Am I able to obtain a LHR travel visa at Heathrow airport?
I have a Philippine passport but currently residing in the United States as a greencard holder. I am travelling to Norway with a Shengen visa but I have a 23 hour layover in London Heathrow. And I plan to meet a friend and do a little bit of sightseeing. I don’t have enough time to apply for a Transit visa due to time restraint, is it possible to get one when I arrived at the airport?
Best Answer
You cannot get a visa at the airport, but you seem to qualify for the landside Transit Without Visa scheme. This is open for you since you hold a valid permanent residence permit issued by the United States, and you leave by air on the next day after you arrive.
To use this scheme, simply join the immigration line for non-EU/EEA/Swiss passports, and explain to the Immigration Officer that you're in transit. You'll want to have your green card ready too.
You'll need to convince the IO that you are "genuinely in transit to another country" and "genuinely intend and [are] able to" take your onward flight the next day. So be prepared that you might have to explain e.g. what you're going to Norway for. But overall that's just the same kind of burden-of-persuasion that visa-free visitors need to meet.
See the formal conditions in paragraphs V7.6 through V7.9 of the Immigration Rules.
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Can I get visitor transit visa at London airport?
Apply. You must apply online for a Direct Airside Transit visa. You'll need to have your fingerprints and photograph (known as 'biometric information') taken at a visa application centre as part of your application.How do I get a transit visa at Heathrow?
Part of Apply for a visa to travel through the UK: step by stepDo I need a transit visa at Heathrow airport?
You usually only need a transit visa if you want to leave the airport as you have a long layover. "You usually only need a transit visa if you want to leave the airport as you have a long layover."Is there immigration in Heathrow?
In each of Heathrow's terminals, immigration queues are measured by an independent team. Every 15 minutes the last passenger in the queue is identified and timed until they have cleared the immigration process. This takes place across all Heathrow terminals, every day, between 05:00 and 23:00.Review: My GUIDE TO HEATHROW - Things you didn't know!
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