sadiqhassan

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine will be travelling Toronto - Manchester (Air Transat) connecting to Manchester - Dubai (Emirates.)

I had a few questions about this.

i) will she have to fill in a landing card? she doesn't speak english, so this would be challenging
ii) will she need a British visa?
iii) does she have to go landside to make her connection (T1-T2,) or with the connection be airside?

Thanks,

mrploddy

Hi sadiq

Ok,

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/UK...ocation=Canada

(www.ukvisas.gov.uk)

This page states that assuming she is a Canadian National they do not need a visa to transit in the UK. She just needs to not be a criminal etc and have proof of onward travel eg eticket itinerary yada yada.

As for airside transfer. Unless anyone corrects me I'm pretty sure that it's not possible to do airside transfer between T1 and T2. They'll need to collect bags etc. This is because T1 and T2 are not connected they are in fact quite some distance away. There is a T1 transit facility but I'm pretty sure it's for T1 flights only. I've never seen anythin in the T1 departures lounge about connecting airside busses to T2 etc. It's my first time out of T2 next Tuesday.

When they walk out of T1 arrivals look for the signs for the Train Station and they'll go up some steps and then follow the overhead walkway. The station is inbetween T1 and T2 so just carry on and they'll arrive at T2 departures. So theres no risk of getting lost, just follow the signs for the train station and head up on to and follow the walk way and they won't go wrong

As for the landing card I'm pretty sure that they'll need to fill one out but they're a simple affair and I think the UK Immigration service has landing cards in multiple languages.

-mrploddy

sadiqhassan

thanks for the reply.

She is not a Canadian national, but a Bangladeshi national.

I will try and change her flights to go through Gatwick, because going through customs / immigration in England will be a problem since she does not currently have a visa.

Cheers

sadiqhassan

I was browsing the web and saw this:


http://www.manchester-airport-guide....erminal-3.html

Can anyone confirm its validty?

Cheers

ContinentalFan

The URL is definitely valid--it's the official website for the airport. I would believe the information contained therein. One way to verify what you've read would be to call the airline. The carrier should definitely know the rules about transit passengers at Manchester Airport.

mrploddy

WRONG

The official airport website is www.manchesterairport.co.uk

Heres a terminal map ->

http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/w...rtFullViewMaps

As you can see there's no link between T3 and T2. You can check with the airline but I'm pretty sure theres no airside connection between the 2 but I could be wrong. Give em a call and see what they say .

-mrploddy

SkyTeam777

What are the best high-end airport hotels nearby?

Swiss Tony

Note the following from the ukvisa website cited by mrploddy

Do I Need A UK Visa


You asked if a national of Bangladesh needs a visa to pass through the UK in transit.

Yes, you need a Direct Airside Transit (DAT) visa, unless you qualify for exemption because 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 via the United Kingdom as part of a journey from another country or territory to the country in respect of which the visa is held;
a valid visa for entry to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America and a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom as part of a journey from the country in respect of which the visa is held to another country or territory;
a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom as part of a journey from Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America to another country or territory, provided that the transit passenger does not seek to transit the United Kingdom on a date more than six months from the date on which he last entered Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America with a valid visa for entry to that country;
a valid USA I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21st April 1998;
a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 28th June 2002;
a valid common format Category D visa for entry to an EEA State;
a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA State pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002;
a diplomatic or service passport issued by the People’s Republic of China; or
a diplomatic or official passport issued by India; or,
a diplomatic or official passport issued by Vietnam.

Notes:

A valid U.S. immigrant visa packet (form 155A/155B) is a 'valid visa' for DATV exemption purposes.
An expired I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21 April 1998 when accompanied by an I-797 letter issued by the Bureau of Citizenship authorising its extension, exempts the holder from the DATV requirement.
Holding either an I-512 Parole letter or an I-797C (Notice of Action) instead of a valid U.S. visa; or a Transportation Letter instead of a valid U.S. Permanent Residence Card issued on or after 21 April 1998 does NOT qualify for exemption from the DAT visa requirement.
Holding a valid travel document with a U.S. ADIT stamp worded – “Processed for I-551. TEMPORARY EVIDENCE OF LAWFUL ADMISSION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE VALID UNTIL…. EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED” does NOT qualify for exemption from the DAT visa requirement.
Whether holders of non-national (including refugee travel documents) require a DATV depends on their nationality and whether they qualify for one of the exemptions listed above. So, for instance, the holder of a non-national travel document (e.g. a refugee travel document) who is a national or a citizen of one of the countries listed on the DATV list (e.g. Afghanistan) will require a direct airside transit visa if they are travelling to the UK to transit on to a third country.

