Hello I'm an Indian citizen and I'll be traveling from Canada to Singapore and back to Canada this summer. I have valid visas for both Canada and Singapore. I'll be making a transit at Heathrow-UK during my trip from Canada to Singapore and a transit at Frankfurt-Germany during my return trip from Singapore back to Canada. I'll not be traveling to India at all.

I tried to check the UK and German embassy websites, but its quite confusing. So I'm wondering whether I'll be needing transit visas for UK and Germany for the above mentioned trips. Thanks a lot!!!!

Plus...I'm on a student permit in Canada if that makes any difference!!! Thanks a lot again...

Not in Frankfurt. You will stay airside, and possibly just have to go thru a security checkpoint, but not immigration/passport control. Just follow the displays/signs to the gate of your connecting flight to Singapore.

Cowboy is PROBABLY wrong.

Indians, in principle, need visas to transit A UK airport, even if they do not go through immigration. The same principle applies to some nationalities transitting Schengen airports.

However, under certain circumstances, Indians cleared for work or study in the US or Canada (or, I think, who are Singaporean residents) don't need transit visas for the UK on the way to Canada. You need to go to www.ukvisas.gov.uk and check the rules VERY carefully.

Generally, Schengen and the UK have similar rules on this. But not in every detail, and the precise wording of the exceptions for some Indians matter a lot.

You need to find the German visa site (NOT the site of your local embassy, and not the Schengen site). If you can't, you need to phone the embassy and find out who does know.

You'll also, if you're currently in India, Singapore or Canada (none of which, BTW, have a British Embassy) find that Air Canada, BA and Lufthansa will have someone who knows these rules inside out. Hundreds of thousands of Indians transit London and Frankfurt from Canada every year, and all their checkin staff have a checklist explaining the ins and outs of the Airside Transit Visa rules as they apply to Indians working, living or studying in Canada. They don't allow Indians with the wrong documents to check in.

As long as you stay airside and don;t actually enter the countries in question it shouldn't be an issue. Is that the situation (just transfer from one international flight to another at the same airport in each case?)

I've transferred at Heathrow numerous times- always staying "airside" even though at different terminals, since the flights were continuous on one ticket and I never went near Immigration.

NY Traveller is DEFINITELY wrong.

flanneruk is most probably right.
I tried to read and understand the airport transfer visa regulations in my own mother tongue, and I have failed. Ask someone who knows like the airline. Frankfurt airport website says same: ask your airline.

Hi...thanks a lot all of you for your replies. I would try to ask the airline. I have made a transit before at Amsterdam, Netherlands when I was travelling from Singapore to Canada and I didn't need any transit visa or anything. I just hoped it would be the same for other European countries.

Just another clarification.This website at http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

claims to be offering a comprehensive review of the transit visa requirements. And when I read their review, it sounds like I won't need transit visa but to be safe i'll check with the airlines. Thanks a lot again!

flanneruk -

Not sure what you mean.

I'm not wrong in what I experienced - staying airside and never seeing immigration - since I've done this numerous times. Not sure if this is legal for Indian students or not - BUT if someone followed the same route I did there is no time when you come in contact with immigration - so I don;t know how anyone could check on a transit visa.

I know this type of transit is NOT possible in the US - we don;t have "airside" - once you land you go through Immigration. but I have stayed "airside" only at many european airports.

First, I'm not an immigration lawyer. I obtained the following information by web searches.

For the UK, you *may* not need a transit if exemption #2 applies in your case:

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/nonustransit.html

Not that you can necessarily believe Yahoo answers, but someone asked about transiting in Brussels, and the answer is that no visa is necessary. Since Belgium and Germany are both Schengen, I'd have to imagine that if Yahoo is right, then no transit visa is required for Germany:

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question...3220205AAH3Bx4

However the story here seems to be a little more complicated. I provide the link here only because it shows that Schengen countries can have different transit requirements:

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/transi...uirements.html

I also found a link on FlyerTalk and someone quoted this link:

http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

The requirements for UK transit listed here are a little different. It seems like there are more exemptions listed, so it'd appear that transit visa is not necessary for UK.

