Originally Posted by
State of Trance
I will be traveling to the EU Schengen Area this summer from the United States this summer with my SO. I am U.S. Citizen, however she is a PRC passport holder and a U.S. permanent resident.
Currently, we have round-trip flights booked US-MAN. Our plan right now is to arrive into Manchester, spend the night in London, and fly out of London to a Schengen destination (e.g. Berlin) the following day, and the reverse on the route back. According to Gov.UK, I was given the following when checking for Visa requirements for transit:
The TIMATIC information is a bit more explicit.
Code:
Visa required, except for Passengers holding confirmed onward
tickets passing through United Kingdom immigration to make a
landside transit to a third country on a flight that departs
before 23:59 the next day. The following conditions must be
complied with:
- passenger must arrive and depart by air; and
- passenger must have no purpose in entering the United
Kingdom other than to pass through in transit; and
- passenger must hold all documents required for the next
destination; and
- passenger must pass through United Kingdom Immigration; and
- passenger travels with a document listed in the following
warning(s):
- ***Warning*** Passengers may make a landside transit if
holding:
- a valid I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued by the USA
on or after 21 April 1998; or
- a valid I-551 Temporary Immigrant visa issued by the USA
(a wet-ink/ADIT stamp version will not be accepted by
United Kingdom immigration); or
- an expired I-551 Permanent Resident Card issued by the
USA, provided accompanied by a valid I-797 letter
authorizing the extension, issued by the Bureau of
Citizenship; or
- a stand alone Immigration Visa Form 155A/155B issued by
the USA (attached to a sealed brown envelope). (SEE NOTE
57399)
NOTE 57399: E-visas or e-residence permits are not
accepted for landside transit.
Additional Information:
- Valid visas in expired travel documents are accepted if
accompanied by a new travel document.
- There is no passport control on traffic between Great
Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland (Rep.).
- Leave to remain issued by Guernsey, Isle of Man or Jersey,
which are in the form of wet ink stamps, are also valid for
entry into or transit through the United Kingdom.
I think your journey fails the "no other purpose" test. The exception is not really intended for the purpose you are using it for. It is there, I believe, to allow people to make overnight transits at the same airport, where the airside area is closed overnight.
I would say, either obtain a visa or skip the visit. You don't want the rest of your holiday ruined by a denied entry.