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My sister and I are travelling from Amsterdam to Reykjavik, iceland with a "self-transfer" in Manchester for 3 hour. We are only bring our hand-luggage, so no need to claimed any luggage in the Manchester airport. Do I still need a transit visa for UK? And for the return, we are going to have "self-transfer" again in Gatwick Airport, with the same condition, do we need a transit visa for UK?

I read in the website https://www.gov.uk/ , I don't need transit visa if I don't pass through UK border control, but I have no idea if I need to pass through the border control to get to my next flight.

Please help if anyone have similar issue. Thank you!

Ayu
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  • By "self transfer" do you mean the the flights are on seperate tickets etc? I'd also be concerned that any delay on the first flight could easily see you missing the second flight. – CMaster Feb 28 '23 at 14:59
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    What's your nationality? Do you need a visa in general to travel to the UK as a visitor? – Ozzy Feb 28 '23 at 15:14
  • What is your citizenship and what visa or residence permit(s) do you have? There are plenty of exceptions. Also if you have a Schengen visa (rather than a residency permit or visa-free entry), is that visa a multiple-entry visa? Single and dual entry visas won’t be acceptable in your case. – jcaron Feb 28 '23 at 16:59
  • Are you expecting to travel from Gatwick to Manchester in under 3 hours ? – Stewart Mar 01 '23 at 16:04
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    @Stewart I think the Manchester layover is on one trip, while the Gatwick layover is on the return trip. – bracco23 Mar 01 '23 at 16:52

2 Answers2

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Airside transit (i.e. without legally entering the country in question) in the UK is only possible at London Heathrow Airport (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_Kingdom). Some nationalities need a transit visa even in such case, but that's not relevant for you, since you'll be transiting at Manchester and Gatwick airports that lack airside transit.

At all other UK airports (other than Heathrow) you'll need to pass through the UK border check. Whether or not you'll need a visa (and what type of it) depends largely on your nationality. You can also check it yourself at the above mentioned Wikipedia site.

Johnnyjanko
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You are going to need a valid visa or the airlines will not take you. A "self transfer" means that the airline to the UK is only contracted to take you there, and they will not allow you to board unless you can show them you have a valid means of entering the UK.

You typically cannot use "air side transfer" services when travelling on seperate airline tickets. You will normally need to enter the UK and travel through customs etc.

You could contact the airports to clarify this. But there is also the issue of what happens if your flight to the UK is delayed enough that you miss your onwards flight - at that point you would almost certainly have to pass UK immigration and having a visa would make this much more likley to go in a way you would like.

CMaster
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  • Thank you for your answer. What if we are travelling on similar airline? Do we still need a transit visa? – Ayu Feb 28 '23 at 15:09
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    @Ayu What's a "similar airline"? But that's not important. If you're travelling on two separate tickets, you need to prove to the airline employees (when boarding the flight from Amsterdam to Manchester) that you're eligible to enter the UK. That's all what matters. – Johnnyjanko Feb 28 '23 at 15:56
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    Besides, in most UK airports you have to pass through immigration (border control) when arriving from a non UK/Ireland airport. Better fly direct or via a Schengen airport. – Willeke Feb 28 '23 at 16:02
  • @Willeke You're right, but a direct Icelandair flight AMS - KEF or a SAS flight via Oslo udoubtedly cost MUCH more money than two separate Easyjet flights via the UK... – Johnnyjanko Mar 01 '23 at 10:10
  • Sometimes, @Johnnyjanko, convenience costs... – FreeMan Mar 01 '23 at 18:54
  • @Johnnyjanko, and sometimes EasyJet is not as cheap as you would expect, add the cost of a visa and the price difference may well go the other way. Add to that the risk of missing the second flight and having to buy a new ticket (in the past EasyJet did not sell connections and I do not know whether they do now.) – Willeke Mar 02 '23 at 18:54
  • @Willeke, I understand. My personal story: last time I traveled to Iceland, many years ago, I took a Ryanair flight to Stansted, slept on the floor at the airport (there were hundreds of us), and continued to Iceland on the following morning with another airline. :-P Anything more convenient would have been way out of my budget. True, I don't need a UK visa, but I had to endure multiple border checks instead of none (in case of an intra-Schengen flight). So I have some sympathy towards people who travel this way. – Johnnyjanko Mar 03 '23 at 09:12