I have recently been challenged by a friend about this.
I have for a long time thought that if one is in transit in e.g. a British airport, one is technically not on British soil as one has not passed through that nation’s immigration controls & been granted entry.
Is this correct? Or is it actually very grey area of international law? :confused:
By: zoot horn rollo - 6th October 2008 at 16:48
One of my colleagues is married to a Peruvian girl. She flew to the UK via the US (Miami) with a seven hour transit stopover. They kept her in a locked room the whole time and this was before 9/11
By: cloud_9 - 6th October 2008 at 14:09
So…if I was travelling from A to C, via B, and on two separate airlines, meaning I would have to collect my baggage and check-in with the second airline straight after, would I still need a visa…seems a bit daft to me, but I suppose its from a security perspective so it has to be a good thing?
I know for some airports you don’t necessarily require a visa as such, but you must have either a return/onward ticket or proof that you have enough money to be able to purchase a ticket before entry can be permitted…HKG springs to mind?
By: TwinAisle - 5th October 2008 at 15:30
I think they have softened their line, Distiller – I needed one a few years back for a flight to HKG, with a change in SVO – so I paid extra and went direct. Looks now as though people in direct transit INT-INT can get away without one.
By: Distiller - 5th October 2008 at 10:51
I’m not sure about needing a visa for transfer at SVO. I think there is a 18 hour transfer corridor.
Where you definitly need a transit visa is going from SVO to DME or VKO. No corridor-busses.
By: TwinAisle - 2nd October 2008 at 00:02
Indeed, and whether the person in question is stateless, from an unrecognised state or even if it is impossible to determine their state of origin.
However, it is not a grey area of law, just a slightly complex one!
By: Old Git - 1st October 2008 at 23:12
Apparently not quite as straightforward as one would think, it can depend on the circumstances of the individual in question apparently. I was told this by a law lord who is the brother of a friend of mine.
By: TwinAisle - 1st October 2008 at 19:29
Nothing that grey about it to be honest. You will have landed in the UK, but will not have entered. It is effectively as though your flight went non-stop over the top.
On presentation to immigration, the person will be either allowed entry or refused it. In the latter case, he or she becomes a problem for the carrier that got them there – this is the Carriers’ Liability Act, which allows a carrier to be fined if they present someone to Immigration who is not eligible for entry, and the carrier has to remove them from the UK within strict timescales. This can be expensive; the fine is £2,000 a head for a start. Most sensible airlines take precautions at check in to try and reduce this risk – does the passenger have a visa etc.
Some countries for various reasons insist on a transit visa – the CIS is one, so that even if you have no intention of leaving the airport, changing flights at SVO needs a visa.
In the UK, passengers are cleared at first point of entry – example, if a passenger intends to fly LAX-LHR-GLA-BRR, it is immigration at LHR who will do the paperwork. If they fail, the carrier that brought them to LHR will be fined, and it becomes their liability to remove him/her.
In the event of an airport evacuation (fire etc), airside passengers (and until someone has cleared immigration they are effectively airside) are evacuated airside, often onto the ramp.
Hope this helps!
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October 1, 2008 at 6:53 pm