What is the purpose of UK airside transit visas?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 1 Aug, 2023
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Re: Further to George Y’s info above. Although there are no exit checks by Immigration Officers in UK airports, a passenger who is ‘airside'(ie ready to board an outbound flight) and wishes to leave the airport (abandon their flight) must be escorted by an airline (or ground) rep to Immigration arrivals where their travel docs and passport will be checked by Immigration.
Don’t know about the specific reasons the UK did this, but if you consider the similar situation in France, that was due to some people booking a ticket to another country they didn’t need a visa for (or could obtain easily) transiting via CDG, and then finding ways to get out of the transit area into France.
Apparently the transit areas are not as sterile as they should be (at least in that direction), and illegal immigrants managed to get into France in numbers high enough that they got noticed.
There have been two reactions to this:
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the introduction of passport checks at the gate immediately after exiting the aircraft. Passengers with high risk profiles (transit passengers from specific nationalities, mostly) would be escorted to secure facilities and they onto their next flight.
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the introduction of airport transit visas for certain nationalities, though it’s unclear to me what the criteria are for those and how it helps.
I suppose there may be similar reasons in the UK.
•Why would the UK require certain people to have a visa when transiting airside? These people are guaranteed to never set foot on UK soil, at least for immigration purposes, so why bother about them?
Because if they reach the border and claim asylum, they cannot be removed until their case has been reviewed. However, if they hold onward tickets and documents for their destination, which are the main requirements to get an airside transit visa (henceforth DATV), they are considered less likely to do this.
•How does the UK control whether an airside transit passenger is in possession of a visa?
They usually don’t; rather it’s check-in staff’s responsibility. If someone without a DATV turns up at the border without documentation for onward travel or for entering the UK, and claims asylum, the airline can expect hefty fines.
•Why does the UK insist on performing security checks on passengers who have already been cleared in Brussels and have stayed in a secure environment (the aircraft) since then?
One reason that I know of is that the UK has different rules for what can be taken onboard an aircraft (in terms of liquids, for example)
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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