Luxor4u

From the British Foreign Office:



Applying for a UK visa in Egypt
The UK Border Agency processes all visa applications to the United Kingdom. You can find out whether you need a visa and how to apply through the UK Border Agency website.

How to apply?
Find out where and how to apply for a UK visa in Egypt: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/egypt

Coming to the UK to watch the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games? Click here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... tator-v1.5
to read a guide on what you need to do.

Important Notice:
Visa Changes for Egyptian Citizens
From 3rd April 2012 Egyptian nationals will no longer benefit from the transit without visa arrangements when transiting through the UK.

Q&A
Do I require a visa if I am arriving in the UK and leaving the airport just to connect to another flight?

Yes. If you will arrive in the UK, pass through immigration control and then leave the UK within 48 hours, you should apply for a visitor in transit visa. This will include leaving the airport to take a flight from a different UK airport or if you wish to stay in a hotel before your connection.

Do I require a visa if I do not intend to leave the airport of arrival?

Yes. If you will arrive on a flight, remain in the arrival lounge of the airport without passing through immigration control, and then depart on another flight from the same airport, you should apply for a direct airside transit visa. This will not allow you to leave the transit area of the airport.

What should I do if my connecting flight is several days after arriving in the UK?

If you will spend more than 48 hours in the UK, you must obtain another type of visitor visa before you travel.

EXCEPTION: If you hold one of the following documents you will still be able to transit through the UK without a visa:

a valid entry visa for Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA, and a valid airline ticket for travel via the UK, only as part of a journey to or from one of those countries
a valid USA I-551 permanent resident card issued on or after 21 April 1998
a valid Canadian permanent resident card issued on or after 28 June 2002
a valid uniform format category D visa for entry to a state in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland
a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA state or Switzerland

I hold a valid USA I-551 permanent resident card and want to transit through the UK to Madrid; do I need a UK visa?

No. A valid USA I-551 permanent resident card issued on or after 21 April 1998 allows you to transit through the UK, even if the USA is not part of the journey. You will to hold the correct documentation for entry into Spain.

I hold a valid Canadian visit visa and want to transit through the UK to Madrid, do I need a visa?

Yes. A Canadian visit visa only allows you to transit through the UK if Canada is part of the journey.

I hold a valid USA visit visa and my final destination is New York. Do I need a visa to transit through the UK?

No. A valid USA visit visa allows you to transit through the UK without a visa, providing that the USA is part of the journey.

I hold a valid uniform category D visa for France and my final destination is Paris. Do I need a visa to transit through the UK?

No. A valid uniform format category D visa for entry to a state in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland allows you to transit through the UK to any destination for which you hold the correct documentation.

source: http://ukinegypt.fco.gov.uk/en/visiting-uk/visas/

More and more it seems to me that the British don't even want Egyptians on their soil! Even in the case of never leaving the airport, merely continuing a flight elsewhere. Still, no doubt the government needs the money it will engender!

LivinginLuxor wrote:More and more it seems to me that the British don't even want Egyptians on their soil! Even in the case of never leaving the airport, merely continuing a flight elsewhere.

In reality though, if you are taking a flight elsewhere you may well have to leave the airport - or at least the airside part to allow you transfer to the next appropriate terminal.

Has anyone uncovered why the Border Agency now wants to discourage Egyptians from using non-UK airlines/routes/airports if they are in transit elsewhere? Does this happen at the UK's competitor airports in Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt?

This appears to me to be a shameful tit-for-tat response to the new requirement for non-tourists from the UK (i.e diplomatic/embassy staff) to have biometric visas when entering Egypt. Either that or its a furtther admission that border security at airports in the UK is a shambles and those in transit are able to circumvent border controls at airports to gain illegal entry.

I recall some years ago the Netherlands implemented some equally draconian transit visa rule for Indians which I think caused a big uproar.

I've not had chance to check it out but I doubt this change in Visa rules is being applied to Egyptians only. The FCO do make periodic changes on all these kinds of things including type of visa, length of stay, registering with the police at begining of residency (temporary or [semi] permanent), for all the different nationalities.

What did occur to me was the timing of this. Could it be that the UK is attempting to tighten it's borders even further because this year we are hosting the Olympics and therefore there will more movement of non UK residents throughout the British points of entry.

It doesn't appear that the UK is specifically targeting Egyptians! A Foreign Office site specifically for Egypt naturally will address Egyptians. The Border Agency rules on transit visas apply to a whole of countries whose nationals would normally require a visa to enter Britain.

Edited to add: Written before the previous post appeared!

According to this article the changes apply only to Egyptians, Libyans and Syrians...
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.a ... anguage=en

I should have known better than to get involved in one of the forum's "arguing over points" threads! So the only change here is that three countries have been added to the direct airside transit visa list – where a permit is required even if the traveller is staying in the transit area. A bit more bureaucracy in the "interests of security". Not likely to affect anyone on this forum!

If I was an Egyptian flying through Europe to another destination without leaving the airport, I would rather fly through Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, where I wouldn't need an airside transit visa than through London where I would.

Why if you weren't intending to step across the UK border would you unnecessarily want to subject yourself to a trip to Cairo for a biometrics interview and cough up 510le for a visa when you could just use a different airline/route?

1) why should British rules apply to "Airside", which is not classified as British soil?

2) why would anyone transit via Britain when the exit tax on air travel is so expensive.

3) how much of this thread reflects new measures applying only to the Arab Spring nations.

The thread title is misleading, as it refers "to" travel to NK (&NI) where it should be "through".

Brian Yare wrote:
The thread title is misleading, as it refers "to" travel to NK (&NI) where it should be "through".

It wouldn't fit in the space allowed. :doh: