3 to 5)

But you can only use the airside link if your baggage is checked through to your final destination.
If you have to reclaim your bags then you have no choice than to go through customs and check in again for the leg from LHR to Vietnam.

hostmax · Post by **hostmax** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:45 pm

ace.will wrote:Call British High Commission in Helsinki and get it fixed otherwise change your career in good time without losing much.

Well... I called them... they directed me to a company named WorldBridge ... and later on, they said that I maybe able to transit without visa if I get a common format residence permit from Finland... and they said that I need to make sure that it is a common format RP ... That's when I was stuck ! I thought that all students applying for RP will get the same kind of visa...

And despite that, a friend of my mine could not get on the plane without a visa, some others can ... They said that sometimes the people from BA even got confused .,,..

hostmax · Post by **hostmax** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:50 pm

Thanks for your reply,
Anyway, as I stated in my first post

Somehow I bought a ticket from BA (which is why I am feeling very sorry now )

My ticket is non-refundable and non-changeable

!

As for the VISA, the UK Border Agency stated that I need to have a EEA state's residence permit, not necessarily a Schengen one... Since Finland is a member of EEA... so that looks like residence permit from Finland is fine for them... However, I am just worried about what they call "common format residence permit"

Since I thought there is only 1 kind of residence permit for student here in Finland... and I am not sure what they mean by "common format". I have googled everywhere and checked the website of Europa but they don't have any specimen of that at all

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:59 pm

But if you are getting a BA flight from HEL to LHR then I don't see why you can't check your bags through to Vietnam and use the airside terminal shuttle bus to get from terminal 3 to terminal 5....

Then the visa problem doesn't matter any more.

distantspaces · Post by **distantspaces** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:22 pm

Hostmax, you shouldn't have a problem. If you have a Finnish student residence permit (that pink sticker), you have the right thing - this is the common format EEA Residence permit.

See this older post where this was discussed: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30266

All you need to make sure is that your bags are checked in all the way to Vietnam. Do that at Helsinki airport. This is where the check-in agent will also make sure that you have the right visa and documents to travel to Vietnam.

At Heathrow, follow the signs for 'Flight Connections' until you get to Terminal 5. You WON'T have to pass through immigration if you do that. This would be an air-side transit.

You can also try calling BA or Finnair in Helsinki to get more clarifications.

hostmax · Post by **hostmax** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:53 pm

Thanks for all your replies

I also read that post in Finlandforum regarding this matter... however I just wanna make sure that I can have enough base to talk to the check-in personnel...( well, I have heard a lot of rumors regarding the way BA got confused over this direct-airside transitting .. )

Now I can sleep well and wait till the flight date!

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