Does Heathrow Terminal 5 allow transit visa exempt flyers to stay airside overnight?

3/17/2017 12:50:22 PM

As stated in Timatic, the database used by airlines:

Transit without a visa: Nationals of [insert country] holding confirmed onward tickets making an airside
transit at London Gatwick (LGW), London Heathrow (LHR) or
Manchester (MAN) on the same calendar day to a third country
(excluding Ireland (Rep.)).

Meaning, yes, the transit area does close overnight and you would need to enter the UK.

However, a passport and Canadian permanent resident card will be enough to enter the UK for an overnight connection (you can stay until 23:59 the next day), regardless of nationality.

So at the end of the day, barring other complications, the person concerned will be fine.

12/27/2021 12:54:16 PM

Do NOT under any circumstance book a flight which has transit at Heathrow Terminal 5 with the connecting flight leaving the following morning if you do not have a visa and you are a citizen of a nation whose nationals are mandated to have a visa/transit visa when entering/passing through U.K.

On March 15 2017 I was detained together with a female Canadian permanent resident among others at Heathrow Terminal 5. She was there before I arrived and explained to me her flight arrived the previous night with connection the following morning at 16:00 GMT, basically she had a 15 hour layover which lasted overnight. I overhead her conversation with the I/O so I know her story to me was true.

Around midnight, the Terminal was to be shut down and she was asked to exit the airside and cross immigration. Her request to remain there was not accepted. She was administratively designated (to her objection) as someone who made an application for leave to enter the UK, and was of course refused, and detained. Now her flight was at 16:00 the following afternoon so you would think she would be released at 8:00 in the morning when the Terminal reopened. NO! They were going to hold her till boarding time and then she would be escorted (like a criminal) to the plane by immigration agents with her documents handed to the pilot to be returned to her upon arrival at her destination.

It even got worse, snow storms on the East Coast of the USA/Canada forced cancellations of many cross Atlantic flights on that day so her departure date was no longer known. After being held for 24 hours at the temporary detention facility in Terminal 5 (which has a 24 hour maximum hold time), by the time I was leaving/released she was being processed to be moved over to a permanent detention facility until a flight was obtained for her. She was bawling her eyes out and it was a sad sad tragedy however I could only comfort her so much under the circumstances.

Bottom line do not take an overnight connecting flight through Terminal 5 if you do not have prior clearance to enter the U.K.

3/16/2017 10:10:34 AM

I don’t know what evidence you have found. Terminal 5 airside is not open overnight. It closes after the last flight of the day and reopens the next morning. You will not be able to get into the T5 airside area without a same day boarding pass.

If your connecting flight is the next day you may be entitled to pass through immigration and come back the next day, even if you would normally require a visa for this, this depends on exactly which passport you hold.

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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