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My cousin is currently stuck in the UK as he was meant to be in the UK only for transit to continue to Bosnia.

Passport stamps

The travel procedure was meant to be Bahamas -> London -> Bosnia. He has been put in a hotel here in London and he doesn't have a visa for the UK.

He was working and got stuck in the Bahamas. His flights were organised by his company to get him back to Bosnia. The flight from London to Bosnia was unfortunately cancelled. So he is waiting in a hotel until that is organised. He is a citizen of Bosnia as am I.

He has a right to be in France due to schengen. My question is would he be allowed to leave the country into France via car (euro tunnel/ferry) with myself a British citizen?

Ronan Boiteau
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FreeLand
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  • well he has the right to be in the UK until the flight is scheduled. Surely he could leave before that flight occurs? – FreeLand May 29 '20 at 15:09
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    Does your cousin really have a 'right' to go to France (meaning he is a long term resident of France) or are you referring to his visa free access based on his Bosnian passport? If it's the latter then they may not let him go because he could be turned away at the French border due to him being a non-EU traveller in the time of COVID restrictions. That may be why they are waiting on a flight – Kina May 29 '20 at 15:25
  • https://imgur.com/a/ZkCRJ2t – FreeLand May 29 '20 at 15:26
  • He would only be in France for transit purposes to Bosnia – FreeLand May 29 '20 at 15:27
  • He would be exempt for transit purposed but its still hard to say what would happen at the border in practice. He has his passport and was stamped in so it may not hurt to try unless border officials told him explicitly not to leave. I would try to get some official word from France as well – Kina May 29 '20 at 15:35
  • What is his citizenship, and where is his permanent home? You are currently allowed to enter France for transit only to get to your country of origin or the country you are a permanent resident of. You probably wouldn't be allowed into France. – jcaron May 29 '20 at 16:13
  • Don't forget that in addition to visa rules, there are currently plenty of COVID-19 related restrictions all over. Don't expect to just drive through a bunch of countries you would travel through without blinking. – jcaron May 29 '20 at 16:15
  • He was working and got stuck in the Bahamas. His flights were organised by his company to get him back to Bosnia. The flight from London to Bosnia was unfortunately cancelled. So he is waiting in a hotel until that is organised. He is a citizen of Bosnia as am I. – FreeLand May 29 '20 at 16:19
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    The passport entry stamp does not say he has the right to stay in the UK until the the flight he wants to take is scheduled or actually departs. It says he was given leave to remain in the UK until 31 May 2020. – DavidRecallsMonica May 29 '20 at 17:51
  • He will undoubtedly be allowed to leave the UK, by the UK authorities. The difficult question is whether he will be allowed to enter France. – Mike Scott May 30 '20 at 06:02

2 Answers2

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The passport stamp you posted indicates that he was admitted to the UK for landside transit on 29 May until 31 May.

He needs to either leave the UK by any means of transport on or before the end of the day 31 May, or if he is unable to do so, he can file for an extension to 31 July by filling out an online form that UKVI have made available for people stuck in the UK due to COVID-19.

I would recommend that he apply for the extension immediately, even if he thinks he might be able to leave the UK via some other method, as travel plans can and do change quickly these days.

Michael Hampton
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So update:

We left the UK by vehicle and had no issues getting all the way to Bosnia, and entering.

FreeLand
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  • Was a visa extension sought? What date did the two of you leave the UK? Did UK immigration (as you left the UK) say anything about his time in the UK or his leaving? – DavidRecallsMonica Jun 04 '20 at 15:25