Transiting to the Republic of Ireland
Passengers must pass through immigration control in order to take a flight to Ireland. Visa nationals (and passengers qualifying for DATV exemption above) may Transit without Visa providing they fulfil the TWOV conditions and are properly documented for entry into Ireland.

DATV nationals transiting to Ireland must obtain a visit visa - not a Visitor in Transit visa which is only for transit to a destination outside the Common Travel Area (Rules HC395 paragraph 47 refers).

All visa nationals wishing to transit the UK but spend longer doing so than the 24 hours permitted under the TWOV concession must obtain a visitor in transit visa for stays up to 48 hours or a visit visa.

Nationals of certain countries, which includes Bangladesh - unless exempt as detailed above - must have a DAT visa to transit through the United Kingdom. The visa does not allow entry to the UK: other than to catch a connecting flight; leaving from the same airport on the same day; where you do not need to pass through immigration control to catch the flight. This is called Direct Airside Transit.

Please read Guidance - Visitors for more information.

To apply for a visa you will need to fill in form VAF3 - DATV.

Any dependants under 16 years old, included on your passport, can be included on the same form, but those older will need to fill in separate forms.

Please make your application to Ottawa.

If you are applying to our visa section in Ottawa, you can now make your application and pay online though the visa4UK website.
******************************************

I'd say that this will be an unusual situation for Air Transat and even if your friend is exempt from needing a DATV, the airline may not be aware of this. A copy of the relevant page from the website may well be of use.

Also, will Air Transat accept the bag beyond MAN? I'm thinking it'll have to be picked up anyway...

Swiss Tony

There's a Radisson that you can access from the terminals via a covered walkway.

Aviatrix

As someone else has already said, this is NOT the official site for the airport - the domain manchester-airport-guide.co.uk is registered to a Mr Duncan Jennings living in Newcastle!

Anybody can put up a site on the Internet on any topic they like, and the result is that the Internet is now full of nonsense and misinformation. (I was reading a Wikipedia entry recently on a topic that I know a fair bit about, and the information was about 80% incorrect!). And as anybody can register any domain they like it is very easy to put up something that looks official but isn't.

So... I would NEVER trust web sites unless I can verify that they are official, and for a complex visa-related query like this one I would always check by contacting the relevant organisation - airport, airline, consulate.

Jenbel

the Radisson is probably the best of them, but there's also a Crowne Plaza and a Hilton.

House

For something a little different, there is also the Etrop Grange Hotel, which is located in a country house dating from 1750. It's a 2-3 minute drive from the airport and they will pick you up and take you back on an on demand basis (you call them when you arrive, and tell reception when you want to get taken back.

http://www.corushotels.com/hotel.asp?hotelID=92
http://www.lastminute.com/site/find/World/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-Manchester/Manchester/LMN-Hotel-1186114-0-0-ETR00002$v1v$.html

Of the on-site hotels I would go for the Radisson - you can walk from the plane to the hotel without ever setting foot outside, there is no waiting for shuttle buses, and the rooms are reasonably good.

number_6

For the record, you are wrong. Manchester airport runs an airside bus between T1/T3 (these are actually in one building) and T2. Transit is possible quite easily at MAN and requires no entry into the UK (thus no visa). There is a transfer desk on the way to immigration. They can issue boarding passes for most airlines (certainly for EK) and do the security check there ... very fast, as usually there are more airport employees than pax at the transit desk.

number_6

The Etrop Grange is a wonderful hotel but the building is quite quirky ... a maze of corridors and different parts of the building (built in different centuries) are at different heights. Some of the rooms are fabulous (4 poster beds, lots of character) but all have the problems of old houses (squeaky floorboards and such). The restaurant is decent (maybe the best food in Manchester) and often caters weddings. The original owner of that house owned most of the land that is now Manchester airport, so it is fitting to survive as a hotel and out of the flight path (so there is zero aircraft noise).

johnnied

I am going to Manchester Saturday for the first time (and on a CO 757 ) and while I am very familiar with London, I have never been to Manchester. UK plays Ecuador on Sunday, so that will be positively mental and I can't wait. But other than getting the younger Johnnied's their Man U shirts, any ideas on what to do? I have limited access to a car as I am relying on others.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers!

JD