According to the Delta link, no transit visa is needed for Germany per this exemption:

"Nationals of India may use the TWOV facility mentioned above if holding a valid visa for Canada or U.S.A. and travelling to/from one of the countries for which they hold a visa."

You should obviously check an official source!

nytraveler: What happens to US citizens has absolutely <u>nothing</u> whatsoever to do w/ the OPs situation.

Hi!! thanks a lot for for all your inputs! I personally think transit visa regulations and requirements are really confusing for an ordinary traveller to understand. I managed to find this IATA website which is used by airlines to check whether their passengers have valid documents for transit and their destination.

http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/pass...quirements.htm

And according to that, I do not require transit visas for both UK and Germany. However, when I contacted the british high commission though, the answer was that I would need a transit visa!!! So to avoid all the confusion I think I'll just take the pacific route (Hong kong/Japan) for which I definitely don't need a transit visa! Thanks again for the help!

Did they inform you by e-mail? If so, it doesn't hurt to ask them again about a potential exception (and politely point them

One would think that immigration officials are infallible, but I once corrected a Swiss immigration officer (Switzerland, of all countries!).

You must be a mathematician (I noticed your screen name). This can't be as complicated as Galois theory....

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...nf20transit#Q3

"Am I exempt from the DATV requirement?

You will be exempt from the DATV requirement and may be able to transit without visa if 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 through the UK as part of a journey from another country or territory to the country for which you have the entry visa."

The only issue left is to check the definition of DATV, but the link isn't working for some reason:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineed...adatvnationals

For extra credit....

Anyway, I didn't read the exemptions carefully, but they are not that well written.

For example, I could be flying from A to B and transiting through London. Though I'm a visa national for the UK, I may not need a visa for B. Do the exemptions cover this case? As written they don't seem to. Someone should inform the UK.

The UK regulations are perfectly well written

All citizenships requiring a UK Airside Transit Visa also require a visa for the US, Canada, Australia and NZ. As well as for Schengen.

I've found the site www.projectvisa.com to be handy in that you'll usually get a direct to relevant government immigration sites, they being the authorities more so than any airline and in this case you get the advice that yes, as an Indian citizen, even if classed as currently resident in Canada, you'll need a transit visa - http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ukvqr?r...ocation=Canada
and you get a further direct on applying - http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Welcome.htm

I imagine if you use PV to hit on Germany, you'll easily enough get the info you're after.

http://www.mumbai.diplo.de/Vertretun...sit__visa.html

No, you do not need a transit visa, going directly from Frankfurt to Canada. Read it!

"a valid visa for ... Canada and being only in transit in Germany on their way to their final destination ...
do not require an airport transit visa for transiting the international area of German airports."

First, this link is working again:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineed...adatvnationals

Predictably India is on this. So the original poster is DATV. The exemption I cited above applies since

(1) original poster has Canadian visa
(2) original poster has Singapore visa
(3) original poster is flying from Canada to Singapore and transiting in the UK.

In what way are the UK regulations well written?

Suppose the original poster is travelling from Canada to another country (call this country X) for which the poster doesn't require a visa. (2) no longer applies because the original poster doesn't have a visa for country X (no visa is required, in fact).

In this case, can the original poster transit in the UK without a visa?

You'd like to say yes, but I don't see the exemption, as written covers this case.

By the way, there seems to be some confusion about whether a transit visa is needed for the UK in the scenario outlined by the original poster.

<b>My understanding is no, visa is not needed</b>. Let me just summarize again:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...nf20transit#Q3

"Direct airside transit visa (DATV) nationals

DATV nationals are visa nationals who must have a visa to pass through the UK on their way to another country, even if they are not entering the UK or changing airports. Unless they qualify for exemption from the DATV requirement, they cannot transit without visa (TWOV). (You can get more information about DATV exemptions below.)"

Indian national is DATV national:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineed...adatvnationals

Go back to this link to check DATV exemptions:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...nf20transit#Q3

"Am I exempt from the DATV requirement?

You will be exempt from the DATV requirement and may be able to transit without visa if you hold one of the following.

A valid visa for entry to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America [original poster has Canadian visa] and a valid airline ticket for travel through the UK as part of a journey from another country or territory to the country for which you have the entry visa [original poster is travelling to Singapore, has visa for Singapore, transiting in UK]."